End the occupation now!
JEFF HALPER
ICAHD
6 March 2002
This is the moment of decision. The Israeli army today opened its widest campaign against Palestinian "targets" ever: non-stop bombardment from the air, sea and land, invasion of large Palestinian areas (especially in Gaza), house demolitions, killings, arrests and the declaring of a virtual halt to Palestinian traffic on all the roads of the Occupied Territories. This is the time when all of us -- NGOs, faith-based organizations and citizens, Palestinians, Israelis and members of the international community -- must arise and focus our efforts on one goal, and one goal only: To bring an end to the brutal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza NOW.
During the seven years of Oslo, Israel pursued a particular vision of "peace:" a non-viable and only semi-independent Palestinian mini-state that would relieve Israel of the three million Palestinians residing in the Occupied Territories but would leave it in control. Israel’s ferocious response to the Intifada came from a fear that the Palestinian Street would break the PA out of the Oslo framework and lead it to a true dismantling of the Occupation, to a viable and truly sovereign Palestinian state.
That is the battle being waged now, between an Israeli-controlled Palestinian bantustan and a viable, sovereign Palestinian state. Couching Palestinian resistance as mere "terrorism" (and thereby cynically exploiting the simplistic "anti-terror" approach of the post-September 11 Bush Administration), Israel is using its entire military arsenal (except its nuclear weapons) to suppress Palestinian aspirations "for once and for all." Sharon, who believes that there can be only one "victor," has declared that the current offensive, escalated daily, will not cease until the Palestinians "surrender."
The only force preventing the defeat of Palestinian aspirations for independence is the Palestinian Street. This is the force that rose up against an Oslo process that was leading it to apartheid. This is the force that appealed to the international community for support in its struggle against a vastly superior military and political oppressor. But how long the Palestinian people can hang on is a matter of question. People speak bravely of fighting for as long as it takes, but military strikes, invasions of refugee camps, impoverishment, house demolitions, severe restrictions on movement and psychological fatigue all take their toll. Israel’s smooth, well-oiled machine of public relations and diplomacy has succeeded in isolating the Palestinians internationally and delegitimizing Arafat’s leadership.
This is the time when an international Intifada is called for, when members of the international community must stand up and demand that their governments end the Occupation NOW. This must be the focus of our actions. All else, no matter how well intentioned, has been rendered irrelevant by the events of the past weeks.
What must we do?
* International NGOs, faith-based organizations and political groups must join their extensive but scattered and poorly-focused networks into a coherent, adamant Campaign Against the Occupation. Each country must form a campaign team and those teams must develop a working framework of cooperation and joint action. The international and country-based teams should then establish contacts with Palestinian and Israeli organizations for purposes of
- articulating our immediate concerns and demanding an end to the occupation now;
- coordination;
- the development of informational and campaign materials;
- the dispatching of local delegations (Palestinian, Israeli and joint) for the purposes of lobbying, media work and appearing in public forums abroad. Effective lobbying in the American Congress, the European Parliament and in European capitals is essential. I would urge that joint Palestinian-Israeli delegations be sent with a simple, compelling message: we are on the same side, the side that aspires to a just peace that addresses the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people while bringing security, stability and economic development to the entire region;
- the dispatching of international delegations to Palestine to engage in resistance actions, and to develop with them effective follow-up actions back home.
We also need more effective means of raising funds for our work, and of focusing our funding on campaigns and actions that bear directly upon the urgent task of ending the Occupation.
* Palestinian organizations must focus their efforts on a Campaign to End the Occupation Now, pulling together the agendas of their many organizations into a coordinated and effective effort. In my opinion, a close working relationship between Palestinian NGOs and those Israeli organizations that share in their agenda of ending the Occupation is essential for effective advocacy.
* Israeli peace and human rights organizations must also develop a more effective framework of action. Besides our scattered protest activities, we must find ways to effectively communicate with the Israeli public, and we must be much more involved in international networking and campaigns, including production of better informational materials. We must also seek ways to support Palestinian organizations.
All the pieces are in place. We have the organizations and the world-wide networks. Some of us have the information, others the funding, still others the skills at putting together an international campaign, working with the media, gaining access to decision-makers. Some of us are here, on "the ground" in Palestine/Israel, with all we can contribute; others are abroad, in key positions to influence public opinion in their countries and their governments’ policies. We now all share the responsibility, the collective, urgent responsibility, of bringing all our resources to bear on the only issue before us: ending the Occupation now.
People and organizations at the center of international networks have to decide how to proceed. You all know each other. Network, discuss, develop mechanisms of coordination and suggest to us "on the ground" how to link up effectively. Palestinian organizations, perhaps through PNGO, should declare a common Campaign For Ending the Occupation Now in order to focus their attention and interact effectively with organizations abroad, with all the contact information. Again, I would urge a meeting with partner Israeli organizations to strengthen the cooperation. ICAHD will work to create better forums of cooperation among Israeli organizations, and to augment the present emphasis on activism with effective international advocacy and campaigning.
We should not underestimate our power, the power of the international civil society, which is growing in strength and organization. This is the moment in which we must arise and assert our collective will.
End the Occupation NOW!
http://www.icahd.org/eng/campaigns.asp?menu=4&submenu=3