Our Wednesday News Analysis | Normalization and co-resistance

PROTESTER HOLDS UP SIGN SAYING, “NO TO THE OCCUPATION,” AS ISRAELI FORCES ARREST PALESTINIANS AND SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS DEMONSTRATING AGAINST ISRAEL’S ILLEGAL SETTLEMENT AND EXPULSION POLICIES IN THE SHEIKH JARRAH NEIGHBORHOOD OF EAST JERUSALEM, ON SEPTEMBER 22, 2023. (PHOTO: SAEED QAQ /IMAGO VIA ZUMA PRESS)APA IMAGES)

“… both sides need to address the issue of “normalization,”
seek genuine forms of co-resistance,
and abandon the pretense that coexistence is possible
within the framework of an apartheid system in any part of the Land."

With the collapse of the two-state solution, it is now more important than ever for people of goodwill, struggling for justice and peaceful coexistence between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, to seek new ways to work together for a common future.

Before the Oslo process, it was common to have Jews and Arabs work and demonstrate together against the evils of the occupation, the creeping annexation, and the process of oppression and dispossession of the Palestinians that was most marked by the settlement movement and the oppressive policies of domination. With the Oslo process, however, there was a marked reduction in such joint activities. Many Israelis thought that progress towards a two-state solution required them to refrain from even traveling to the West Bank. The prevailing view was “We are here and they are there”.

As the Palestinian Authority began to develop its institutions, it fell into the trap of hafrada (separation), a basic feature of the apartheid system in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The system included the building of the Separation Wall (Geder hafrada), the elaborate parallel system of roads, infrastructure, and administrative processes, as well as different laws applying to Arabs and Jews in the oPt. Palestinians from the occupied territory could not go to Israel or even into the all-Jewish settlements without a permit. At the same time, Jews and Israelis were warned that even entering Area A, which was supposedly under Palestinian Authority control, was not only dangerous but also prohibited by law. That was usually enough to deter most Israeli liberals from even attempting to meet with Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and join their anti-occupation struggle, leaving them alone to confront Jewish settlers and the Israeli army. Some brave Israeli organizations like the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Breaking the Silence, and the Circle of the Bereaved continued to come to the occupied territory and join with Palestinians in activities confronting the occupation and its apartheid system, but most Jewish Israeli liberals concentrated on fighting fascism inside Israel, trying to regain power in the Knesset and to keep alive the mirage of a possible two-state solution...

Read more: Normalization and co-resistance

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MAHMOUD ABBAS AT THE UN: A GLOBAL BETRAYAL OF PALESTINE’S STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE

Source: MintPress News
https://www.mintpressnews.com/mahmoud-abbas-un-a-global-betrayal-palestines-struggle-justice/285839/

By MIKO PELED
Published September 29, 2023

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 21, 2023. Craig Ruttle | AP

"It is not “the occupation,” a term that has become increasingly vague with time,
but the existence of the apartheid state known as Israel.

That statement was missing,
and until it is made clear by leaders of the international community, there will be no progress.”

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has primarily been a demonstration of a world that has turned its back on Palestine and is determined to allow the wholesale killing of Palestinians to go on uninterrupted. Sadly, there was no one to represent the Palestinian people. Tragically, Mahmoud Abbas, a man who stands at the head of an organization that enables the ongoing suffering of the Palestinian people, was introduced as the “President of the State of Palestine.”

Abbas’ performance was a farce. He resorted to language that was outdated and irrelevant. His remarks constituted little more than begging for an international “peace conference” and the implementation of the Two State Solution. He said, “Our people are defending their homeland and their legitimate rights,” big words from the head of an organization that collaborates with Israel to silence Palestinians who lead the resistance. Had his actions not been so clearly motivated by self-preservation and greed, one might have thought he was sincere in his call for liberty and independence...

Read more: MAHMOUD ABBAS AT THE UN: A GLOBAL BETRAYAL OF PALESTINE’S STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE

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THE DANGEROUS EXCEPTIONALISM OF CHRISTIAN ZIONISM

Source: Al-Shabaka
https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/the-dangerous-exceptionalism-of-christian-zionism/

By Halah Ahmad, Mimi Kirk
Published October 3, 2023

Introduction

In recent years, much has been written about the rise of white supremacist movements in the US, their support for alt-right politics, and former President Donald Trump as their political champion. Similarly, since 2016 much has been written about the overwhelming support Trump has received from white evangelical Christians, particularly Christian Zionists. Less examined is the relationship between white supremacy and Christian Zionism, namely their overlapping ideologies and political clout.

“What does the New Testament say about ‘One People, One Land, One God,' the [un]holy trinity of Zionism?

The New Testament proclaims the Good News to ALL people, not just one people;
to ALL the nations, not just one state;
indeed, glorifying the one ‘I Am' with many names,
including but not limited to, Eloah, in Hebrew and its sound-alike, Allah, in Arabic."

van Kempen, Abraham A.. Christian Zionism ... Enraptured Around a Golden Calf - 2nd Edition: Evangelicals Rediscovering New Testament Revelations (p. 172). Fast Pencil Publishing. Kindle Edition.

While the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is often cited as the preeminent Zionist lobby in the US, Christian Zionists comprise a considerably larger political bloc with unwavering support for Israel and its continued displacement of Palestinians through both the expansion of settlements and apartheid rule. Christians United for Israel (CUFI), a major US Christian Zionist organization, claims over 10 million members, and the actual number of evangelicals who espouse Christian Zionist beliefs is likely much larger. Among white evangelical Christians, who comprise 14% of the US population and who supported Trump’s 2016 and 2020 elections by a wide margin, 80% believe that the establishment of the state of Israel and the “regathering of millions of Jewish people to Israel” are fulfilments of biblical prophecy...

Read more: The Dangerous Exceptionalism of Christian Zionism