Time for two-state solution in Palestine conflict

We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”—Nelson Mandela

It’s been more than a month now that the Israeli military has been bombing and pounding Gaza. The aim seems not merely to wipe out the Hamas group, but to destroy the entire enclave.

As noted by Andrew Mitrovica of the Al Jazeera news channel, “The humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza requires each of us to make a choice.” Indeed, the indiscriminate bombing and textbook genocide have triggered an outpouring of global support for the people of Palestine, and worldwide condemnation of Israel and its Western allies from various European capitals and the whole of the Muslim world.

On Oct. 18, the Zionists bombed the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, killing many Palestinians in Gaza City, the Gaza health ministry said. Since then, Israeli air attacks have targeted and killed a “large number” of displaced people sheltering in churches and refugee camps. As of Nov. 15, the death toll has reached 11,500, with 70 percent of casualties being women, children, and babies. There is no doubt that the Zionists and their imperialist backers are committing a crime against humanity, and that Gaza is the largest open air prison in the world. It has become a concentration camp where Palestinians crammed in the densely populated area for the last 16 years are now being subjected to a brutal siege from land, sea and sky, and slow starvation by withholding from them precious food, water and badly needed medical supplies. The Zionists’ objective seems to be to break their spirit and deprive them of dignity and humanity.

Yet, this oppressed, dispossessed, and subjugated people have consistently shown remarkable resilience and have been steadfast in the face of adversity, a testament to the power of the human spirit and will. It is thus the height of idiocy to reduce Israel’s siege as merely an exercise of its right to defend itself against the Hamas terrorists.

It might help people understand the root of the conflict and the rise of Hamas by recalling that in 1947-1948, Israel and their Western backers expelled some 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands. This is known in the whole Arab world as the Nakba or the catastrophe. Since then, the rightful owners of those lands have been living in several refugee camps under brutal occupation. The people of Palestine had no option but to use whatever means necessary to counter the violence of the Zionist occupying forces.

On the issue of Israel’s right to defend itself, how can it invoke that right when it merely grabbed the land it is now claiming as its own? The Palestinian problem is caused by Western imperialism. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was issued by the British occupying forces, announcing its support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a minority Jewish population. In 1922, the League of Nations gave England the right to administer Palestine, without consulting its people. The creation of a Frankenstein state that is Israel led to the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Since then, Palestine had not known peace, stability, and security under the iron fist rule of the Zionists.

Meanwhile, the United States, European Union, and other so-called civilized Western countries have collectively pledged their loyalty to Israel in violation of international law. The condemnation of the Arab world and global solidarity with Palestine have isolated Israel which has been warned about the eruption of a wider regional conflict. Already, the Saudis have backed out from talks with Israel on the normalization of ties and instead reaffirmed their stand with Palestine. Qatar is also unequivocally for the Palestinians, while the Jordanian people are agitated, as are the Syrians. The Iranian government has warned that it will not take Israel’s genocidal acts sitting down. The militant Hezbollah from Lebanon and the Houthis from Yemen have already joined the Hamas in fighting Israel. Can the Zionists withstand war in several fronts? Can the US come out of this mess unscathed? Already, it is entrenched in its proxy war in Ukraine while stoking China in the Indo-Pacific region.

Given such scenario, the people of the world must now openly demand an independent Palestinian State based on the 1967 border. It is my firm belief that the time for a two-state solution has come. In the words of Professor Edward Said: “The injustice inflicted upon the Palestinian people is a moral stain on the conscience of the world.” He added: “Palestinians are not just victims, but they are also agents of their own destiny, and their struggle is a critical part of the struggle of all oppressed peoples.”

Jose Mario De Vega is associate professor in the Department of Humanities of the College of Education, Arts, and Sciences at the National University of the Philippines.