Global Justice in the 21st Century Governing Gaza After Genocide
[Prefatory Note: Responses to questions posed to Richard Falk by Rodrigo Craveiro of CORREIO BRAZILIENSE on May 4, 2024 as yet unpublished.].
1--Israeli officials are weighing sharing power with Arab states in postwar Gaza. How do you see that? And would you say Palestinians would accept such format?
Such a format seems like nothing more than a cover for continued Israeli governance of Gaza. The governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are more opposed to Hamas (and Iran) than to Israel, fearful of their own stability in relation to populist Islamic actors. This reality is reinforced by the fact that the majority Arab populations in these three countries are strongly in support of the Palestinian struggle for basic rights, and totally opposed to Israel’s reliance on genocidal tactics in Gaza since October 7.
The Palestinians who are represent the forces of resistance to continuing Israel occupation have been strengthened by the post-Octobe 7 Israeli retaliatory campaign and would certainly not accept such a format except under the most extreme coercion, such as possiblly to avert a murderous attack on the crowded city of Rafah now sheltering over a million Palestinians under horrifying conditions. Even though collaborationist Palestinian elements centered in Ramallah mighta be tempted by such a format if given a renewed role in the governance of Gaza. Any such arrangement if accepted in the present context would give rise to a tidal wave of violent resistance on the part of many Palestinians.
2-- Israel would offer to share oversight of the Gaza with an alliance of Arab countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the United States. How do you see that?
As indicated above, I see this kind of proposal as a non-starter unless coupled with a clear path to Palestinian statehood encompassing the West Bank and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem. And even then, the Palestinian state would be accepted by legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people only if reliably assured of equal sovereign rights to those of Israel and reparations and other funding sufficient to rebuild devastated Gaza. An abridged Palestinian state by way settler enclaves, diminished territory, demilitarized security, and borders monitored by Israel would not be acceptable, and if accepted out of desperation, would not be long viewed as legitimate by Palestinians, giving rise to renewed struggles to overcome such constraints on sovereignty.
3-- And how do you analyze this spreading of pro palestinian protests throughout US and now in Paris? What will be impact of that?
The outbreak of widespread protests in favor of the Palestinian struggle exhibit growing frustration with the complicity of the US Government with what a large proportion of younger Americans believe is a case of clear Israeli genocide, and with obstructive efforts at the UN led by the USG to protect Israel from ceasefire demands and non-interference with humanitarian aid given the emergency conditions that are perceived as prevailing in Gaza. The protests are long deferred reactions to the frustrations generated by Congress and the White House, especially their refusal to support international law and the UN, as well as simple morality In response to the transparent portrayal of genocide in real time. All prior genocides, including the Holocaust, have been known and knowable only in retrospect through reports, trials, films, and memoirs. The Gaza genocide has been daily confirmed by TV imagery and reportage areas of devastation and sites of atrocities.
There are likely to be impacts of the protests acknowledged and unacknowledged the extent of which is presently uncertain. Already there is widespread speculation that the protests and their repression has gravely weakened Biden’s prospects for reelection and make Trump the favorite in November. Biden has repeatedly declared that he will not change policy toward Israel, and the recent approval of additional military assistance by a one-sided bipartisan vote in the U.S. Congress suggests that there will not be in the short-run a dramatic shift in Washington’s pro-Israel orientation. This could change rather abruptly if Israel goes ahead with its planned repeatedly pledged military operation in Rafah, which if it occurs might well result in massive Palestinians casualties.
An important variable concerns whether the current protests, and their suppression, will produce a sustained movement of opposition and reform or wither away. The present flurry of campus activism could quickly disappear if the events in Gaza are somehow brought under stable non-violent control. Although there may be present a latent revolutionary impulse to challenge the plutocratic and militarist erosion of Americann democracy before it is too late.
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