Palestine

I will begin my intervention on the subject of the long-term solution with some rapid remarks about the last savage war in Gaza. It is a coincidence, tragic, certainly, but at the same time useful, considering that this war took place only a few weeks before the holding of this seminar which brings us together today.

This report deals with the evolution of the non-Islamic national movement since the end of the 1980s.

Since the start of the second Intifada in Palestine, we have seen the collapse of imperialism’s Plan B for the region. Plan A had been simply to allow Israel to hold on to the territories it occupied in 1967. Following the first Intifada, it became clear that this approach was not viable, and a new plan “B” was adopted.

Since the objective of this seminar is to focus on the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Palestinian questions, it is best to approach the theme of United States strategy from this angle in particular. Because on the one hand we do not have enough time for a general exposé on everything the US is doing in the region, and on the other, because to a significant degree that would only have an indirect relationship with the central theme of this meeting. But these questions intersect, as you will see.

This is a personal report on my relations with new Independent Democratic trade union movement in Palestine.

I first went to Palestine, in solidarity, in August 2002, just after the Israeli re-invasion of the West Bank.

I will start out with a historical account on how positions on the question have evolved, and then go on to a discussion of the problem as it is posed nowadays. (Report to the Palestine Seminar February 2009)

The reaction in Europe to the recent Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip has revealed many steps forward in Europe, but also many problems and difficult tasks either for the “specific” solidarity movement with Palestine, or for the social movement more generally.