International submission delaying Palestinian rights

Speaking at a joint press conference following a meeting of the German and Israeli cabinet in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her political alignment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that the current situation in the Middle East is an impediment to a Palestinian state.

She said: “Now is certainly not the time to make comprehensive progress, but you can achieve improvements in certain places.” Ensuring a reference to Israel’s perpetual security rhetoric, Merkel added that while the EU and Germany displayed awareness of “the threat of terrorism that Israel has to endure,” the two-state hypothesis should form the premise of advancing “a process of peaceful coexistence”.

Merkel’s affirmation was hailed by Netanyahu, who hastened to emphasis Israel’s purported fight against terror in Gaza and the West Bank. He also ridiculed the recent French proposal for a regional conference, which he described as replete with predetermined notions of statehood recognition for Palestinians on France’s behalf.

While Germany has reiterated its pro-Israel stance on countless occasions, as well as aiding Israel in advancing its macabre assaults upon the Palestinian population such as its military dealings with Israel during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014, the current rhetoric has allowed Netanyahu to advance the colonial narrative, at a time when the Jerusalem Intifada has, for the international community, become a marginalised item for discussion. Germany has, in fact, contributed towards allowing the Palestinian people’s narrative fade in favour of crafted statements that serve the political agenda of Israel and its allies, including France which has lately seemed to relish its duplicitous role as Zionist supporter and ally of the PA’s constant antics clamouring for statehood while subjugating the land and the people to further deterioration.

The only trend that is gaining momentum is the approach towards constructing delays as regards any possibility of furthering Palestinian demands. All proposals and initiatives have failed to address colonisation, hence the prevailing trend of symbolic support eclipsing reality of human rights violations that Israel has authored since its inception. Netanyahu may feign annoyance at the French initiative to hold the conference; the outcome will only contribute towards subjugating Palestinians to further international interference, thus advancing Netanyahu’s aim in the process.

The illusions of grandeur shared by the international community, allegedly contributing towards a solution, are not concerned with extrajudicial killings of Palestinian civilians, or Palestinian hunger strikers protesting administrative detention. Rather, the emphasis is upon maintaining a brutal farce in the name of security concerns, while adhering to Netanyahu’s rhetoric which plays directly into the international agenda as regards refugees, for example. In his address to the press conference, Netanyahu alluded to “Islamist fanaticism” and refugees, declaring that “Israel is Western civilisation’s iron wall in the heart of the Middle East.” The statement serves both the international community and the colonial entity, particularly due to the latter’s penchant for intentionally failing to distinguish between resistance and terrorism, thus reaping benefits in the name of security.

Netanyahu’s recent strategy seems to focus on attaining individual statements regarding the perpetually inappropriate timing for furthering Palestinian rights. At an international level, such rhetoric has been prominent according to the circumstances initiated by Israel, with the UN and affiliated organisations creating a false premise of equality between the coloniser and the colonised, thus eliminating both accountability and responsibility. Statements of such equivalence from individual leaders, however, are serving to affirm political support for Israel away from the auspices of the UN, allowing for increased obstruction to Palestinian rights by extending the macabre cycle of invalidating Palestinian narratives which has already been affirmed globally.

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