Democratic Palestine : 9 (ص 33)
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- Democratic Palestine : 9 (ص 33)
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struggle existing today. For the struggl-
ing Palestinians of today, this is their real
history; it is the continuing resistance,
despite all defeats, which makes up their
history. From this history, pride as well
as knowledge develops. None of these
actions - all of them necessary - has
been useless; not even those which at
the moment might have seemed com-
pletely ‘wrong’ or ‘useless’.
But, says a ‘hesitant friend’, is there
really no truth in the question put to
Yassir Arafat: «Are you aware that every
militant action in Israel gives another
vote to LIKUD?»? Isn't it also true that
the Palestinian cause. is hurt by actions
that upset international opinion?
Certainly, is the answer; certainly
there is truth in both these thoughts. The
question is only if that truth is the most
important truth. Of course repression
and extreme reactionary tendencies
develop from the actions of the oppres-
sed. It was like that in 1910, and it is like
that in every situation of oppression. But
should this lead to the conclusion that
resistance should be given up? No, of
course not. There exists no ‘should:
what exists is the necessity of resis-
tance, the evident fact that the oppres-
sion, the exodus, the massacres, etc.,
give rise to resistance.
In fact the ‘hesitant friends’ do not
realize that the most important thing is
not what occurs within the enemy camp
and within international opinion, but
what develops among the oppressed
and the struggling themselves! The
deciding question from the standpoint of
solidarity is this: Does a certain action, or
certain type of actions, strengthen the
Palestinian resistance or not?
We have today a situation where
the positions and feelings of the Palesti-
nian people are, to a great extent, still
influenced by the barbarian Zionist
aggression against Lebanon in 1982.
There exists resistance everywhere, in
the refugee camps, in Gaza, in the West
Bank, in the Galilee. Yet this resistance
suffers from a certain demoralization
resulting from the massacres in Leba-
non, and from a certain confusion con-
cerning the course of the resistance in
the new stage. Don’t the Palestinians
need to get rid of all demoralization and
confusion? Don't they need to be
strengthened in their faith in the possibil-
ity of continuing to develop the resis-
tance? Will that not be the effect if they,
for instance, experience how _ their
fedayeen, their avant-garde, manage to
act in the center of ‘Israel’, despite the
seemingly total superiority of the
Zionists? Is not the daily resistance in
the refugee camps or in the West Bank
strengthened? Is not the basic political
and organizational work supported by
these and other ‘spectacular’, visible
actions? Has there not always existed
an important relation between the
armed, ‘visible’ actions and the daily,
popular resistance?
Isn't this the most important truth
about these actions which lead some
friends to hesitate? Of what real impor-
tance is it if the Likud gets more votes?
Were not all the tragedies that hit the
Palestinian people prior to 1977
administered by Zionist governments
led by the so-cafted Workers’ Party
(Labor)? Has the Palestinian resistance
any reason of importance to make a dif-
ference between the leading parties in
‘Israel’? Should the resistance move-
ment at this stage, when ‘Israel’ still is so
strong, start to decide its basic policies
according to the small nuances between
Peres and Shamir? Isn't it true that such
decisions belong to the final stage of a
struggle and not to its earlier stages?
Incidently, is it correct to state that ‘Is-
rael’ is stronger under Likud than under
‘Labor’? Is not the opposite correct: That
an extreme right-wing government is a
sign of the weakness of a society, a sign
of deepened contradictions? Isn't it, for
instance, good for the Palestinians that
immigration slows when Likud is in
power?
What about international opinion?
In reality, it is not that opinion, but the
Palestinians, who are going to liberate
Palestine. To have the support of inter-
national opinion is of course important;
in later stages of struggle, it will be of
increasing importance. However, first of
all, the Palestinians have to become
strong themselves! They have to be
strong before it becomes really useful to
have the support of international opin-
ion. If not, the effect of a positive opinion
could be that it first of all helps Ronald
Reagan and other enemies in their
efforts to put a lid on the Palestinian
question. From another angle: What do
the exiled, oppressed and struggling
Palestinians think of an opinion which
forgets all Zionist barbarism because of
a single Palestinian action?
Thus, to real friends of the Palesti-
nian people, the basic thing is always to
start from the realities of the Palestinian
masses. This is the only way to adhere
to a standpoint of solidarity, and the only
way to be able to make a difference bet-
ween matters of primary and secondary
importance.
«But they attack civilian targets!»
exclaims the ‘hesitant friend’ finally.
Yes, so did those Palestinian peasants
who attacked the kibbutz of Degania in
1910, Degania which is situated where
the Palestinian village of Umm Juni was
destroyed. What are ‘civilian targets’ ina
colonial state? Are kibbutzim and other
settlements in the Gaza Strip, Golan
Heights and West Bank, civilian
targets? If not, when and how were kib-
butzim and other settlements created
before 1967, changed to ‘civilian’?!? Is,
for instance, the ministry of industry,
commerce and tourism (that was
attacked by the DFLP in April 1984) a
civilian target in the sense of an ‘inno-
cent target’? Or is it an active colonial
institution which, for instance, would
never support the creation of a Palesti-
nian or ‘Israeli Arab’ factory? Is it not the
supreme authority concerning the com-
merce which plunders the occupied
West Bank, and uses tourism in order to
stimulate the immigration of more col-
Onialists?
Moreover, it is crucial to get rid of all
illusions concerning the reports of
Palestinian resistance in the ‘ordinary’
media! Every single thing they publish is
turned inside out or upside down. The
Palestinians have vast experience with
this. They have, among other things,
continuously witnessed how the Zionists
ruthlessly risk the lives of ‘their own
people’ in order to strengthen their prop-
aganda which changes Palestinian
actions into ‘senseless massacres’. The
Palestinian resistance does not consist
of lunatics or ruthless fanatics, but of
patriots who are fighting for the freedom
and future of their people and their land.
In their thoughts about ‘civilian
targets’, the ‘hesitating friends’ should
first think over what kind of a state ‘Is-
rael’ is. Yet basically they have to arrive
to a position which gives the Palesti-
nians the right to resist and attack even
in a stage when they have not yet the
strength to always choose ‘clearly’ milit-
ary targets. Of course, the point is to
realize that every Palestinian action is
first and foremost an expression of the
situation of the oppressed and of the
continuous Zionist terror.
There will be a day when the Pales-
tinian liberation movement is strong and
developed enough to make attacks that
can deepen the contradictions among
the Israelis, when more and more Jews
will realize that Zionism is only making
them into cannon fodder for colonialist
and imperialist interests. e
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- Democratic Palestine : 9
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