THE victory of the people of Gaza in the 51 day war, imposed on them by Israel’s attempt to completely destroy Gaza has changed the situation in occupied Palestine.
The world wide support for the Palestinians and the widespread horror and anger at the way men, women and children had been slaughtered in Gaza by Israel resulted in two important votes.
One was the decision of Sweden to recognise the State of Palestine and two was the UK House of Commons vote urging the British government to recognise Palestine.
These encouraged the Palestinian leadership to declare that it would see that a resolution was put before the UN Security Council to recognise the Palestinian state and set a deadline of three years for the ending of the occupation.
The response of the Israeli government to these developments has been to fall out with the Obama administration in a big way and to hit back at the Palestinians.
In the last week it has closed the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and then been forced to lift the closure after massive resistance.
The Israel regime then proceeded to close down the crossings from the West Bank into Gaza, and now it has stepped up its offensive destroying Palestinian homes and building new settlements.
Israeli forces raided the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan early on Tuesday and demolished two two-storey buildings.
Israeli troops and intelligence officers escorted bulldozers to the Wadi Yasoul area and proceeded to knock down the walls of the building without allowing the family to remove property.
Israeli forces demolished another building under the pretext that the owners had no proper construction permits from the Jerusalem municipality.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli municipality workers forced the family of Muhammad Jaabis, who was shot dead in August by an Israeli security guard in West Jerusalem, to demolish two animal barns they owned in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighbourhood, locals said.
Tensions have boiled in the Silwan neighbourhood in recent weeks, with ten apartments taken over by Jewish settlers.
Israel on Monday approved the construction of 500 new settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem.
Leading Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement late on Monday: ‘With the situation in occupied Jerusalem at boiling point, Israel’s latest settlement announcement is a slap in the face to Kerry, to the international community, to the Palestinian people, and to peace.
‘As an emergency move to protect the two-state solution, we call upon all countries to intensify their efforts to support recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.’
Even in Israel itself there is now an opposition to the current government. Over 100 former high-ranking Israeli army members, police officers and spy chiefs have called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to pursue peace with the Palestinians.
They appealed: ‘We, the undersigned, reserve IDF (army) commanders and retired police officers, who have fought in Israel’s military campaigns, know first-hand of the heavy and painful price exacted by wars,’ the 105 signatories said in a joint letter addressed to Netanyahu.
It continued: ‘This is not a question of left or right. What we have here is an alternative option for resolving the conflict that is not based solely on bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians, which have failed time and again.’
It called on Netanyahu to embark on a ‘courageous initiative’ and make peace with Palestine and other Arab states.
Now is the time for the trade unions in the UK and internationally to answer the call from the Palestinians and others and to take mass actions to secure the recognition of the Palestinian state by the UN Security Council, including the date for the ending of the occupation which the Palestinians say must be three years at the most.
Take strike action now to add weight to the House of Commons resolution, organise mass demonstrations, and an international boycott of Israel.
NOW FORWARD TO PALESTINE!
