World : Israël-Palestine The present confrontation between the Zionist settler colonialist project in Palestine and the indigenous working people*

The main confrontation between the Israeli ruling capitalist elite and the Palestinian 
working people which have continued forcefully over the last few weeks forms part of 
ongoing efforts by Israel to transfer them out of Palestine, or at least pressure them 
into voluntary transfer. ---- The pressure is applied in the territories still in the 
possession of the Palestinian citizens of Israel and more intensively in the territories 
occupied after the war of 1967 and still held by the Palestinians - mainly in the 
territories annexed to Jerusalem, the C-status areas of the West Bank and the areas 
adjacent to the separation fence of the Gaza Strip. ---- The current confrontation ---- 
The reason for the eruption of the intense confrontation of recent weeks is the recent 
intensification of international pressure exerted on Israel to withdraw from the 
territories occupied in the 1967 war. Most of its efforts are to relieve this pressure, 
and to overcome the contribution of the recent agreement between the West Bank (partly) 
ruling elite and the Hamas ruling elite of the Gaza Strip.

Years ago, in order to diminish the pressure to get out of the territories of Palestine 
occupied in the 1967 war, Israel gave in to a small extent, evacuating its settlers from 
the Gaza Strip, taking its forces out of it and ending its direct rule. It converted the 
Gaza Strip into a huge ghetto, controlling all supplies entering into it or going out, and 
all movement in and out by the residents. As part of its strategy when Israel partly 
"freed" the Gaza Strip, it refrained from an orderly transfer of jurisdiction and internal 
rule of the area to the Palestinian Authority, instead enabling it to be taken over by the 
separatist Hamas fundamentalists - which Israel itself promoted years ago as competition 
to the Palestinian ruling elite with whom it had made the Oslo Accords twenty years ago.

Controlling the residents of the Gaza Strip and its regime (and avoiding setting it 
entirely free from Israeli hegemony) is a way to protect Israel's main efforts to keep its 
rule in the West Bank.

Israel's repeated refusal over many years to sign a non-aggression treaty (tahadia, or 
ceasefire) with the Hamas ruling elite revealed a significant part of the lies and excuses 
about an "inability to reach agreement with Hamas".

When the change of regime in Egypt defeated the Muslim Brotherhood, which Hamas was allied 
with, the siege of Gaza saw an immense increase and the supply pipeline of resources and 
funds to the Hamas regime was almost lost. As an act of desperation, the Hamas ruling 
elite came to an agreement of conditional surrender to the ruling elite of the Palestinian 
Authority in the West Bank (whose details have not yet been finalized). This threatened 
the Israeli strategy of divide and rule which worked for so many years and was part of the 
justification for avoiding a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority and a 
withdrawal from the West Bank occupied in the 1967 war.

To disrupt this surrender agreement and unity between the existing splits in the 
Palestinian ruling elite, Israel launched an attack on Hamas - both in the West Bank and 
in the Gaza Strip - with the hope of inciting an intense confrontation whose resolution 
will restore the independent rule of a separate, weakened and submissive Hamas... But the 
Egyptian government ruled by General Sisi which was responsible in the first place for 
cutting supples to the Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas, refused to play its part because of its 
enmity with the Muslim Brotherhood and its Hamas branch, and thwarted this attempt.
The confrontation is still far from resolution

Top Israeli heads admit that they want Hamas rule in Gaza to continue. However, Israel's 
immediate rejection of Hamas' conditions for an immediate ceasefire - without ending the 
occupation - is conclusive evidence of the real motives behind Israel's current 
hostilities. Hamas itself publicly admits that it will agree to a no-fire agreement 
lasting many years which is less than independent (and will agree to less, if minimal 
supplies of materials and money enabling it to continue functioning are ensured). However 
the Egyptians are still refusing "to play ball".

Israel could independently consolidate the rule of Hamas in the Gaza Strip - independent 
of the West Bank Palestinian Authority and independent of Egyptian cooperation. However, 
the sacrifices involved are so large and the political costs and dangers are so great that 
Israel is trying to gain time and delay the resolution by increasing the pressure on the 
Hamas elite, and try secret political efforts to pressure Egypt behind the scenes to yield 
a bit, in the hope of reaching a better and cheaper agreement.

Ilan Shalif

For more on the Israeli anarchist communists' position on the Palestinian struggle, see 
Ahdut's (Unity) Position Paper at http://www.anarkismo.net/article/27019

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* The Israeli National Socialist elite that has dominated the Zionist settler colonialist 
project in Palestine, established the State of Israel. It was sponsored by the imperial 
powers and functioned in their service. After establishing Israel, it was pressured/forced 
to promote an Israeli capitalist elite. This capitalist elite, nurtured by the National 
Socialist elite into which is integrated part of the older elite, integrated into the 
global capitalist system, and controlling Israel for the past 37 years - since taking over 
rule in 1977.

The Israeli capitalist elite continues with the Zionist settler colonialist project which 
enables it to exploit the toiling masses in Israel and in the occupied areas of 1967 
(including the Gaza Strip) while functioning as a junior partner in the global imperial 
system. Besides the Palestinian lands being taken over and pressuring the Palestinians to 
transfer, the occupied territories supply cheap wage slaves, and are held as captive 
markets and suppliers of natural resources.

Anarchists Against the Wall: http://awalls.org
Ahdut: http://unityispa.wordpress.com/
Related Link: http://ilanisagainstwalls.blogspot.com