Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 26, 2020

Annexation is a sham.

Dont get me wrong: this doesnt mean that Israels proposed annexation of the Jordan Valley wont further dispossess Palestinians. Israel will be stealing 30 percent of the land set aside for a Palestinian state under previous, failed peace proposals, causing further suffering to Palestinians.

But this particular annexation proposal, to which the new Israeli government agreed in its coalition deal, is a red herring - a distraction from the systemic nature of Israels dispossession of Palestinians. It permits liberal Zionists and the international community to focus their attention on undoing this particular evil, relieving them of responsibility for the entire apartheid system Israel has developed, both inside and outside the green line.

Statements from British Jewish leaders, US Congress members, European Union officials and human rights experts have warned of the consequences of annexation. They have targeted the soft, moderate underbelly of the governing coalition, Blue and White MKs, telling them how badly the world would look upon Israel if this proposal was enacted.

But all of this liberal whining avoids a far greater evil: a Judeo-supremacist regime built on religious intolerance and ethnic cleansing.

The present Israeli regime has as much, or more, in common with Iran's Islamic republic, Saudi Arabia's Islamic protectorate, or the Afghan Taliban than it does with western democracy

The problem with the Israeli state is not one particular policy, no matter how odious. It goes back to the very foundations of the state and the thinking of its founders, foremost among them David Ben-Gurion. While there were some voices among early Zionist leaders who sought integration, or at least peaceful coexistence with their Palestinian neighbours, Ben-Gurion was a maximalist who espoused ethnic cleansing in his diaries and letters well before he founded the state.

The sine qua non of statehood for him was a Jewish majority and Jewish superiority. Arabs might remain inside the new nations borders, but only if they acquiesced to their diminished status.

Even then, Ben-Gurion feared the Palestinian presence so much that he and the Palmach militia organised and conducted Plan Dalet, which resulted in the Nakba - the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians in conjunction with the 1948 founding of Israel.

Palestinian communities that survived the war remained under martial law for two decades, though they posed no security threat.

As an American Jew, I was raised on liberal Zionism. I was taught from an early age that Israel was a Jewish and democratic state. I was taught to be proud of the mutual coexistence of those two terms. But the religious component of Israeli identity, as it has come to be defined, precludes democracy; they cannot coexist. It took me decades to realise this.

While it would be ill-advised to attempt to eliminate or suppress religion in a truly democratic state of Israel-Palestine, religion must be separated from the political realm if this state is ever to become normalised.

The religions of Israels Jewish and Palestinian citizens will remain critical to them and their identities. If practised appropriately, they will enrich the fabric of the state without prejudicing one religious or ethnic group over another. But the present Israeli regime has as much, or more, in common with Irans Islamic republic, Saudi Arabias Islamic protectorate, or the Afghan Taliban than it does with western democracy.

One of the clever elements of Zionist expansionism is to pursue its goals gradually, rather than all at once. The poor frog doesnt realise that hes being boiled in the pot until its too late, because the flame raises the temperature gradually and almost imperceptibly.

Thus, Netanyahu has already backed off his original proposal of annexing the entire Jordan Valley. He is now entertaining annexation-lite, absorbing the major settlement enclaves of Ariel, Maaleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, while leaving the remaining territory unannexed. This hides the fact that once these blocs become part of Israel, the surrounding territory is Palestinian in name only; whatever is left will be hemmed in by Israeli fences, roads and infrastructure. And Israel could, at a later date, annex the rest.

In a recent Middle East Eye webinar, Professor Rashid Khalidi described annexation as largely a red herring, noting that it has been ongoing since 1967 in various ways, with Israeli law already applying throughout the occupied territories.

We have to be thinking in broader terms than the narrow diplomatic language thats been used. Israel has been annexing and creating a one-state reality since 1967. This [current annexation plan] is just a tiny step in the process, Khalidi said, noting that Netanyahus more limited proposal regarding the three settlement enclaves amounts to a charade.

World must fight back against Israeli annexation - whether formal or not

We should be talking in much more fundamental terms about the systemic structural problems that are going to have to be addressed if this problem is to be resolved on a just and equitable basis, he said.

If there is any silver lining in the annexation plan, it is that liberal Zionists, who once denounced the boycott movement and anyone labeling Israel as an apartheid state, have been forced to reckon with the failure of their vision.

South African anti-apartheid campaigner Benjamin Pogrund, who has spent decades fighting the notion that Israel is an apartheid state, recently said in an interview: If we annex the Jordan Valley and the settlement areas, we are apartheid. Full stop. Theres no question about it.

South Africas bantustans were simply a more refined form of apartheid to mask what it really was, Pogrund added, noting that the consequences of Israels planned annexation will obviously be extremely grave. Friends of ours in the world will not be able to defend us.

Similarly, the pro-Israel German party Die Linke has also called for sanctioning Israel if it goes forward with this plan. Should the Israeli government resolve to carry out the annexation, Die Linke will advocate for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, it said in a statement.

This EU protocol is important not only because it offers Israel tariff-free trade and privileges of member states, but also because of the status it confers on Israel, both in Europe and around the world. To lose these privileges would be an economic and political blow.

As we've seen in the past, just as tectonic plates can crack and divide, geological forces can drive them back together again

The partys statement, as noted by journalist Ali Abunimah, comes close to abandoning a two-state solution, which is at the very heart of the liberal Zionism Die Linke upholds: In the face of the Israeli governments seeming rejection of a just two-state solution, in which citizens from both sides would live with equal rights, Die Linke calls for equal civil rights for Palestinians and Israelis, the party stated.

For Die Linke, the following principle holds everywhere and at all times: all inhabitants of every country should enjoy equal rights - irrespective of their religion, language or ethnic group.

Its important not to exaggerate the significance of these changes. They certainly mark a shift in the ranks of Israels liberal advocates. There is also no doubt about thetectonic shifts in US politics on Israel/Palestine, which have considerably widened discourse. But as weve seen in the past, just as tectonic plates can crack and divide, geological forces can drive them back together again.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

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Netanyahu's annexation plan is a sham. Apartheid has been decades in the making - Middle East Eye

Category: Zionism
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