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history of palestine

Israel and Palestine: 52 Years of Oppression

It seems every month or so we see big headlines in the newspapers and hear confusing sound bites about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This has been going on as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until just recently that I took the time to examine the situation more carefully. After briefly studying the issues I was astounded by the atrocities that have befallen the oppressed Palestinian masses by the hands of the Israeli/Zionist ruling class and our own imperialist government here in the U.S. Conveniently the stories we hear on CNN and read in the daily newspapers are only half-truths and full of twisted logic. The U.S. media is so intertwined with the ruling elite that a true understanding of the fatal situation in Israel can only be understood through independent research and a keen eye. I would like to briefly describe the formation of the Israeli state, its policies towards the Palestinian Arabs, and finally a look at a possible solution.

Up until the end of World War I the majority of the Middle Eastern countries were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Even under this Islamic theocracy the Palestinian people were radical and often banded together with the call to form their own autonomous state and to be separate from this great empire. Around the same time many Jews, who had the political/theological understanding that they should have a homeland in the “Holy land” began espousing the philosophy of Zionism to anyone who would help them attain their goal. As early as 1917 Zionists made partners with the imperialist British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour who declared that he would help the Jews get a piece of land. Of course his interests were not in helping the Jewish population who had suffered tremendous repression throughout Europe and the Middle East, but rather to satisfy the interests of his capitalist nation by setting up a satellite state in an economically profitable area.

After World War I, France and England carved up the old Turkish empire and artificially created the states of Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq as their own colonies. In 1948 England, along with aid from the United States, allowed the formation of the settler state of Israel on land where Palestinian Arabs had farmed, worked, and lived for generations. At the time Israel called for any Jew, anywhere around the world to come be a citizen of the new state. Though there were still 1,300,000 Palestinian Arabs living in what became Israel, the 630,000 Jewish settlers took over all of the land and pushed the Palestinians into the fringes of neighboring countries where they lived in poor refugee camps.

It is important to note that the U.S. and England did not care so much about a home for suffering European Jews after WWII but selfishly saw that the Middle East had prime oil reserves and thus would be a key economic stronghold. The formation of the Israeli state was an imperialist plan to have a watchdog in a volatile area to do their bidding.

From the very beginning up until the present the Israeli ruling class has launched a viciously violent attacks upon the dispossessed Palestinian people. Seventy-eight percent of the land that was owned by Palestine was stripped from them by the Israeli military and the 22% that remains in Gaza and the West Bank are basically run by Israeli forces. In all of Israel, as well as land that has been militarily occupied by the Israeli Army, no one can own, rent, lease, work, or use any property unless they can prove that they are maternally Jewish for four generations back! Imagine if we had such racist laws in the U.S.? You can only own land if you can prove that four generations back you are nothing but Caucasian! Furthermore, Palestinians are repeatedly tortured in Israeli prisons for organizing, rock throwing, or creating any disturbance against the Israeli state. Some of the procedures I read about were utterly sickening, so horrible that they gained international recognition when Amnesty International opposed such crimes. In addition to this, Palestinians are routinely denied civil liberties and due process simply because they do not meet the racial, religious criteria.

Why don’t we know any of this? When we hear anything about the conflict it is always in favor of the Israeli’s and opposed the “wild,” rock throwing Palestinians. The United States has provided Israel with over $170 billion in military aid, along with additional funding from England, making Israel the fourth largest military in the world! A country so small with a military that large should tell us that something is amiss. The ruling elite of Israel work hand in glove with the capitalistic, imperialist leaders of the U.S. and act as a watch dog state. The U.S. has bloody hands in nearly every Middle Eastern country and at the same time it needs to have the oil resources open to its market. Thus the U.S. uses the Israeli state as a force in the volatile region to maintain its own interests.

But what about the peace process we hear so much of? Clinton and Albright made numerous trips to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, doesn’t that show that we’re not so bad? Heck no! At times the conflict between Israel and Palestine grows to be so violent and obvious that the U.S. has to “intervene” to give the impression that they are helping out. The so called peace process has not solved one thing in the past 52 years but has only acted as a pressure release for the entire region.

The Palestinian people are living in utter poverty and a people can only do that for so long before they rise up and try to beat down their oppressors. The only solution that proves as a viable option for the oppressed people of both Palestine and Israel is to unite and fight against the imperialist/capitalist powers that threaten their lives and form a democratic, secular Palestine.

We should also recognize the dynamic within Israel itself, and how it can help bring about the realization of a democratic secular Palestine. There are two types of Jews that make up the Israeli state, Ashkinaze and Sephardic. The Ashkinaze Jews make up 30% of the population but dominate the Knesset (Israeli parliament), schools, and major social institutions. On the other hand, the Sephardic Jews (darker skin due to Eastern decent) make up 70% of the population and have nearly no political representation or place in higher education (after eighth grade.) The Sephardic Jews live only a bit above the Palestinian Arabs but share many political, economic, and social interests. Thus the oppressed Palestinian masses and the population of Sephardic Jews are natural class allies and ought to join each other as brothers and sisters and fight for their own independent state that is run by a real democracy, without regard to race or religion, and allows equal freedoms to all.

In conclusion, it is only by uniting together in class unity and fighting for self-determination, and true democracy that the Sephardic Jews and Palestinian Arabs will achieve freedom. Though this may sound idealistic and unobtainable it was the stance of many Palestinians in the early 1970's. In time the masses will become frustrated by the failing peace process and will turn in a new direction. As students who desire justice in the world we ought to extend our hands in solidarity to those who struggle for freedom in this conflict.

This is a summary of a talk given by Rob Welsh at a Youth for Socialist Action forum. For more information or verification of information please contact YSA.