I think it has always been impossible to separate diplomacy, military, law, and the popular struggle not only in Palestine but in the region. I believe that all of these are means to advance the decolonization of Palestine.
Now, I certainly agree that we are in a moment of increasing contradiction. Previous diplomacy has resulted in the defeat of the Palestinians, and the prospects for success on this front remain the same today. Western policymakers hope to return the Palestinians to the trap of a truncated state with no real sovereignty.
At the same time, while the Palestinians suffer heavy losses in Gaza, they are achieving strategic military victories. And so far, there has been no popular uprising against state or settler terrorism in the West Bank or inside 1948. [Israel proper]. Therefore, these contradictions must be handled very carefully.
For me, the greatest weakness at the moment is the absence of a Palestinian political project that unites all legal, diplomatic, military and popular struggles in a common strategy. Without it, these struggles can sometimes serve at cross purposes to each other.
There is no other organization like the old PLO. But even the old PLO was not representative of our struggle as a whole, as it did not include Palestinians inside Israel. So even though we have a global, energetic and highly effective grassroots movement, we do not have a political project to make strategic decisions to lead an organized resistance movement. .
I think we have two tasks. First, we must encourage the emergence of representative political organizations. It would then be possible to assess the Palestinian struggle as a whole, represent all the different constituencies, strategize, and implement it through the movement’s various fronts. For now, this means blocking any efforts to hire politicians who do not represent the people and are willing to accept a return to the status quo of Bantustan governance for personal gain.
Second, we must view the Palestinian struggle as inextricably linked to regional struggles. Israel as a settler colony is deeply tied to imperialist ambitions in the region (founded by the British Empire and supported ever since by the American Empire).
But authoritarianism also has deep roots in the region. The various normalization agreements negotiated between authoritarian regimes and Israel over the past few decades, led by the United States and others, highlight this fact.
That is why the liberation of Palestine has a regional depth and is closely related to the support it receives from local populations, which often conflicts with the interests of authoritarian regimes. In this sense, Palestine is both a regional and a global issue.
In my opinion, this is the litmus test for decolonization in the 21st century. Therefore, as we continue to build a liberationist project on behalf of all our peoples, we Palestinians must forge regional and global alliances for collective liberation.
That is why South Africa’s case at the ICJ is so important. It shows us that our oppression and liberation are not just about us, but about the world and its institutions. If the ICJ is not a forum for fighting back against war crimes and genocide in Palestine, it has failed as an institution of global governance and has become an institution easily manipulated to serve Western interests.