Grassroots Support of Palestinian Struggle Grows in US
by Rami Elamine

March 2001
Volume 38, No. 2

By the time this article is printed, Ariel Sharon, leader of the right wing Likud party, will most likely have formed a national unity government with outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak's Labor party and officially begun his term as Prime Minister of Israel.

This wouldn't be the first time that Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak worked together. As the major general in charge of strategic development, Barak developed the plan which then defense minister Ariel Sharon used to carry out the bloody invasion of Lebanon in 1982. An estimated 17,0000 Lebanese civilians were killed during that invasion.

This, however, doesn't include the single worst incident of the invasion: the massacre of 2000 Palestinians living in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps. While this was carried out by the Lebanese Christian Phalangist (fascist) militia, it was done under the knowledge and watch of Sharon's forces.

An Israeli commission tasked with investigating the massacre stated that Sharon bore "personal responsibility" and recommended he be removed from office. But this wasn't the first time "the butcher of Beirut," as Sharon came to be known, bore personal responsibility for the murder of innocent people and it will not be the last.

In 1953, the Israeli military unit led by Sharon killed 50 Palestinians at the El-Bureig refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. A couple of months later, in October, Sharon's unit attacked the Jordanian village of Qibya, massacring 69 civilians, including dozens of women and children.

It was Sharon's visit to the muslim holy site of Haram Al Sharif with over 1000 Israeli guards in September of last year which triggered the recent uprising against the Israeli occupation, known as the Al Aqsa intifada. The Israeli government's brutal suppression of this intifada, often using rockets and missles at protestors, has led to the deaths of more than 350 Palestinians (a third of whom were under the age of 18) and the injury of over 11,000.

But while it was Sharon who ignited the Al-Aqsa intifada, it is being fueled by the failure of the "peace process" to address, let alone resolve, the most important issues-Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem, the right of more than 3.7M Palestinian refugees to return to their land and homes in Israel and the Israeli Occupied Territories, the future of Jewish only settlements/colonies, and the borders of the future Palestinian state-and the deteriorating economic conditions.

The unemployment rate is presently 50% in the Gaza Strip and 31% in the West Bank. Over 1 million Palestinians live in poverty. This is twice the number that did a decade ago.

If this was taking place in any other country, particularly one hostile to US interests, leaders like Sharon would be considered war criminals and sanctions would be imposed on the country. But because of the "special relationship" between the US and Israel, a relationship which involves more than $5 billion in US military and economic aid annually, there is talk of increasing rather than cutting off aid. Israel will receive an additional $450 million this year to help defray the cost of withdrawing from southern Lebanon.

The only way that this special relationship is going to be severed and US aid to Israel cut is pressure from below, both in the Middle East and here in the US. This is precisely how apartheid was brought down in South Africa.

Since the outbreak of the Al Aqsa intifada, we are beginning to see the development of such a movement. As was the case with the first intifada, the Al Aqsa intifada inspired solidarity protests throughout the Middle East which brought out thousands and in some countries hundreds of thousands of people into the streets. In Lebanon and Egypt, students have continued to organize everything from fundraisers to protests aimed at pushing their government to support the Palestinians. There were even demonstrations in countries like Saudi Arabia where they are illegal.

The most perceptible shift in activity and public opinion in support of the Palestinians seems to have occurred here in the US. When this intifada first broke out in late September, there were demonstrations and meetings in solidarity with the Palestinians and against US support for the Israeli occupation in almost every major city. Here in Washington DC there were, initially, almost daily demonstrations at the Israeli Embassy of over 100 people. They culminated in a 10 thousand strong demonstration at the White House on October 15, organized by the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) and several other arab and muslim organizations. A similar number turned out to demonstrations in Anaheim, CA and New York City the week before.

But it wasn't just the size and frequency of the demonstrations which was significant. The character of the demos was different from those in the past. There are a lot more non Arabs taking part in the various activities (protests, teach ins, etc.) and, most importantly, a small but significant number of jewish groups (Jews for Justice, Not in Our Name, Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel). Rabbis for Human Rights have condemned the occupation and the recent violence.

In November the San Francisco chapter of ADC together with several progressive groups in the San Francisco area made a call for divestment from Israel, including an end to US government aid. Earlier that month, a group of about 1000 students and activists not only prevented former Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu from speaking at Berkeley but chased him off campus.

The new intifada with its images of Palestinians standing up to Israel's tanks and US made helicopters with nothing but their slingshots and stones has obviously been a key factor in galvanizing activists around this issue. Another factor is the emergence of a new generation of Arab and Arab American activists who are uninhibited by the politics and defeats of their parents' generation. But these don't necessarily explain the involvement of non Arabs and, increasingly, the left in the various coalitions, groups, and campaigns which have formed over the past few months.

The organizing against the genocidal sanctions on Iraq has certainly helped expose the brutality of US imperialism in the region and Israel's role in it. But, in my opinion, the main reason for the increased support for the Palestinians is related to the political changes which have taken place in the US and internationally as a result of the anti-globalization movement and, more specifically, the protests against the WTO in Seattle in November 1999.

These protests, together with the protests against the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in April of last year (A16), the Democratic and Republican party conventions over the summer, and recent inauguration protests have not only given people the confidence to fight back but to see and connect an array of issues and struggles-corporate greed, the criminal injustice system, the environment and imperialism-to the global capitalist system in a way not seen since the 1960s.

Rami Elamine is a member of the Palestine Right to Return Coalition (Al Awda, DC) and Stop US Tax-funded Aid to Israel.