A Palestinian state now, not in some misty future
With Israel's war against Hamas and the civilian population of Gaza winding down, and the world outraged at plans to starve and expel said population, we are now at an opportune moment.
If there were a left worthy of the name in Europe, now would be the time for it to give their governments a giant nudge. The Warsaw Ghetto tactics of the Israeli government have been sufficient to stir and unify EU countries and the UK into a previously unheard of response of "condemning in the strongest terms", suspending trade talks and threatening other sanctions.
A mass movement on the streets could build on this momentum to press for direct intervention. But this is not going to happen, of course, because most active Palestine supporters are heavily infected with "anti-imperialism" or a more general peace mongering. Their chants of "free Palestine" are empty noise.
It should be made part of the general understanding that on this question the UN is displaying its quite normal inability to do its job. If it were functioning properly it would mandate an external third party force to replace the present Israeli one in the occupied territories and provide the security necessary during the transition to an elected Palestinian government.
Given the inability of the UN to act, the pressure should be put on the western European powers to fill the breach. The UK and France should definitely be involved. The Italians are another possible participant. They could land in Gaza by sea and through Egypt, and enter the West Bank through Jordan. They would have the job of preventing hostilities between Palestinian factions and between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, and ensuring the supply of humanitarian aid. They might also have a post-independence role in deterring Israeli interference.
However, what we are talking about here is maximum economic and diplomatic pressure accompanied by troops already in place ready to move once the Israelis concede. As well as just getting out of the way they would be required to cooperate in a range of areas such as ensuring electricity and water supply, and allowing the construction of a land bridge between Gaza and the West Bank.
Let's hope European leaders can recognize, by just relying on their own brain cells, that fixing the continually festering criminal mess is in their own best interest and this kind of intervention is what is required.
Of course, the pseudo left could not countenance such "imperialist" intervention. According to them, the Palestinians have to remain under Israeli occupation until a successful proletarian revolution in the region! So, they shouldn't hold their breath! An article in Red Flag by SAlt elder Mick Armstrong back in December 1, 2023 represents this view as does an article of November 8, 2023 from his former pals at Solidarity. And we shouldn't fail to mention a similar echo from the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group on October 31, 2023.
Armstrong does correctly point out that talk in the past about a Palestinian state had been a sham given that Israel was never going to accept an independent state. But here we are not talking about a phony "peace process" but something imposed on Israel.