From the River to the Sea- Freedom for Palestine - Response to Prof Kancha Ilaiah's article
4 November, 2024
This article was originally published in Telugu in Kolimi magazine on November 2nd and has been slightly edited.
A few days ago, Professor Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd wrote an article in the Telugu newspaper Sakshi titled “The Only Way Forward is to Live as Two Nations” concerning the ongoing “Israel-Palestine conflict”. While this article sought to address key issues and suggest a solution to the Palestine issue, we felt it essential to counter certain points as the article veers into inaccuracies and Islamophobia. In response, we are presenting this essay.
The Two-State Solution: An Outdated Idea
The Israel-Palestine “two-state solution” is an old, unsuccessful approach. Although the Oslo Accords 1993 were based on this concept, it failed to bring peace. The accord itself was biased and aimed at diminishing Palestinian people’s rights. Rather Israeli expansion and occupation continued, and peace initiatives weakened, leading to more instability in the region.
Gaza: A Prison
Due to the Israeli military presence, Palestinians are forced to live as outsiders in their homeland. Areas like the Gaza Strip have become prisons over the decades. Economic restrictions, control over water resources, and power cuts have made life unbearable for Palestinians, crippling their economic independence and employment, and severely impacting the lives of the people forced to live in the ghetto conditions.
Israel: A Settler-Colonial Apartheid State
A settler-colonial state establishes dominance by dispossessing or displacing native populations and claiming their resources. Israel did just this, seizing resources and land from the native Arabs. This has been the pattern for other settler-colonial states like the USA, Canada, and Australia.
In Israel’s current political system, extremist right-wing parties dominate. These and even previous governments have consistently trampled on the human rights of Arab Muslims and also Christians. Jewish settlers forcefully occupy Palestinian lands and homes at will, while the police enforce discriminatory laws. Each year, Israel also detains 600-700 Palestinian children without charges, subjecting them to all kinds of abuse. Mixed marriages are also prohibited. This apartheid regime resembles South Africa's former oppressive system toward Black people.
International courts have condemned Israel numerous times. However, because of support from Western powers, no international sanctions have been applied.
Western Support
Countries like the USA. and Britain provided substantial support for Israel’s creation, strengthening the Zionist presence in the region. From 1948 to now, Israel has received nearly $320 billion from the United States, cementing its dominance over Palestinian territories through its control of economic aid and its plentiful arms supply.
Genocide
Israel continually expands its control over Palestinians. Even before 7 October 2024, Israel’s repeated intensification of its settler-colonial strategy had already claimed around 90,000 Palestinian lives and 25,000 Israeli lives. After 7 October, Israel massively intensified its offensive on Gaza, with most victims being innocent civilians, including women, children, journalists, teachers, and medical staff. This year alone, the estimated death toll has crossed 40,000 with numerous children orphaned. Over the past year, Israel has destroyed all of the eight universities and multiple hospitals in Gaza.
The Lancet medical journal has reported that actual fatalities maybe up to 186,000. Support from countries like the USA, Britain, and Germany plays a major role in perpetuating this violence.
Meanwhile, over 1,000 violent incidents have also occurred last year in the West Bank, where Hamas has no presence, against the Palestinian Arab populace.
The Palestinian Struggle
The foundation of Palestinian nationalism was strengthened by numerous supporters. In the 1970s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) highlighted their plight to the world. Despite PLO’s leadership for Palestinian independence, Israel’s colonisation of Palestine intensified after the 1990s. Against this backdrop, Hamas adopted a different path. Initially opposing PLO, they received Israeli support, but eventually, they became a significant threat to Israel. Since coming into power in Gaza after an election in 2006, Hamas have consistently fought for Palestinian freedom.
Palestinian Women
The claim that Palestinian women do not work in agriculture is false. Worldwide, women work mainly in low-income agricultural jobs, and Palestine is no different. Women account for 54% of fruit and vegetable production and 83% of dairy production, meaning they contribute more labour than men in Palestine.
Comparing Israeli women to oppressed Shudra and Dalit women is inappropriate. Just as Shudra and Dalit women in caste-patriarchal societies face caste and gender discrimination, Palestinian women face discrimination both for their gender and Arab identity under the occupation.
Islamophobia
In analysing the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, Kancha Ilaiah's article labels the Palestinian struggle as “extremism” or “Islamist anger”. This view reveals an Islamophobic bias, casting Palestinians and Muslims in a negative light globally, and fostering hatred.
The Palestinian struggle is primarily about regional independence, not religious hatred. However, to sway public opinion, Israel’s supporters propagate the narrative that the Occupation is a “religious conflict”. They use Islamophobic sentiments to deflect global attention from the continued settler colonialism in Palestine.
Democracy
Western democracies assert their adherence to democratic principles, but how can they justify imperialism, waging wars, and discrimination over their ethnic minorities, and refugees in their countries and other nations? It raises questions about secularism and religious dominance. Why have modern secular Western nations failed to promote peace, curb violence, or stop spreading hate?
Intellectual dishonesty
Labelling the Palestinian governance system as purely religious and blaming only religion for the suffering of innocents is unfair and is willful intellectual ignorance that overlooks imperialism and its contribution to the degradation of human values. Just as there is a need for nations to turn toward democracy, it is equally crucial for Western powers to cease their own colonialism and imperialism.
Greater Israel and Akhand Bharat
Israel’s current strategies align with the concept of “Greater Israel,” aimed at claiming territory from the Nile to the Euphrates and now beyond with the attacks on Lebanon, potentially sparking new regional conflicts. This strategy resembles RSS’s “Akhand Bharat” ideology. Promoting such divisive visions creates turmoil and will lead to major future challenges.
Conclusion
Real peace can only be achieved by acknowledging Palestinian rights and protecting their freedom and right to self-determination. According to the slogan “From the river to the sea, freedom for Palestine,” there should be one state with equal rights for all. Refugees displaced from the area should be allowed to return, and justice should be served to those wronged. This is the true aspiration of the Palestinian people.
Praveen Kolluguri
A London-based human rights activist focused on caste, labor, trade unions, neurodiversity, and disability justice. He is a co-founder of the India Labour Solidarity Collective (UK).
Raj Kumar Paseddula
A political strategist who previously worked with I-PAC. He holds a B.Tech from IIT Indore and a Master’s in Sociology from the University of Hyderabad.