… was here.
This was the piece I wrote Tuesday morning, that I mentioned in this JWN post later that morning. So really, you could read the two together… First, the “Hill” piece, then the blog post.
Bottom line: There is tremendous amount a successor regime in Egypt could do to support Palestinian rights and the Palestinian cause– hopefully, on the basis of a strong commitment to human rights and international law– that would not necessarily involve abrogating the Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
For 63 years now, successive governments of Israel have succeeded in keeping consideration of the political future of the Palestinians in a compartment completely separate from that of international law. (And international law itself has progressed a lot since 1948, too.) All versions of the so-called “peace process” pursued over the past 15 years have been pursued quite separately from the requirements of international law. As a result, it has been entirely devoid of any real, sustainable peacemaking. On the contrary. It has led to the caging up of the Palestinians in tens of completely separate open-air cages while the bulk of their land and heritage has continued to be stolen from them.
So quite simply, let’s return to international law. Unless the democracy movement in Egypt (and Jordan) gets completely crushed, I’m thinking this will be the central demand of the post-Mubarak government regarding the always-crucial Palestine Question. The “rule of law”, both domestically and internationally.
Of course, the prospect of any return to a rights-based, international-law-based resolution of the longrunning Palestine-Israel conflict has the vast majority of “status-quo” Israeli political figures running very scared indeed. They almost can’t imagine what life might be like if they can no longer, lazily and very comfortably reclining behind their Apartheid wall, rely on Egypt to be their shield and spear.
3 thoughts on “My piece in The Hill yesterday”
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This “Hill” article of yours is a “nye-nye”, Helena. It’s a security-blanket.
The question that is put in the Midan Tahrir is that of neo-colonialism, but you keep it hidden.
It is not exceptional and literal recolonisation of Palestine by white settlers that is in the foreground in Egypt right now but rather the neo-colonisation of Egypt itself and that of other, especially African countries.
Yet you soothe on about US “aid” and “support for democratisation” as if you and your readers don’t know very well that these things in US hands have always been and can only be the Trojan horses of neo-colonialism.
Let’s not pretend.
Helen, I wish I could agree with you but unfortunately the most likely post-Mubarak regime is an Omar Suleiman regime. See my posting if you issed it: http://jnthnwrght.blogspot.com/2011/02/mubarak-resignation-option.html
Two comments:
1/ I don’t think that Obama is interested in this matter. His interest is in re-election. He is aware that, beyond Wall St, many of his potential voters are interested in Egyptian democracy. But he cannot, for the life of him, see why. He is so thoroughly imbued with CIA values that he honestly sees Democracy the way the Cultural attache to the average US Embassy sees it: something to boast about, something to do with elections…
2/ I have to agree with Domza. What is happening in Egypt could be something of 1917 (or 1905) significance. Whether seen as a revolt against neo-colonialism or (the other side of the coin) neo-liberalism it is taking place at a time when capitalism (imperialism) is in a very delicate position. The metropolitan centres of the system are themselves being driven towards a stark clash between the classes. All the great ‘advantages’ of the ‘advanced’ countries are under threat: full employment, healthcare, pensions, social safety nets, living standards generally, wages, union rights, civil rights, political rights, pensions… the entire bargain between the imperialists and their domestic constituencies is up in the air.
This is not just the traditional attack on workers. It goes far beyond those who see themselves as working class, it undercuts all but the very richest in society. The petit bourgeoisie and the professionals are equally challenged by the degradation of public education, the increase in University tuition etc.
There is a growing international crisis, exemplified by and precipitated, in a sense, by the financial collapse and bail outs. And in Egypt and, inshallah, in Aden a possibility other than resignation and cynicism is being demonstrated. And, despite all attempts to present it as being exotic, distant, foreign, curious and inapplicable to ‘western’ circumstances, it cannot and will not be ignored.
Especially among the young “Bliss it was that dawn to be alive/To be young was very heaven.”