Source: http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/12/199960/resistance-against-israel-can-win-day
THE chronic plight of the Palestinians is overshadowed by the massacre in war-torn Aleppo, Syria. Thus, the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2334 was welcome news for the Palestine cause and humanitarian causes in the world.
On Dec 23, 14 of the 15 members of the council rebuked Israel’s illegitimate settlements in occupied Palestine. Half a million settlers are now deemed as living illegitimately on occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The United States’ abstention on the vote was described as “an abandonment of Israel, which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN”.
This year, the US armed Israel with at least US$10.2 million (RM45 million) military aid per day, and over the next 10 years, the Obama administration has pledged a further US$38 billion.
President-elect Donald Trump, hell-bent on the annexation of West Bank and Jerusalem, failed to force a Twitter veto or overturn the Egyptian vote, the second largest beneficiary of US assistance after Israel.
His appointment of David Friedman, a far right pro-settler, as US ambassador to Israel, spells difficult times for the Palestinian liberation movement. Friedman has raised funds to support illegal settlements in the West Bank, to which the Trump Foundation is a contributor.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has described the resolution as “shameful” and has vowed to defy the world body. This is hardly surprising because it has rejected 77 UN resolutions against Israel.
This victory on the global stage has further isolated Israel and reaffirmed it as a 21st-century apartheid state, which Bishop Desmond Tutu said “reminded (him) so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa”.
The passing of Resolution 2334 brings hope to this long-standing cause and lays the ground for Palestinians to begin a legal process at the International Court of Justice against Israel’s violations of international law.
It is no more business as usual because multinational corporations are more wary of doing business in Israel or linking with Israeli companies on occupied land.
This is enhanced by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Major multinationals, including Veolia, Orange, G4S and Irish building materials corporation CRH abandoned their involvement in Israeli projects following unrelenting BDS campaigns
BDS calls on international civil society organisations and people of conscience to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel.
This is winning support from the European Union, as well as Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights, political parties, trade unions and social movements across the world.
The achievements of BDS this year are noteworthy, considering Israel’s war to crush the Palestinian-led BDS global movement, deploying massive financial assets, intensive espionage, Zionist propaganda, cyber sabotage and legal warfare.
It signals the shift in the narrative of this conflict and the world’s frustration and abhorrence of Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.
The strength of the Palestinian cause lies in its moral and humanitarian appeal, and this must always be protected.
Like the peaceful and non-violent BDS movement, we need to be more creative in mainstreaming peaceful initiatives for resistance to invite the progressives of the world to join in.
Resistance is a right, a duty and an expression of our human dignity.
International law grants a people fighting an illegal occupation the right to use “all necessary means at their disposal” to end their occupation.
Israel’s position continues to weaken and its belligerent ways are not unstoppable. But it needs the international community and civil societies to come together and pressure this rogue nation into a genuine and just solution.
The words of former South African president Nelson Mandela ring true: “The world will never be free until Palestine is free.”
We can and we must win. Viva Palestine.
DATUK DR MUSA MOHD NORDIN, Chairman, Viva Palestina Malaysia
PROFESSOR DR MOHD NAZARI ISMAIL, Chairman, BDS Malaysia
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR HAFIZDI MOHD NOOR, Chairman, Humanitarian Care Malaysia