Thousands of people, with barely any ‘notice’, are fleeing – yet again – from their refugee camp. Jenin, founded as a place of refuge after 1948, is – yet again – being demolished for no reason. Yet again, feeble calls for ‘restraint’ echo into the atmosphere from the United Nations, while new arms deals – fully funded by taxpayers – are signed with the oppressor. 

Israeli jets, helicopters, drones, armoured personnel carriers, bulldozers and two thousand soldiers are – yet again – applying maximum force to subjugate Palestinians. Yet again, electrical power is cut, internet access is restricted, ambulances are blocked, trees are uprooted and roads are torn apart. And a new generation of Palestinians in Jenin – the fourth since the Nakba – are – yet again – homeless. 

And the oppressor, fuelled by strong domestic and international support, continues to expand the frontiers of impunity and entrenches Apartheid as the de facto path for the future. 

Families are forced to flee Jenin / Source: Times of Gaza

History, fortunately, shows us that this is doomed to fail. International support for Israel – just as it was for Apartheid South Africa – is not permanent. Domestically, more and more citizens of Israel are beginning to realise the impossibility of maintaining a settler colonial state built on stolen Palestinian land. This is not only due to international pressure but also multiple grassroot campaigns, such as the One Democratic State Initiative,  that are raising public awareness on sensible pathways for the eventual decolonisation of Palestine. 

DiEM25’s position see’s a Single Democratic Secular State in the land of historic Palestine as most viable in the long term. Towards this, we have proposed a series of short-term measures to facilitate developments in this direction:

• An immediate end of the Israeli Occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza
• An immediate termination of Israel’s Apartheid policies and institutions both within its pre-1967 borders and elsewhere
• The immediate implementation of the right of Palestinian refugees to return (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194)
• The immediate recognition by the EU of the State of Palestine, so that Israelis and Palestinian negotiators enjoy legal parity in International Law
• The immediate embargo on arms sales, technology transfers and maintenance to/from Israel
• The immediate dissolution of all military alliances and treaties of EU member-states with Israel
• The immediate cessation of all trade with Israeli settler communities in the Occupied Territories
• An immediate de-nuclearisation of all states and entities in the Middle East
• An end to foreign power meddling: Foreign powers have traditionally stoked the fires of conflict. The United States in particular have no legitimacy as an honest broker, and nor does the European Union. Israeli and Palestinian progressives must now take it upon themselves, with the support of progressives from around the world, to take the necessary steps

We thus repeat our call on progressives to combine forces to end Israeli apartheid and aid in creating the necessary conditions for a just peace to prevail over historic Palestine. To assist DiEM25 in contributing to this mission, simply write to us: policy@diem25.org 

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