For Want Of An Actually Existing Anti-War Movement, Palestine’s Agony Deepens

One cannot help but wonder how things might have turned out for the Palestinians these past few years had there been a real "anti-war" movement abroad in the rich countries of the west, rather than what that movement has become: the primary developed-world vehicle for activism, apologetics and propaganda on behalf of Hezbollah and Hamas.

It's not as though there aren't any real anti-war activists in Palestine and Israel at whose side we might stand and to whose cause we might dedicate ourselves. There's Combatants for Peace, for instance, which consists of former combatants from "both sides" of the Palestine-Israeli tragedy. There's also the One Voice Movement, endorsed by 331,727 Israelis and 295,720 Palestinians so far. One Voice aims for "a two-state solution guaranteeing an end to occupation and violence, and a viable, independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel."

They could use our help. Instead, we've been giving them this kind of thing.

In Canada, long before Israel's recent barrage upon Hamas, the anti-war movement had degenerated to the point that it was absolutely incapable of making any credible contribution to the conversation. Now, the polemical justifications on hand, such as they are, come from such deranged sources as James Petras, a senior member of the editorial collective of the venerable Canadian Dimension magazine, which was once this country's preeminent socialist journal. If you can bear it, Petras explains that Israel is a totalitarian state that is now engaged in the "mass extermination of the population of Gaza. . . in the open ovens of missile fire." (There it is again, by the way: 'Mass extermination' and 'ovens' add themselves to the rhetorical lexicon that in just the past few days has included 'atrocity,' 'genocide,' 'blitzkreig,' 'holocaust' and 'prison camp' in the most commonplace "left-wing" critiques of Israel's military operations. Makes you wonder.) Petras goes on to tell us that Israel's targets actually include "the entire population of 1.5 million semi-starved prisoners" in Gaza, and the whole thing is being orchestrated by "Jewish-Zionist"Americans of dual loyalty who control the government, the newspapers, the broadcast media, Hollywood - the whole schmeer.

Actually, do read it. It's like an updated version of The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem, out of the pages of the Dearborn Independent, circa 1921.

As for just how it came to pass that the "left" now so routinely takes up space formerly occupied by the drooling, antisemitic far-right, Fred Halliday's account is as good as any. Or Paul Berman, via an essay by Nick Cohen.

It is not as though the western "left" - even the much-maligned Marxist left - is utterly devoid of principled analysis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here, the Internationalist Workers Tendency weighs in: "The violence in Gaza suits the agendas of both the eliminationist, antisemitic, Hamas and the Israeli rejectionist, racist right. On the Hamas side, Jews are behind the French and the Communist Revolutions and there is no war that broke out anywhere without [Jews'] fingerprints on it, and on the other, Hamas’ response to Israeli bombardment is ‘proof’ that Palestians are ‘terrorists’ and ‘justifies’ the ongoing occupation of Palestinian land and denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination."

You don't need to agree with the IWT line in order to recognize that it is, at the very least, a coherent, intelligent and perfectly legitimate point of view, and not at all like the mere masquerades we're used to getting from self-styled "Marxists" when they address the Israeli-Palestine issue. Personally, I can't find anything in it worth working up the energy to raise an objection.

Still, I do regret to having concluded that another good left-wing analysis raises serious questions about whether simply stopping the attacks Israel is currently carrying out in Gaza will do much good in the long run. That analysis comes from the trade unionist Eric Lee, and his argument is convincing: "Israel is today being accused of over-reacting, of applying disproportionate force to what is essentially a defeated and weak enemy. Actually, Israel is doing what is necessary to bring the long war to an end."

I mean it when I say I regret it, because I do tend to place my hopes in the capacity of Palestinians of good will to "resist" the Hamas tyranny (and elected or not, it is a tyranny) even in the absence of effective solidarity and support from a global anti-war movement, and despite that same movement's tendency to make excuses for the worst Islamist enemies of the Palestinian people.

As it happens, Eric has just sent around an email reminder that today marks the fourth anniversary of the murder of Hadi Saleh, the international officer of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions. We might well recall that Saleh and his comrades could not count on the support of the British Stop The War Coalition, but worse, the Stop The War Coalition was cheering on Saleh's murderers at the time on the pretext that the Iraqi "resistance" had the right to pursue its aims "by any means necessary." Which makes such necessary means as binding a brave socialist's hands and feet, blindfolding him, torturing him, strangling him with an electrical cord and then finishing him off with bullets perfectly justifiable, I guess.

In Gaza, Khaled Abu Toameh's sources are reporting that in recent days, Hamas has executed more than 35 Palestinians "suspected of collaborating" with Israel, and Fatah reports that at least 75 of its activists have been shot in the legs and others have had their hands broken by Hamas thugs. Hamas has also placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest. Meanwhile, Hamas confirms that it is engaged in the pursuit of a "very dangerous collaborators' network."

So why does any of this matter, all this horror in such a tiny, faraway place? Because the sundering of the "left" unto barbarism and senility matters. Because Palestinians matter. Because Israelis matter. Because this little "war" is a much greater struggle than it appears.

"This is a war for the future of Islam," writes Bradley Burston. "Specifically, it is a war over the future of radical Islam, which for the past decade, has vigorously and skillfully labored to surpass settlements, Palestinian misrule, and a host of other factors to become the pre-eminent obstruction to peace in the Holy Land. "

It is also the pre-eminent obstruction to peace in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, and quite a few other places I could name.

Too bad the "anti-war" movement hasn't noticed.