Thursday, May 9, 2013
I wrote this letter to the Palestinian community in Canada a few years ago (10/10/2009). I think it is still relevant today so I thought that I should share it again.
Dear Friends,
I have a few concerns regarding the direction the Palestinian solidarity movement in Canada and other countries is taking. Following the Palestinian Authority’s infamous decision regarding Goldstone’s report, I, among many people, received a barrage of e-mails and letters expressing condemnation of this decision. I was heartened by the fact that people are still actively concerned about the situation in Palestine which, with the help of Abbas, is getting worse. However, I am deeply worried by the fact that Israel has succeeded with virtually no effort to divert the attention from her unequivocal rejection of the report in its entirety, to Abbas’s so-called “treachery”, incompetence or whatever you wish to call it. However, we have to remember, first and foremost, that Israel is the enemy and not Abbas or the PA; and that should be our guiding principle. Abbas and his corrupt gang are nothing but tools, they form a colonial intermediary, they follow orders, and when your plumber breaks your sink, you blame the plumber not his tools. Furthermore, Abbas does not derive his legitimacy from the Palestinian people (not sure about you, but I was not consulted when he was put in power). Most Palestinians (including myself) claim that he does not represent them; and if somebody does not represent me why should I care about what he thinks in the first place? Is it because he’s in power and he does represent us whether we like it or not? Well, it is true; he is in power because our main, first and foremost enemy wants him to be and remain in power.
The second important point that I want to make is that it would not have made any difference whether the Palestinian Authority endorsed the report or not for several reasons. Firstly, there are two ways a state can appear in front of the International Court of Justice, 1) the state has to agree to do so (which Israel will never do); or 2) the general assembly has to defer the case to the ICJ; which will never happen because due to the convoluted nature of International Law the Security Council is not going to let that happen. So running around in circles making demands that the PA endorse the report and make a “positive” statement is nothing but a waste of effort, time and money. Secondly, Israel is not a signatory on the Rome Statute, which means that Israel is not obliged by law to hand in Israeli war criminals to the International Criminal Court. I apologize for appearing pessimistic, but this is the fact, and no amount of protest, demonstrations, letters or anger is going to change what is in the Rome Statute. I mean, if the ICC cannot get Sudanese President al-Bashir at a time when Sudan is suffering from a severe international alienation and pressure, then how do you expect the same organization to get Israeli war criminals who enjoy international support?
In my opinion, the effort should be directed to countries with “universal jurisdiction”. Those include, among many, Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom (even Canada). We all know that Ehud Barak was arrested in the UK not so long ago (of course he was released later on). The Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon changed his plans to visit Britain because his office saw a possibility of him getting arrested. And Sharon was tried and charged in absentia for war crimes in Belgium. These efforts can yield good results if we intensify the work, support our lawyer and social scientists and encourage our youth to go into these fields.
Writing letters, making statements are nothing but means to channel frustration and anger at the status quo. I understand that most Palestinians feel like they were betrayed by Abbas and his following, but he is not the problem, he a symptom of a bigger problem. The problem is those who empower him; the United States, Canada, Israel, Europe and others. The direction the Palestinian solidarity movement is taking in Canada is dangerous and thorny and does not lead to anywhere. Judge Goldstone gave the Palestinians the key to a gold mine. In that report there is enough evidence to indict, try, and throw in jail many Israeli generals, soldiers, officials from all ranks; we can either throw that key in the ocean and complain about Abbas or we can take the key and use it. During the attacks on Gaza in January, everybody focused on Egypt and her betrayal of the Palestinian people and forgot about Israel. Every time something the like war on Gaza happens, everybody tends to (unintentionally and sometimes intentionally) rank Israel second or third or fourth in the list of those who are responsible. Please do not fall in that trap.
Thank you for reading my long e-mail.
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