I was recently interviewed by the… ANU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in Australia on the Israel/Palestine conflict and the Middle East. It’s been published by the ANU Arabic and Middle Eastern Society (an anonymous, Zionist troll has posted a response with Israeli talking points):
The ”˜Arab-Israeli/Israeli-Palestinian conflict’ has spanned for over half a century… and been the repeated object of failed peace-processes and unsuccessful… diplomacy. Students for Justice in Palestine are in conversation with… independent journalist Antony Loewenstein to explore the growing criticism that… diplomatic attempts to understand and resolve the conflict ignore human rights… in a way that greatly impedes the attainment of a ”˜just peace’ and a solution to… the conflict.
SJP: Why are human rights important to the attainment of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
AL: Human rights are central to resolving the Israel/Palestine conflict.… Supporters of Israel claim the situation is complicated when in fact this masks… the brutal reality of a nearly 50 year Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and… around 600,000 illegal Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and East… Jerusalem. Condemned by countless UN resolutions and virtually every nation in… the world (except, it must be noted, Australia and the US, placing them as… outliers in the international community), Israeli behaviour, the daily indignities… of check-points across Palestinian territory, restrictions on Palestinian work and… marriage, regular raids into Palestinian communities by the Israeli army and the… detention and torture of Palestinian children and a constant lack of Palestinian… stability, is condemned around the world, leading to the growth of the boycott,… divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, a non-violent and legitimate tactic… akin to the successful campaign against apartheid South Africa. The comparisons… are apt, a point stressed by many black South Africans who suffered under… apartheid and have witnessed today’s Israel. Desmond Tutu is just one notable… figure who concurs.
SJP: What is your perspective on the labelling of individuals and organisations that… discuss the Israeli government’s human rights abuses, as ”˜anti-Semites’?
AL: The “anti-Semitic” smear used against critics of Israel is a tired and desperate… ploy to both silence and control debate. It cheapens real anti-Semitism, a… worrying trend worsened by Israeli violence, and intimidates people keen to… honestly debate Israel/Palestine. Being against the Israeli occupation is an… increasingly mainstream position, and Israel’s Netanyahu government, right-wing, inflammatory and with no intention of ending the occupation, is the best… argument against blind Western support for Israel imaginable. Arguing for a… two-state solution, the default and tired view echoed by governments and liberal… Zionists the world over, is removed from reality on the ground in Palestine,… where Palestinians are being daily pushed off their land by Israeli-state backed… colonists. I have seen this with my own eyes during my many visits to Palestine.
SJP: There are student groups throughout the United States, United Kingdom and… Ireland who have a strong focus on raising awareness around Palestinian human… rights. In comparison, Australian students seem less engaged with this issue. Why… do you think this is?
AL: Student activism on Palestine is growing globally, and many universities are… now seriously discussing pressuring their administration to divest from… companies who are directly profiting from the Israeli occupation. I hope this… movement grows in Australia, though it’s undeniably difficult when both Labor… and the Liberals blindly support Israel. This isn’t about principle or knowledge… but a deluded belief that Australia aligning itself with the US and the US-Australia… alliance requires offering uncritical backing for Israel. This places Australia on… the extreme end of Zionist extremism.
Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist, Guardian columnist,… documentary filmmaker and author of many books including ”˜My Israel Question’… and the forthcoming ”˜Disaster Capitalism’.…
ANU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a group of ANU students and staff… dedicated to increasing awareness of issues in Israel-Palestine on ANU campus.