Drift to conflict gaining momentum

The situation in the occupied Palestinian territories continues to deteriorate, with Israeli government provocations unabated despite the bloody consequences of previous incursions on the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem and the accompanying measures clearly supporting Jewish extremists’ claims against the Muslim Noble Sanctuary, Al Haram Al Sharif, one of the holiest places for Muslims worldwide.

Being the legal custodian of the holy places in Jerusalem, His Majesty King Abdullah left no doubt in anyone’s mind that the sanctity of the holy site, as well as its religious integrity, would be countered by serious measures.

When that was followed by the instant Jordanian decision to withdraw the ambassador from Israel, as a first step that could be followed by more serious others if the Israeli violations did not cease, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to stop the incursions and respect the status quo in the holy city.

Under such pressure, and for the first time in years, Palestinians of all ages were allowed to pray in Al Aqsa Mosque and Al Haram Al Sharif.

But that was not the end of the story. Hardly a month passes without Israel approving a new building project on the very land meant for the envisaged Palestinian state under the two-state solution formula.

Ritual protests from near and far often go unheeded by the Israeli government and the colonisation continues at full speed.

That was the primary cause for aborting the mission of US Secretary of State John Kerry who commenced his term at the State Department embarking on a mission — proved impossible — of bringing peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

Mindless of the rising violence in the city and the built-up frustration of a people deprived of basic rights and freedom for over 47 years now, Netanyahu insisted on pushing the “Jewish state” bill for approval in the Israeli Cabinet earlier this week

Despite strong opposition from two senior Cabinet members, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, the bill was approved last Sunday. Six ministers were reported to have voted against.

While Livni’s opposition to the bill seems to be tactical, as she accuses Netanyahu of creating an internal crisis to fire the opposing ministers, Lapid viewed the bill as putting the Jewish state before democracy, according to a report in the Times of Israel (November 23, 2014).

Commenting on the situation on Israeli Channel 2 TV, Livni reconfirmed her accusation that Netanyahu was using the bill as a political manoeuvre “to break apart his coalition and jockey for position ahead of possible early elections”, reported the Times of Israel.

Addressing herself to Netanyahu, Livni said: “You want us to vote against it so that you can fire us.”

Lapid declared that neither himself nor the Yesh Atid Party will vote for the law when the law will be discussed in the Knesset. He said that “Netanyahu’s bill would enshrine in law Israel’s Jewishness, reserving what the prime minister called “national rights”, such as the flag, anthem and right to immigrate, for Jews alone.

The Times also reported that the same measure was strongly criticised by the opposition head member of Knesset Isaac Herzog (Labour) who chided the prime minister for approving the bill at a time when tensions between Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have fuelled violent clashes.

Herzog described the government as one of lighters and matches, as it keeps igniting trouble.

This kind of seeming in-house disagreement over whether Israel in the end will or will not be declared, and eventually recognised, as a Jewish state does not, and in fact should not, mean much; practically, Israel acts and has been acting all along as a state for the Jews only.

Not only have Arab Israelis never been treated the same way as Israeli Jews, but their presence was mainly viewed by the state as an unavoidable fact awaiting the appropriate moment to get rid of them.

That is the essential goal behind the Israeli persistence that Israel be recognised as a “Jewish state”.

If the title is vague, the content is not.

Israel has always been known and referred to as a Jewish state. As such, many ask what is in a name. 

There are Arab states and there are Islamic states, and that is right. But there is not one Arab or Islamic state that is meant to be for Arabs or for Muslims only, as the idea of the Jewish state in fact is.

With or without the current escalation, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is highly volatile. Only a renewed serious international effort to address the situation in its entirety could avert an explosion at a time when the entire region is moving from one serious crisis to another.

Rather than the routine crisis management approach of addressing the side effects and consequences only, the UN should claim back the Palestinian file.

The UN should plan well for ending the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab lands, define and recognise the rights of the Palestinian people and prepare the grounds for the envisaged peace.

That sounds remote, but we must realise that there is no other way to prevent disaster. The status quo may have been convenient for years, but it is hard to sustain forever.