ONE of the key factors that has fuelled Palestinian rage over the past few decades is the consistent Israeli denial of a viable state for the Arabs on the land of their ancestors — land that was snatched from them through colonial intrigue. While Zionism’s elders — Golda Meir, for example — said there was no such thing as a Palestinian people, their successors have upheld the policy of denying the Palestinians their land and dignity. In the latest iteration of this policy, coming in the midst of the merciless slaughter in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu has shot down the idea of a future Palestinian state. The Israeli prime minister said recently that after the conflict winds down, Tel Aviv would maintain control of territory marked for a Palestinian state. He was reacting to meek American requests that Israel consider the two-state solution. Mr Netanyahu further said he would pursue the slaughter in Gaza “until complete victory”. Already, in just over 100 days, Israel has butchered some 25,000 people in the Strip. One shudders to think what the Israeli vision of ‘total victory’ entails, but from the evidence available thus far, it appears to ominously resemble the ‘final solution’.

If Israel thinks it can beat the Palestinians into submission, it is mistaken. Denial of their rights, particularly their right to a state, will fuel further violence, as a new generation of Palestinians grows up to try and liberate the land grabbed from their forefathers. Even the two-state solution envisioned by the Oslo Accords — now buried in the rubble of Gaza and perhaps irretrievable in its original form — is unacceptable to Israeli hardliners, who seemingly want to devour all Arab land, from the river to the sea. The only just solution to this crisis is a viable Palestinian state, which Israeli extremists have sworn to resist. Meanwhile, on the ground in Gaza, the situation is truly hellish. In the words of a senior UN official visiting the Strip, the humanitarian situation is “terrible” with “pervasive fear”. The local people have been bombed, starved and besieged. Also, there is shocking evidence that Palestinian prisoners have been brutally tortured by the Israelis. Nearly eight decades ago, the Jews of Europe faced such conditions at the hands of Nazi Germany. Today, Israel is carrying out a similar massacre in Palestine.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2024