Gaza: “A Ceasefire Is Not Enough”

(Footnote to “Gaza: A Capitalist Genocide” – https://ososabiouk.wordpress.com/2014/08/23/gaza-a-capitalist-genocide-essay/)

An apparently ‘permanent’ ceasefire has been agreed to by Israeli and Gazan representatives. This agreement will meet several of the demands made by Hamas in the middle of July, seeing Gaza’s fishing zone enlarged and its border crossings opened (which would ease the blockade on Gaza, allow reconstruction, and remove Israel’s “no-go zone”).

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, however, has insisted that, in spite of the clearly positive nature of the ceasefire, “we can’t continue with ‘cloudy negotiations,’”. He knows, as all Palestinians do, that real peace will only come with justice, and not simply with an end of military hostilities. The fact is that Israel continues to violate international law with its illegal settlements in the West Bank, and that Palestinians still do not have their own independent state. Neither has there been any commitment to trying Israel for its war crimes. [1]

Ali Abunimah at Electronic Intifada, meanwhile, has also asserted that “a ceasefire is not enough”. And there is significant cause for scepticism, as “Israel has a long history of violating almost every agreement it has ever signed with Palestinians” and, even in the absence of war, Palestinians continue to suffer abuse, humiliation, and discrimination on a daily basis. A true end to violence, he says, will only come when “Israeli apartheid and colonization” end, when “refugees, no longer excluded by racist laws, return to their land”, and when the murderers of innocent civilians have been brought to justice. [2]

According to Haaretz, a key reason for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s agreement to a ceasefire (which he was clearly not interested in as he was allowing the IDF to murder innocent civilians in Gaza) was the fact that he was desperate to “achieve a cease-fire at just about any price”. Amidst a “loss of trust in the IDF and the government”, “economic damage amounting to billions”, and “diplomatic and PR damage that is impossible to quantify”, Netanyahu’s government badly needed an exit to the conflict it had started. [3] In Israel, for example, “economic activity contracted in July”, and the “conflict has cost the tourist industry at least $566 million”. [4] Meanwhile, as their government has failed to ‘destroy Hamas’ (or kill the idea of rights, autonomy and justice for Palestinians), Israeli’s are currently harbouring “a feeling of bitterness and defeat”. [2] Meretz chair Zahava Gal-On, for example, said that “[Netanyahu] went to war without goals and ended it with a huge achievement for Hamas”. [5]

The world has rightfully been appalled by Israel’s crimes in Gaza, and the most recent ‘military operation’ may well have put yet another nail into the coffin of the Zionist vision of occupying Palestinian land and segregating Arabs from Israel’s racist, ethnocentric, and nationalist society. Nonetheless, it is now more necessary than ever to step up the pressure on Israel. To ensure an end to apartheid, war crimes, and violations of international law, we must continue to stand alongside the Palestinian people. The capitalist powers of the West (such as the USA and the UK), along with Israel’s PR analysts, would love for our short-term and long-term memories to be erased, and for us to stop supporting the Palestinian people. Whether there is a ceasefire or not, however, we need to avoid giving them that pleasure. We owe it to all of the civilians murdered in Gaza to remember, and to keep raising our voices and putting pressure on our governments.

Justice is getting closer with each day, and we all have the power to make sure it arrives sooner rather than later.

For more information on Israel’s crimes and the ‘Palestinian Question’, see my essay at https://ososabiouk.wordpress.com/2014/08/23/gaza-a-capitalist-genocide-essay/

References:
[1] http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=723559
[2] http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-lost-war-gaza-struggle-justice-goes and pic.twitter.com/7GDFhhC8Nz
[3] http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.612637
[4] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-24/gaza-war-risks-pushing-slowing-israeli-economy-into-contraction.html
[5] http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.612468

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