Millions of people across the globe are rightly furious at Israel’s latest attacks on Gaza. They want to see an end to the killing.
One common sense solution is to create a Palestinian state alongside the Israeli one. But in reality as long as Israel exists there will be oppression and war.
The Israeli state was created in 1948 on what was then Palestine by forcing over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. It is a state built on racism—set up as a state for Jewish people.
Israel became one of the greatest military powers in the world because of Western backing. Western rulers use Israel as a “watchdog” in the Middle East to police other regimes and promote Western interests.
Israel isn’t there as a refuge for ordinary Jewish people. It is there to further Western imperialism.
Its short history is littered with bloody wars and attacks on its neighbours. And it can only exist by denying the rights of Palestinians.
There have been decades of attempts to negotiate with this bloody imperialist state. The US, which supports Israel, has backed up the so-called “peace process”.
But talks allegedly aimed at securing a peaceful two-state solution have failed because Israel does not want to make any concessions.
Refugees
Palestinian representatives have even offered to limit the right of return for Palestinian refugees—something they have no mandate to do.
Yet even this wasn’t enough for Israel to agree a settlement because it doesn’t want one.
It wants to keep the talks going while it steals more Palestinian land.
Many of those looking to a two-state solution genuinely want an end to the bloodshed in Palestine. But it is a dead end.
The only solution is to create a single state where Jews and Arabs can live alongside each other in peace and equality.
Only this can give all Palestinians the right of return.
This isn’t a pipe dream made impossible by entrenched sectarian division. Jewish people and Palestinians have lived side by side in the past.
But how can a single state come about in the face of the awesome power of Israel and its Western backers?
The defiance of the Palestinians has been inspiring. But under siege and with very little military or economic power they can’t beat Israel on their own.
But the recent Arab revolutions showed that there is a force with the power to push imperialist regimes back.
Egypt’s large working class played the critical role in bringing down hated dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
A revolution across the whole region can break the hold of imperialism—and win liberation for Palestine.
