Colonial arrogance cages all of Palestine
The military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip began 50 years ago in June, when Israel emerged victorious in the Six Day War in 1967. Israel celebrated the 50th anniversary of the “liberation” of Jerusalem. On the other side, Palestinians are marking the world’s longest continuing military occupation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refers to it as “the so-called occupation”. Others will say there really is no occupation, because all the Land of Israel was awarded to the Jews by God. Some will argue Gaza is no longer occupied, because Israel withdrew from the coastal enclave a decade ago. These voices see Jewish nationalism as totally legitimate, but they cannot possibly imagine why a person in Khan Younis or Jenin would desire a fully independent, sovereign state.
These voices are not marginal figures, but Israeli leaders now in office — including Netanyahu. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Hotovely declared unapologetically: “This country is ours, all of it.” Deputy Defence Minister Eli Ben Dahan warned: “Palestinians have to understand they won’t have a state and Israel will rule over them.”
There is a colonial arrogance in these statements. At the centre of this worldview is the belief that millions of Palestinians do not deserve the same rights as them.
Perhaps those who share this outlook should experience what it feels like to be occupied by a country that claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East.
They should have to apply for a permit to travel or study, pray at their holy sites in Jerusalem, visit relatives in the next village, attend a wedding or funeral, and get medical treatment.
They should have to live under a brutal military judicial system with a 99% conviction rate, while settlers across the road in the same territory are subject to civil law.
Their daily commute to work should include lining up at Checkpoint 300 every morning at 3.30am, where they are processed one at a time like prisoners.
They must rip off their belts; have their possessions scanned; pass through metal detectors; press their thumbs on fingerprint readers.
They should be led into cages and barred passageways, and then through clicking turnstiles.
They should witness desperate men jumping over, and slithering under the bars to cut the line.
It takes three or four hours to get to a destination that is only 40km away.
It won’t be long before they see the same images that Palestinians see daily: caged animals.
They should have to live in the pressure-cooker prison that is the Gaza Strip. In June, Gazans entered their 10th year of Israeli siege: no electricity, sealed borders, no exports, no reconstruction, no travel for a traumatised population that is 80% refugees and mostly under 18.
Extreme pressure is growing on the population there, and the pressure cooker will explode soon.
Palestinians have been caged in a prison for 50 years — living in a non-state with no rights or citizenship.
It is time the Israeli government and its apologists understand what four out of every five Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem have known their entire lives: an evolving occupation through which the Israeli military and intelligence services exert control over every aspect of Palestinian land and life.
Then, they might just understand what it is like to be stuck in a permanent nonentity status, denied choices or rights.
Maybe they will realise Palestinians, too, have the right to self-determination, the right to life and the right to dignity.
The realisation of Palestinian human rights cannot wait any longer. The world has allowed Israel to delay justice for 50 years. In doing so, justice has been denied for 50 years.
If we do not act with a sense of urgency, we will usher in the next 50 years of occupation.
EXTREME PRESSURE IS GROWING … THE PRESSURE COOKER WILL EXPLODE SOON. PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN CAGED IN A PRISON FOR 50 YEARS