Is Israel Pushing for a Palestinian Civil War?
23 September 2016
By Ramzy Baroud
Division within Palestinian society has reached unprecedented levels, becoming
a major hurdle on the path of any unified strategy to end Israel's violent
occupation or to rally Palestinians behind a single objective.
Newly-appointed Israeli ultra-nationalist Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman
understands this too well. His tactic since his ascension to office last May
is centered on investing more in these divisions as a way to break down
Palestinian society even further.
Lieberman is an ''extremist'', even if compared with the low standards of the
Israeli military. His past legacy was rife with violent and racist
declarations. His more recent exploits include taking on the late Mahmoud
Darwish, Palestine's most celebrated poet. He went as far as comparing
Darwish's poetry – which advocates the freedom of his people – to Adolph
Hitler's autobiography,Mein Kampf.
But, of course, this is not Lieberman's most outrageous statement.
Lieberman's past provocations are plenty. Fairly recently, in 2015, he
threatened to behead with an axe Palestinian citizens of Israel if they are
not fully loyal to the ''Jewish state'', advocated the ethnic cleansing of
Palestinian citizens of Israel, and made a death ultimatum to former
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Outrageous statements aside, Lieberman's latest ploy, however, is the most
outlandish yet. Israel's defence minister is planning to colour-code
Palestinian communities in the Occupied West Bank, dividing them into green
and red, where green is ''good'' and red is ''bad''; accordingly, the former
shall be rewarded for their good behaviour, while the latter collectively
punished, even if just one member of that community dares to resist the
Israeli occupation army.
A version of this plan was attempted nearly 40 years ago, but utterly failed.
The fact that such appalling thinking is occurring well into the 21st century
without being accompanied by international uproar is baffling.
Lieberman's colour-codes will be accompanied by a campaign to resurrect the
''Village Leagues'', another failed Israeli experiment to impose an
''alternative'' Palestinian leadership by ''engaging'' Palestinian
''notables'', not democratically-elected leaders.
Lieberman's solution is to manufacture a leadership, which, like the Village
Leagues of the 1970s and 80s, will, most certainly, be regarded as
collaborators and traitors by the wider Palestinian society.
But what is the ''Village Leagues'' exactly and will it work this time around?
In October 1978, elected Palestinian mayors, joined by town councilors and
various nationalist institutions, began a campaign of mass mobilisation under
the umbrella of the National Leadership Committee, whose main objective was to
challenge the Camp David Treaty – signed between Egypt and Israel – and its
political consequences of marginalising Palestinians.
At the time, the movement was the most elaborate and united network of
Palestinians ever assembled in the Occupied Territories. Israel immediately
cracked down on the mayors, union leaders and nationalists of various
professional institutions.
The national response was insisting on the unity of Palestinians in Jerusalem,
the West Bank and Gaza, among Christians and Muslims, and Palestinians at home
and in ''shattat'', or the Diaspora.
The Israeli response was equally firm. Starting 2 July 1980, an assassination
campaign against the democratically-elected mayors ensued.
Yet, Camp David and the attempts to eliminate the nationalist leaders in the
Occupied Territories, and the increased violence of Jewish extremists in the
West Bank inspired mass protests, general strikes and violent confrontations
between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces.
The Israeli government moved to dismiss elected West Bank mayors shortly after
it established, in November 1981, a ''Civilian Administration'' to rule the
Occupied Territories directly through its military. The military
administration was aimed at sidelining any truly representative Palestinian
leadership, and further cementing the occupation. Once more, Palestinians
responded with a general strike and mass mobilisation.
Israel has always vied to construct an alternative leadership for
Palestinians. These efforts culminated in 1978, when it established the
''Village Leagues'', giving its members relatively wide powers, including
approving or denying developmental projects in the Occupied Territories. They
were armed and also provided with Israeli military protection.
But that too was doomed to fail as league members were widely regarded as
collaborators by Palestinian communities.
A few years later, Israel recognised the artificial nature of its creation,
and that Palestinians could not be mobilised to embrace Israel's vision of
permanent military occupation and superficial autonomy.
In March 1984, the Israeli government decided to dissolve the 'Village
Leagues'.
Not that Lieberman is an astute student of history, but what does he hope to
achieve from this stratagem, anyway?
The 1976 municipal elections galvanised Palestinians' energies to achieve
unity; they rallied around common ideas and found a unifying platform in the
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Now, Palestinian discord is unmistakable. Fatah and Hamas' protracted fight
has fundamentally altered the nationalist discourse on Palestine, turning it
into a form of political tribalism.
The West Bank and Gaza are divided, not only geographically but geopolitically
as well. Fatah, which is already embattled in more ways than one, is falling
into further divisions among supporters of its current aging leader, Mahmoud
Abbas, and the shunned, albeit ubiquitous Mohammed Dahlan.
More dangerous than all of this is that Israel's system of punishment or
rewards have effectively turned Palestinians into classes: extremely poor
ones, living in Gaza and Area C in the West Bank, and relatively prosperous
ones, most of them affiliated with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
From Lieberman's viewpoint, the opportunity must be ripe for refining and
re-imposing the ''Village Leagues''. Whether it works in its original form or
fails, it makes no difference, since the idea is to engender further division
amongst Palestinians, sow social chaos, political conflict and, perhaps,
duplicate Gaza's brief civil war in the summer of 2007.
The international community should totally reject such archaic plans and
destructive thinking and force Israel to adhere to international law, human
rights and respect the democratic choices of the Palestinian people.
Those powers that have imposed themselves as ''peace brokers'' and guardians
of international law must understand that Israel is well-qualified to start
fires, but almost never capable of putting them out. And Lieberman, of all
people – the Russian club bouncer-turned politician-turned defence minister –
must not be given free rein to colour-code Palestinian communities, reward and
punish as he pleases.
A quick look back at history tells us that Lieberman's tactics will fail; the
question is, however, at what cost?
– Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20
years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an
author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His books
include ''Searching Jenin'', ''The Second Palestinian Intifada'' and his
latest ''My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story''. His website
is www.ramzybaroud.net.
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