Today is the day that Israel declared it will launch the final step of its plan – which it has been implementing for years as it clashes with the rest of humanity – to “annex” the Jewish settlements in the already-occupied West Bank and Jordan Valley.
This is a step that Israel, which has gradually expanded since the day it was established and gave Palestine no breathing room since the day it was founded, will take recklessly and overtly, without regard for any law. Hence, besides the U.S., none of the countries that usually unhesitatingly back Israel are supporting Tel Aviv in this. In fact, a significant portion of the countries that have pro-Israel policies explicitly oppose it and warn Israel to abandon this campaign. As a matter of fact, in the U.S., those other than President Donald Trump and his entourage are harshly criticizing this annexation plan, and cautioning that this will mean that the U.S. is no longer a peace-making and order-establishing arbiter between parties in the Middle East.
There is no doubt that the U.S. had no mediator role in terms of issues concerning Palestine and Israel. On the contrary, it always behaved like a party that took part in negotiations as a mouthpiece for Israel. Even during times when it acted unbiased and like a mediator it did nothing other than manipulate in favor of Israel. Nevertheless, it has been ascertained that there is still a large mass in the U.S. that won’t accept the logic of Israel’s mind-boggling annexation plan. The pro-Israel tendencies among the Democrats is no weaker than those among the Republicans. Israel is the most sensitive matter for both major parties. Despite this, there is absolutely nothing to defend or support regarding the annexation plan Israel is trying to activate today.
Israel has not only gradually occupied areas with the Jewish settlement units it formed on Palestinian territory but it is also erecting walls around the Palestinians living in the areas it invaded as it considers them as threats to their own illegal settlement zones. Thus, this leads to an interesting and inhumane security wall practice. The wall is built not around the settlement zones but around the neighboring Palestinians, turning the area left to them almost into a concentration camp. Israel is not stopping here either. It considers this its natural born right to fully annex these Palestinian areas that constitute about 30 percent of West Bank due to the so-called threat posed to its own illegal-occupation settlement areas.
Security is one of the current world order’s most hypocritical concepts. Security is indisputable and constitutes an excuse for all sorts of unlawful expeditions and violation of human rights. Yet, if there is any security threat today, it is not a threat posed by Palestinians towards Israelis, but rather quite the opposite. Israel is constantly threatening Palestinians and, as a matter of fact, this threat is not a hypothetical or virtual threat – it is real. Hence, take a look at how Israel-Palestine maps changed since 1967 – there is no need to go any further back in history as this date will suffice to prove the point. We see how the vast majority of these lands that belong to Palestine gradually and completely took on Israel’s colors within this time-frame.
Israel is a threat not only to Palestinians but the whole world. It was not long ago that we saw the intruder role it is playing on Palestinian territory being played out in the annexation of Golan Heights. The U.S.’s approval and silence alone is enough in the grand international scheme of things for Israel to annex an area under its occupation.
Israel has never been idle during any of the previous peace negotiations, or periods of normalization and calm. In fact, while holding meetings, it continued to build Jewish settlement areas, which it planned and intended to completely occupy and annex in the future. Its silence during peace negotiations was utilized as an opportunity to expand its own occupation. Now, at a time when the world is occupied with its own problems during the coronavirus pandemic, Israel is still concerned about taking another piece of land. However, the step it is taking this time is truly sufficient to infuriate the whole world.
It should first be noted that this course taken by Israel, which has adopted occupation as a character, as a means of existence, bears no good news. Israel itself, persisting on this intrusive attitude by using its own security as an excuse, is going to present the greatest threat to Israel.
Let us recall that prior to this, Jerusalem was occupied by the Crusaders. This occupation lasted about a century. This century is not too long in human history.
Israel should not rely on the U.S., the EU or other international powers. In fact, it should not be too trusting of the administrators in the Muslim world, whom it coerced to stand by its side through fooling, buying or threatening them. Those administrators’ people are fuming and have reached a boiling point against this unjust occupation. If it persists on these policies, this fury will reach Tel Aviv at the moment it feels safest. History is also destined to repeat itself. Back in time, the Pharaoh had also taken so-called “security measures” against Prophet Moses. The resentment accumulated among the children of Israel as a result of those measures had brought his end. Roles have changed today, of course, but their fate is the same, and Israel is fast approaching its own end.
By: Yasin Aktay, advisor to the Turkish President. (The article was published on Yeni Safak Turkish newspaper on 1 July 2020)
