The
Freedom Flotilla massacre has made it absolutely clear that the status quo in
the Middle East is unsustainable. While the details of the diplomatic fallout
are still somewhat unclear, and Israel’s propaganda machine is hard at work
trying to control the damage, things cannot continue on as they were. The date
May 31, 2010—when nine brave activists lost their lives while trying to deliver
aid to blockaded Gaza—might become a key turning point in the history of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
On
the face of it, it appears that little has changed. As in the past, the White
House is providing diplomatic and political cover for Israeli war crimes. The
entire United Nations Security Council, which currently includes Turkey and
Lebanon as members, would have openly condemned Israel were it not for the U.S.
representative’s stubborn opposition. It looks like the murderous assault on
the Freedom Flotilla, like the genocidal siege on Gaza in 2008-2009, will go unpunished.
But
behind the surface, Israel faces some very real problems. Their brazen massacre
could not have come at a worse time for their international standing. While
neither the Israeli or U.S. governments will admit it, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu was undoubtedly told that he was not welcome in Washington
on the day of the flotilla massacre. Considering the U.S. government’s
strategic aims in the Middle East—its ongoing occupation of Iraq, its tenuous
relationship with Turkey, its support for dictators in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi
Arabia and pro-U.S. forces in Lebanon—it would be too much of a political
liability for Obama to be seen shaking the hand, still wet with blood, of the
Israeli leader.
The
massacre has further polarized politics within Turkey, Israel’s long-time ally
in the region, between a military leadership historically aligned with Israel
and a population that identifies strongly with the Palestinian struggle. Egypt
has opened up the Rafah Crossing (at least temporarily), eliminating a major
pillar of the Gaza blockade. Britain and other leading European imperialist
powers have reversed course and called the blockade “unsustainable.”
These
should be seen as part of a larger process that has unfolded since Israel
unsuccessfully invaded Lebanon in 2006. The Israeli war machine could not
defeat Hezbollah, thus shattering the myth of Israeli military invincibility.
Two years later, Israel launched another assault on the densely populated and
economically strangled Gaza Strip.
But
despite the horrific human loss that Israel inflicted on the Palestinian
people, it too was a political setback. People throughout the world condemned
the barbaric attack. In the last few years, the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions
(BDS) campaign has picked up, as has the international campaign to defeat the
Gaza blockade. As a result, Israel is undoubtedly more isolated than in any
other period.
Internally,
the Palestinian people have continued their resistance and steadfast
determination to reclaim their homeland. In demographic terms, the Palestinian
population continues to outpace that of the Israelis; it has become
increasingly difficult to preserve even the fiction of “democracy” in the
Jewish-only apartheid state of Israel. Palestinian parties were banned from
running in the last Israeli elections and there is open discussion of stripping
Palestinians of citizenship rights.
In
this context, Israeli politics have shifted sharply to the right. Not only was
the right-wing Netanyahu elected, continuing settlements in East Jerusalem and
the West Bank, but also far-right, fascistic political forces have received
top-level positions in government.
The
final point to make about the Flotilla Massacre is the one that the corporate
media will never make: It is the people’s struggle that changed the situation.
There have been years of fruitless diplomatic negotiations and conferences over
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But it was the 700 people on those ships, the
millions of Palestinians who have refused to give in over decades and the
growing international movement that stands behind them, who will change
history.
The nine martyrs who lost their lives on May 31 did not die in vain!
They join a long list of heroes whose names will be enshrined and celebrated
when Palestine is finally free.
