A supporter of the Palestinian cause holds placards as she passes in front of Metropolitan Police officers while participating in the “Day of Action for Palestine” demonstration outside the British Armaments, Security and Space Company in London (French)
The battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” opened the Palestinian scene to multiple dimensions of the Palestinian issue, and the paths of national action of resistance and anti-colonialism and Zionism, as the idea, and then the movement on which the project of establishing a political entity for the Jews in Palestine was carried.
Despite the harshness of the scene and the extent of the pain resulting from the war of extermination waged by the occupation against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and despite the general feeling of negligence and the inability to curb the brutality and fascism of the occupation, this war - and regardless of the way in which it might end and end - could constitute A historic opportunity for the Palestinian partisan and popular forces, as well as activists, to confront the Zionist project, enhance the presence of the Palestinian cause, and mobilize support for it on several levels, including:
First: Reconsidering the global dimension of the Palestinian issue, as an issue of liberation, justice, and self-determination for a people who have suffered from occupation for more than a hundred years, especially after the significant decline in the presence of the Palestinian issue and its adoption by many countries and peoples of the world over the past decades, as a result of many policies - More than one party tried to confine the Palestinian issue to its Palestinian context only, and to strip it of its Arab and Islamic dimension, let alone its global dimension.
The scale of popular support and shifts in world public opinion - which resulted from this war, whether for considerations of support and defense of human and universal values such as freedom and justice, or to reject and confront the injustice, criminality, fascism and genocide practiced by the occupation against the Palestinians - is so large and profound that it can be said that the issue Today, Palestine has become an issue of international public opinion, and the issue of many countries and peoples around the world, which do not belong to the Arab and Islamic world. Indeed, some of them have become, by virtue of their position and practice, closer to the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause than any Arab country.
The matter is no longer limited only to the justice of the Palestinian cause and the right of the Palestinians, like other peoples of the world, to freedom, independence, and self-determination. Rather, it is the appreciation of these countries - especially friends and allies of “Israel” - that the only way to ensure stability and security in the region is linked to the Palestinian cause and the people. The Palestinian, and that all attempts to bypass the Palestinian and his issue have not and will not succeed
Today, the State of South Africa and its people are closer to Palestine and have a deeper connection than many countries neighboring it geographically and with which they are linked by historical, religious and national ties. As well as many peoples and countries of the world, they are more attached and interactive with the suffering of the Palestinian people and their rights than many peoples in the region.
Second: Putting “Israel” in the dock before international justice, which is happening for the first time in its history, as the Palestinian has lived throughout the decades of occupation dealing with an enemy above the law, and is provided with legal protection, as well as political, military, and economic protection from the forces controlling the regime. International.
But this war and the crimes that occurred in it exceeded the ability of the Western world to continue providing legal immunity to the occupation, and “Israel” found itself in the dock before the most important international legal platform (the International Court of Justice), and soon it will find itself in the dock before the International Criminal Court, And a large number of national courts in many countries of the world.
This is the result of the efforts not only of countries such as South Africa, but also of hundreds, if not thousands, of lawyers, jurists and human rights institutions, who responded to the call of their consciences and their values that reject aggression, injustice and crime.
Which means that the Israeli occupation will face - for many years - a harsh legal battle, which will destroy its face and the false image that it painted with Western support, through which it tried to mislead many countries and peoples around the world, and from this moment it will stand in the correct box that represents it as a fascist, racist, and criminal occupation.
Third: The shift in many official positions and the increase in public talk about - and expression of the desire to - recognize a Palestinian state, and acknowledge the political rights of the Palestinians, without waiting for a “peace process” or “political settlement,” and without taking into account the position of the occupation government. Even the entity's historical sponsors - the United States and Britain - spoke publicly about the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state, as stated by the foreign ministers of the two countries.
The matter is no longer limited only to the justice of the Palestinian cause and the right of the Palestinians, like other peoples of the world, to freedom, independence, and self-determination. Rather, it is the appreciation of these countries - especially friends and allies of “Israel” - that the only way to ensure stability and security in the region is linked to the Palestinian cause and the people. The Palestinian, and that all attempts to bypass the Palestinian and his issue have not and will not succeed.
Neither bilateral agreements nor security and military care, nor normalization with many Arab countries, can bring stability and security. Only giving the Palestinians their rights and treating them with the respect and appreciation they deserve can lead to this.
Despite this development in positions, no one can sell the illusion regarding the role and position of the United States in particular, which is absolutely biased towards the occupation. However, this will constitute an opportunity for the Palestinians to work with many other countries to continue to exert pressure to achieve Palestinian rights, on the basis that continuing to identify with The vision and policies of the occupation constitute a permanent danger, and have a serious impact on regional and international security and peace.
Fourth: The great change in the image of “Israel,” as its leaders - especially Benjamin Netanyahu - liked to promote to the world, especially the Western world, as it constitutes the civilizational extension of the West in the face of the “barbarism of the East,” and the only democracy in the Middle East that lives in an environment of Totalitarian regimes and dictatorships, and that they are the state of law and respect for human rights, in an environment dominated by oppression and tyranny.
This picture changed dramatically, and this war showed the true face of the occupation, denying it all claims of civilization, democracy, and respect for human rights, revealing the extent of racism, savagery, and fascism lurking deep within it and spreading among its various components.
The image of the victim, the persecuted, and the threatened has also faded, and the image of brutality, criminality, genocide, and fascist discourses has grown. At the same time, the true image of the Palestinian people has greatly emerged, and positive impressions of it have grown around the world. The Palestinian today is the steadfast, persecuted person who is overflowing with the meanings of humanity, courage, dignity, and patience.
Despite the harmful bias of the Western media and its flawed and unprofessional role, especially at the beginning of the war, when it fully adopted the false Zionist narrative, the scale of Israeli crimes, the level of decadence in military behavior, and the development of hate speech, fascism and racism among the masses and elites of the occupation, which was not spared. One of them - politicians, military personnel, academics and journalists - all of this exceeded the ability of the Israeli and Western media to mislead and falsify the facts. The picture quickly appeared clearly and clearly, and television screens and social networking sites were filled with images of the destruction, massacres and terrorism practiced against the Palestinians. The remains and bodies of civilian victims - especially women and children - revealed the extent of the crime and the falsity of the claims about the civility and morality of the occupation army.
These and other transformations place the Palestinians and their friends with great responsibilities, to build on these strategic transformations and the great horizons that loom on the horizon, and to invest them in the interests of the Palestinian cause and the ongoing Palestinian struggle to achieve their rights.
It leads to working on the basis that the Palestinian issue is a global issue in which every believer in the human being, his dignity, and his basic rights is concerned, and as such it requires from the Palestinian - and especially from the resistance forces - a new philosophy of action, mechanisms and structures, perhaps different from what exists today.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.