Indymedia Israel* has reported a number of joint demonstrations including "4,000 Jews and Palestinian-Israelis gathered in Haifa on the evening of the 21st of October [ ]for a rally under the slogan 'For A Just Peace & Full Equality.'" The report says "speakers, among other points, called for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the removal of all settlers, an end to the officially sanctioned shootings by the Israeli Army of unarmed Palestinians in both the Occupied Territories and Israel, and full equality between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis." We talked to Ilan Shalif, an Israeli anarchist who has been active for many years in "persistent and principled opposition to Zionism".
"Until recently the left anti Zionist flag was raised only by the
libertarian communist group Matspen, and we were never more than
30 activists - Jews and Palestinians. In 1972 one of our members
was the first to resist conscription from an anti - Zionist
position - this struggle was the origin of later political
resistance to conscription or refusal to serve in the occupied
regions."
"In February 1968 when we had the first demonstration against the
1967 war only 19 participated - including one member of the
Communist Party* whom they wanted to expel for doing so. Even on a
May 1970 demonstration of the Communist Party that we took part
in, they threatened to attack us if we would not stop shouting
"down with the occupation". However just after the 1982 Lebanon
war, the anti-occupation movement was finally joined by the
Zionist left.
A factor people are not aware of in Israel and abroad is the shift
in power balance within the ruling class in Israel. Those
capitalists who want to exploit the Palestinian workers and the
workers of the neighbouring third world Arab countries are
starting to gain hegemony over the old Zionist capitalists and
bureaucrats.
Also the recent demonstrations of the Israeli Palestinians are
rooted in contradictory processes. Firstly the Palestinians'
morale is much stronger due to the defeat of part of the Zionist
project - most clearly the fact they are forced to retreat from
parts of the occupied lands. Secondly the legal status of the
Israeli Palestinians has changed from barely legal and in fear of
expulsion to the status of second class citizens. Many have become
disillusioned with the Palestinian statelet and have started to
prefer even second class citizenship of Israel, so their struggle
for full citizenship has increased immensely.
The only short term solution that will be able to stabilise the
region is the end of the 1967 occupations - a solution
acceptable to the majority of Palestinians, a solution to the
refugee problem, and equality for the Israeli Palestinians. As
long as Israel uses its power to terrorise the Palestinians into
submission no stability will be possible.
In the longer term Matspen adopted the position in the 60's that
the conflict between the Zionist settler colonialists and the
indigenous Palestinians can be resolved only in a socialist
(i.e. libertarian communist) Middle East and not simply by any
arrangement between the Israeli Jews and the Palestinians. The
name of our new group 'East Mediterranean Anarchist Collective'
reflects this. The geographic term"east of the Mediterranean sea"
is free from any Zionist Israeli colour or Palestinian nationalist
one. It is also different from the Eurocentric term "middle east"
or "near east". As a bonus its meaning in Arabic is 'your mother'
===========================
** "The Communist party never opposed the 1948 'war of independence'
(which formed the state of Israel), in fact Stalin supported it"
* http://indymedia.org.il
This page is from the print version of the Irish Anarchist paper
Workers Solidarity This edition is No61 published in November 2000