What does Israel Fear from Palestine?
By Raja Shehadeh, Profile Books

RAJA SHEHADEH is a leading human rights lawyer as well as being a writer of great sensitivity, humanity and depth. His accounts of life under the occupation bring the reality of Palestinian experiences to international audiences, linking the personal with the political dimensions of the struggle. 

Unsurprisingly then, his latest book, What does Israel Fear from Palestine? provides an exceptionally lucid account of the underlying causes of the war in Gaza, accompanied, as this has been, by escalating violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) on the West Bank. This sets the context for the consideration of what needs to change if there is to be some possibility of hope for the future.

Part 1 goes back to the Balfour Declaration of 1917 when the British supported the eventual establishment of a Jewish state, regardless of the interests of the existing Palestinian population. This support continued during the British mandate (1922-48) which ended with the Nakba in 1948, the forcible displacement of Palestinians to make room for the creation of the state of Israel. 

These traumas were formative experiences for Shehadeh himself, growing up in Ramallah, where his family had fled after their displacement from their home in Jaffa.   

The 1967 war represented another key stage in the struggle. Since then, some 600,000 Jewish settlers have occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, displacing yet more Palestinians in the process. 

There are striking parallels with, as well as differences from, the apartheid system here, as Shehadeh explains, with Palestinians effectively confined within “Bantustans,” increasingly surrounded by illegal settlements, financially supported by the US. 

The creation of the Palestinian Authority, following the Oslo Peace Accords, effectively entrenched this situation further, in Shehadeh’s view, from the 1990s onwards, culminating in the catastrophic violence of the contemporary situation, including the violent incursions of Hamas as well as the subsequent horrors currently being inflicted on Gaza and the West Bank.

So, why has the world failed to advance the cause of peace more effectively? 

Shehadeh offers a number of explanations, starting with the arms industry internationally, exporting arms to Israel and “testing” them in Gaza, as well as importing Israeli arms in return as in the case of Britain, for example. 

Fear plays a significant role too, he argues, the use of fear as a political weapon. The Israeli right has aimed to instil fear among the Palestinian population, attempting to undermine their resistance, as a result. And the Israeli right has been aiming to foment fears among the Israeli population too, uniting what has been a deeply divided country coming together against a common enemy. 

There are, of course, continuing divisions within Israeli society, but considerably less so, he argues, since the horrors of the Gaza war were unleashed, in response to the deadly incursions and the taking of hostages in October 2023.

International responses to the Gaza war have been mounting, including responses from both Britain and the US, with encampments and massive marches demonstrating the strength of popular opposition. But military aid continues to be provided, all the same. The outlook remains correspondingly unhopeful, it would seem.

Shehadeh concludes on a note of hope rather than expectations, however. “For those of us who know with unshakeable certainty that the only future is for the two peoples to live together — the future might seem bleak,” he accepts. “And yet, looking back at the history of the region, it is only after great upheavals that hopeful consequences follow.”

International negotiations need to take place, involving the UN and the global South — not under the sponsorship of the US because of its record of bias — to discuss all outstanding issues: full recognition of a Palestinian state, refugees, prisoner release, settlements and future relations between Israel and Palestine. 

Morning Star readers may have their differences with some aspects of this book, including Shehadeh’s opening reflections on 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall as an era of hope, for a start, let alone for the prospects for a Palestinian state along 1947 borders. 

Overall, however, this is a valuable book, providing a clear analysis of roots of the present situation, including the responsibility that must be taken by the British state from 1917 onwards. Quite remarkably succinct, Shehadeh achieves this within a pocket-sized volume of just over 100 pages. 

He writes with so much humanity, recounting the story with neither rancour nor despair. This book will be particularly valuable for political education. 

Highly recommended all round.