Palestine crisis cannot be ‘managed’

The claim that the Arab Spring, the rise of extremist groups and the resulting inter-Arab wars have marginalised the core issue of Palestine is heard very often. But however one looks at it, this view is wrong.

The other claim, “international fatigue” — that continued emphasis on the same Palestinian issue is causing boredom in a world that needs to deal with more important problems — is wrong, too.

Neither the so-called international community nor individual states or the media choose to deal with the question of Palestine simply because it is an attractive subject. It is not attractive at all.

They deal with it because it is too dangerous to ignore.

The world may get bored with the relentless struggle of the Palestinians in pursuit of their rights and national aspirations. And many, including some Arab states, would no doubt prefer that the Palestinians stop talking about their rights as that would indeed make this nagging issue disappear. 

But history does not work that way.

Since the collapse of the last US effort to work out a settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians, the doomed-from-the-start initiative of US Secretary of State John Kerry, there has been no renewed effort in that direction.

Israel had no interest in any negotiations with the Palestinian Authority if that required an interruption of its expansionist colonial programme.

And Israeli leaders had nothing to be concerned about from Mahmoud Abbas. The PA leader has constantly reassured Israel that with or without movement, he would prevent any Palestinian resistance and limit his actions to empty appeals for international help.

Maintaining the status quo has therefore been the best strategy from Israel’s perspective, while managing any occasional crises that arise.

The PA, though it has all the legitimate means available to unblock the political stalemate, seems to be equally pleased with the status quo.

Drastic measures would inevitably require sacrificing the luxury the PA leaders bask in — not least the illusion and trappings of statehood, with red carpet receptions in world capitals and attractive position at the top.

The formula to maintain this comfortable status quo is to maintain the silence on Israel’s many and well-documented crimes from Gaza to the Galilee and to suppress any form of legitimate Palestinian resistance.

But even when everyone is bored, distracted or complicit, the issue does not disappear.

Millions of Palestinians will not agree to suffer the brutal violence and humiliation of Israel’s occupation and colonial regime in silence.

Israel’s aggression eventually drags everyone, bored or not, back to the issue of Palestine. That was the case when Israel waged wars on Lebanon and Gaza, escalated its violence in the West Bank and encouraged settlers to violate the sanctity of the holy places in Jerusalem.

Israel is now using the disarray in surrounding countries, and the inability and unwillingness of Arab and Muslim states to respond meaningfully, to radically change the situation at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

This is a blatant miscalculation that is triggering a major crisis and inevitable violence. Neither Netanyahu nor Abbas can manage the crisis as they probably believed they were doing before.

Crisis management is no more than analysts’ fantasy. Crises manage, rather than submit to management by their creators.

Rising violence in the occupied West Bank, along with what is happening to the Palestinians in Gaza, is the perfect recipe for a new, and possibly major, confrontation.

Only when Israeli actions cause tragedy do world leaders wake up and rush to the region to feign concern.

The parade of political leaders to the region offering words and tired formulas has not yet begun in earnest, but it will.

This pattern has been going on for decades without any positive outcomes. 

Very few trust the political machinations and manipulations that produced the likes of Tony Blair, to give the worst possible example, as “peace” negotiators.

The situation in the region is very dangerous. 

The new manifestations of chaos and the extremist terrorist organisations that are distracting attention from the main source of trouble should be confronted, but not as the alternative threat.

They are a very serious threat, but the original threat remains the same. It is the unresolved question of Palestine.

Most of the radicalisation and the drift into extremism and terror in the region have been a direct result of the injustice resulting from Israel’s dispossession of the Palestinian people with the direct sponsorship and support of the United States and Europe.

Apparently only few realise the size of the current crisis. It is not the kind that can, with nice words, fake promises and dishonest pacification be swept under the carpet once again.