Palestinian Foreign Minister encourages permanence of settler-colonialism

Not content with asserting the notion of “partial justice” with regard to pursuing legal options against Israel at the International Criminal Court, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki has given yet another example of the Palestinian Authority’s collaboration with the settler-colonial state, starting with the Duma arson attack by Israeli settlers.

In the aftermath of the attack, the PA urged the EU to blacklist Israeli settler extremist groups. However, Maliki’s recent reasoning has ridiculed the concept of condemnation by equating settlers with settlement products, reducing legal options to mere labelling.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Maliki stated that: “If the EU argues that settlement products should be ‘discriminated against’, settlers are among those products and should be viewed the same way.” The interview was conducted following a meeting in Paris with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who has been at the helm of drafting unsuccessful UN Security Council resolutions to deconstruct settler-colonialism into a simplification of the 1967 borders. Fabius also contributed towards marginalising Hamas within the context of recent unity government discussions.

The EU considered banning Israeli settlers convicted of violent crimes from visiting EU countries in October 2014, following increased settlement expansion and ensuing violence. Within the context of the Duma attack, the PA sought the EU’s collaboration in preventing Israeli settlers living beyond the Green Line from entering Schengen Area countries.

Besides the ludicrous comparison between settlers and settlement products, Maliki’s words hold serious repercussions for Palestinians. The vague condemnation of settler violence is shrouded within an endorsement of settler-colonialism which, in turn, bolsters Europe’s impunity in maintaining Israel’s permanence. Like the PA, Maliki prefers to focus upon the military occupation, rather than colonialism and its consequences. In urging the EU to refuse the entry of Israeli settlers to Schengen countries, Maliki is exhibiting agreement with colonisation and seeking ways to maintain the oppressive system.

Seeking the EU’s assistance in such conspiracy would allow the PA to maintain its illusion of legitimacy. Whether or not the EU agrees to Maliki’s proposal, the PA has, through its discourse, contributed towards Europe’s impunity with regard to its support for the Zionist entity and its history of colonial massacres. According to Maliki, a new UN Security Council draft resolution should focus upon settlements rather than a timeframe to end Israel’s military occupation. Both options are flawed in their conceptual premises, since historical reference and facts are replaced by dissociation. Yet in its recent statements, the PA is seeking to ensure settlers remain on usurped territory, hence rendering a forthcoming UNSC draft resolution targeting settlements irrelevant.

Maliki has admitted that the PA has so far not resorted to asking the ICC to investigate specific cases, such as the Duma arson attack and the ensuring murders. “Referrals are a weapon we haven’t yet resorted to. At the right moment we will use them, when we believe we can and should do so.” As on other occasions, the PA will continue with leniency tactics to safeguard its own existence, preferring caution over safeguarding Palestinian rights.

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