Editorial :The Ongoing Nakba; International Complicity
The Ongoing Nakba; International Complicity
The Nakba (catastrophe) stands for the destruction of the economic, social, political and cultural fabric of Palestinian society in 1948, when the western powers of the time permitted and encouraged, in violation of international law, the replacement of Palestine by a colonial settler state, i.e. the state of Israel. 58 years later, in May 2006, while Israel and the international community are again set to destroy Palestinian society, Palestinians commemorate the Nakba of the past and the Nakba of the present. The international community created the Palestinian Authority as a step towards the self-determination of the Palestinian people. Today, however, it is on the verge of causing a humanitarian crisis and destroying the embryonic state institutions it created in order to impose a vision of Palestine that disregards international law and the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people. Canada, the United States, the European Union, the Quartet and Norway decided to sanction the democratically elected Palestinian government in order to induce Hamas' acceptance of the principle of nonviolence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Road Map, i.e. conditions that most Israeli political parties have failed to meet. (See article by Nabih Bashir, Israeli political parties' ideological projects and inclinations towards the conflict).
A quarter of the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip rely on salaries from the Palestinian Authority. Failure to pay the necessary funds will cause more poverty and is likely to lead to the collapse of public institutions and services. The World Bank has revised its projections and now believes that 2006 could be "the worst year in the West Bank and Gaza's dismal recent economic history" with poverty levels reaching 67 percent by the end of the year.(1)
(See commentary by Terry Rempel, Donor Aid, UNRWA, and the End of a Two-State Solution?) In light of the impeding internationally-created humanitarian and political crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Quartet expressed its willingness to endorse a "temporary international mechanism that is limited in scope and duration, operates with full transparency and accountability, and ensures direct delivery of any assistance to the Palestinian people."(2) The European Union is responsible for developing such mechanism, however this new by-pass may not be ready before months and still contributes to marginalizing the Palestinian Authority.
The sanctions against the democratically elected Palestinian Authority further undermine the credibility of major international powers as peace-makers in the Middle East. The financial and diplomatic blackmailing, aimed at achieving Palestinian submission to the will of the West, exposes the motive and agenda of western financial support to the Palestinian Authority: shaping Palestine through economic dependency. Strangled, Palestinians can only be outraged at the role of the international powers; their lack of political will and capacity to respect democracy and international law.
Israel's raid of the Jericho prison in March is certainly another proof of the unwillingness of Britain and the United States to uphold international treaties and respect international law. In a coordinated operation, the international observers evacuated the Jericho jail to allow Israeli forces to launch a massive attack and arrest all political prisoners, including the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the elected Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member, Ahmad Sa'adat, whom Israel accused of being responsible for the murder of Rehavam Ze'evi, head of the racist Moledet Party and Minister of Tourism in 2001. The fact that Israeli's Ministry of Justice has meanwhile admitted that it lacks the necessary evidence to trial Ahmad Sa'adat has gone largely unnoticed by the western media, and no public effort has been made by the international community to rectify, yet another humiliation of the Palestinian people.
On 22-23 May, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with U.S. President Bush to discuss the current humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and its unilateral disengagement (or newly coined convergence) plan. Although the politically weakened U.S. President was unable, at this point, to deliver the public endorsement Olmert and his Kadima Party had hoped for and rather emphasized his preference for a mutually agreed finalsettlement,hewasreadytosaythatin the event an agreement with the Palestinians becomes impossible, "... the prime minister's ideas could be an important step toward the peace we both support." (3) Olmert and his government have interpreted this as a green light for proceeding with the plan to expand Israel's sovereignty into the occupied West Bank and to unilaterally define Israel's borders.
As Israel proceeds with its plan and the international community fails to uphold international law, memories of the Palestinian Nakba of 1948 blend with the destruction, dispossession and displacement of today. The Nakba has thus become an experience shared by old and young Palestinian generations. Collective commemorations of the Nakba bind together Palestinians in Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and in forced exile and serve to strengthen the collective consciousness and political will of a people determined and able to continue the struggle from generation to generation. (See article by Karma Nabulsi, From Generation to Generation).
Endnotes
(1) World Bank, The Impending Palestinian Fiscal Crisis, 7 May, 2006, p.1-2.
(2) Quartet Statement, 9 May 2006.
(3) Aluf Benn and Schmuel Rosner, Bush: Israel and PA must
agree on finalstatusdeal,Ha'aretz, 24 May 2006.