Palestine and Europe: The post-solidarity phenomenon

The support for the Palestinian cause in Europe has witnessed multiple shifts since the beginning of the 20th century. After the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which lasted several years and during which a series of events occurred, a series of developments and interactions emerged on the scene that supported the rights of the Palestinians.

Since then, the traditional idea of empathy or solidarity has no longer been accurate in its expression of the scene supporting the Palestinian cause in Europe. The concept of solidarity with the Palestinian cause has progressed to the adoption of the Palestinian cause and directly promoting it, as well as developing new effective work mechanisms.

The concept of adoption is based on the acknowledgement of the gross moral violation of the Israeli occupation, which makes confronting the occupation a joint humanitarian responsibility. Based on this concept, the people are supporting themselves, not only the Palestinians. This is how the motivation to initiate action began, even without needing to link it to Palestinian motivation.

In this context, the phenomenon of specialisation emerged in the European public’s work in support of the Palestinian cause, thus leading to the establishment of groups specialising in the Palestinian cause. This helped overcome the differences between the European ideology spectrum and moves towards specialised work in the cause. In addition to this, the performance shifted from focusing on highlighting traditional sympathy to developing initiative programmes and pressure which seek to move to the frontlines, if only symbolically.

This also led to the development of a framework of cooperation, coordination, partnership and alliance in areas supporting the Palestinian cause. This allowed interaction between the growing network between the real and virtual worlds, and the growth of the civil society’s expertise, capabilities and roles.

In this context, the experiences of solidarity delegations with Palestine, the groups helping harvest olives, and the convoys supporting besieged Gaza grew, and such solidarity and supportive efforts brilliantly focused on creating events by initiating innovative initiatives such as the “Freedom Flotilla” which sailed towards Palestine, and the “Welcome to Palestine” who flew in, as well as other initiatives.

It became clear during the summer of 2014, which witnessed an Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, that the popular and mass interactions with the Palestinian cause around the world became more sophisticated than ever. This drew the most attention to this round of aggression, especially since it is considered one of the longest wars in Palestinian history and the fiercest.

During this time, it became clear that shifts took place in a number of communities; some were apparent on the surface while others remained hidden. In the midst of these developments, Jewish voices emerged that were against the occupation, its policies, and its violations.

We cannot classify Europe and the rest of the world in the same category. Each environment has its own characteristics and traits of perception and interaction, despite the fact that there are common characteristics between various peoples, societies and cultures in the age of globalisation. The general impression is that the European and global interaction with the Palestinian cause is clearly growing.

There is no doubt that the world’s interaction with Palestine is increasing and there are growing options of directly or indirectly contributing to the conflict and creating events. Mass and media action, as well as putting pressure on the occupation’s economic, political, diplomatic and contractual interests in the countries of the world, as well as regional and international bodies are leading this. There has also been an escalation in legal proceedings and prosecution of the icons of the Israeli occupation and its affiliates in accordance with the penal codes worldwide.

The overwhelming mass reaction against the war in 2014 indicated a number of shifts that occurred within European communities in their position towards the Israeli occupation and its policies and violations. This gives the impression that opposing the occupation and supporting Palestine can become part of the general culture. This is evident in the magnitude of the mass interaction and its scale, as well as the relative development in means of expression, as well as the coordination of actions and forming alliances within civil society and the masses. Such interaction has generally been characterised by diversity and with the joining of various factions and groups in a number of European and western countries.

With the growing potential of the popular and civil interactions around the world with the issues and developments, the influence of the classic Israeli narrative regarding Palestine is diminishing. There are now more options to learn about and follow this cause than ever before, which certainly motivates more interaction with the cause.

This interaction transcends the traditional concept of sympathy, focusing on the “post-solidarity” options, which morally supports Palestine and adopts its cause. Such interaction requires more initiative and pressure tools at its disposal as well as growing influence and networking.

The European political shift will most likely remain slow in its response to this growing mass, civil and elite development, due to the fact that its strategic estimations are dominated by stability. Such stability incudes the open commitment of Western nations to support Israel, as evidenced by phrases such as “guaranteeing Israel’s security”, for example.

However, political initiatives are still able to create counterbalances if they are strongly imposed and create pressure, or by adjusting the adopted strategic estimations. This may be closely linked to the occupation’s crisis and its lack of confidence in its strategic options regarding the resolution of the conflict, as well as the growth of political, national and religious extremism within Israeli society and the lack of prospects for a serious political settlement and inability to reach a comprehensive and definitive solution to the Palestinian issue.

The factions, groups and communities that formed a coherent stance in support of Palestinian rights, or at least in the fight against the Israeli occupation, its aggression and violations, are likely to continue their interactions and efforts in the various areas of civil society around the world. They will also continue to develop their forms of action. At the heart of such mass factions are the Palestinian groups in Europe, and all these factions will keep up with the pace of the events on the ground, especially with the shocking and extraordinary developments.

Thus, the importance of making sure the Palestinian cause is present as a priority for public, political and media concerns is highlighted. This will allow the world to keep up with and follow the cause. However, disregarding and losing sight of the Palestinian cause due to the other concerns and developments that are placed in the spotlight is a challenge.

The Israeli side is counting on maximising the fear of what it calls “Islamic terrorism”, taking advantage of the escalating crises and tensions in the Arab and Muslim world. It is also trying to put the Palestinian resistance in the same category of extremist groups that have adopted “the strategy of savagery”, while Israeli officials call on European leaders to join them in the trenches to defend themselves against the “enemies of civilisation”. This is exactly what happened in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo incident. They are seeking to utilise the wide-scale campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS) organisation while also trying to impose the formation of a “Jewish state” which further allows the occupation’s government to practice racism and adopt armed extremism.

The developments in the Arab and Muslim world involve many challenges and difficulties, and perhaps even risks with regards to the prospects of global interaction with Palestine. The occupation’s propaganda will continue to use these developments to classify the image of the Palestinian struggle as extremism and terrorism, but this does not mean it will succeed in convincing the world of this.

Despite the abundance of challenges, the Palestinian cause still has a number of opportunities to shine in the global arena, including the possibility of turning the rejection of the Israeli occupation into a prevalent culture, based on the experience of apartheid in South Africa.