Will the PLO withdraw its recognition?

The “Jewish State” bill has recently made a leap from being an idea to legislation and execution. Two-thirds of the members of Netanyahu’s government approved the draft bill proposed by Netanyahu himself. At the same time, America expressed its approval as long as it does not harm the other citizens.

A hasty political outlook indicates that Netanyahu has put this bill forward at this moment in time in order to win the hearts of the religious Jews and settlers and ensure himself another term as prime minister. This is just a secondary goal of

Netanyahu’s doctrine that promotes the belief in the Jewishness of the state based on his racist beliefs of Jewish superiority in his imagined Jewish state containing Arabs and Muslims, and then Christians later. Now the time has come to propose the project in the form of a law in order to begin the new phase at a time when the international community is distracted with the Islamic State (ISIS), while some Arabs are seeking alliances with Israel, and while the US wants to buy Israel’s position on Iran by supporting the Jewish state law.

The dangers posed by the law being implemented are too many to be listed in such a short article, however, I refer those who want a list of all of these dangers, or at least some of them, to the statement of the PLO Executive Committee, which rejected the law and listed a number of these grave dangers. I also refer them to Oraib Rintawi’s article that was published in yesterday’s issue of Felesteen newspaper.

The difference between the Executive Committee’s position and Rintawi’s article is that the Committee’s position is theoretical and is content with description and condemnation, without any practical action. Meanwhile, Rintawi’s position is practical, not theoretical because he calls on the PA and PLO to take a firm position based on the mutual recognition document between Israel and the PLO, noting that it was not based on the Jewishness of Israel, which revokes the rights of citizenship from the Palestinians living in the occupied territories, making them foreign residents instead. They will not even be considered second-class citizens. Therefore, Rintawi urged the PA and PLO to withdraw their recognition of Israel instead of merely denouncing the bill.

Rintawi’s request was the demand of every free Palestinian and it is the least that can be done to stop the bill from being passed, as well as prevent its dangerous consequences from affecting our fellow Palestinians in the occupied territories. These dangers will also spill over and affect our people in Jerusalem.

I am merely suggesting the position that needs to be taken and am leaving the mechanics to the PA and the PLO because we will not disagree over a position that guarantees the rights of the Palestinians and those who remained in the land of our fathers and grandfathers.

It is worth saying to America and the Arab leaders with our tongues and with the tongue of the PA that you have stood against the establishment of an Islamic state and you are still fighting the parties and trends whose agendas include the establishment of a civilian state with an Islamic reference; you fought against them in Egypt, Tunisia, Afghanistan and in Palestine. You have claimed that it would pose an unbearable danger on the non-Muslim minorities. But now, you are facing a Jewish state, one that describes itself as a Jewish state before being democratic or nationalistic, and you are supporting it without taking into consideration the rights of the minorities.

We believe that an Islamic state will be established despite your refusal and rejections. We also say to you that God willing, Israel’s passing of a Jewish state law will only accelerate the establishment of what you fear; an Islamic state is closer to establishment than you may imagine. It is not logical for the Jewish people to have a state and for Muslims not to; this is the logic of life.

Translated from Felesteen newspaper, 27 November, 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.