‘Ballots, not bullets, for Palestine’

Lt General Jebril Alrjoub, general secretary of the Palestinian National Movement FATEH and former national security adviser, speaks to Ramisa Rob of  The Daily Star about the atrocities being committed in Palestine and the recently passed UN resolution on ceasefire.

Since the ICJ ruling against Israel, the Netanyahu government has only continued on in the same violent vein in Palestinian territories. How do you view the ongoing atrocities?

First, I would like to appreciate the Government and people of Bangladesh—the first country after South Africa to support and encourage this historic judicial step against Israeli fascists, racists, colonialists, and even neo-Nazis. I'm pretty sure what the Israelis are doing is genocide—killing, destroying, bombing. The majority of the casualties are women, children, and the elderly. If this is not genocide or ethnic cleansing, then what is it? I believe the Israeli government is just looking to kill and expel Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

The UN Security Council resolution that was passed on March 25 mentioned that Hamas must unconditionally release hostages. Will that happen? And will Israel listen?

The substance of the resolution is primarily focused on the cessation of hostilities committed by Israel. They [Israel and the West] keep talking about hostages from October 7, but around 15,000 Palestinian hostages—including women—have been kidnapped and humiliated by Israel long before. The US, Egypt and Qatar are working on it, and the only way to sustain the ceasefire is to exchange prisoners. As for the second part of the question: no, Israel will not listen to this as they do not listen to anything.

Who, or what, can really stop the genocide?

It has to be the international community, led by the US and President Joe Biden. But the US, the UK and other European countries are protecting criminals. What Israel is doing goes against their ethics and values. Israel's goal is to bury the Palestinian national and political identity, according to international organisations. They are starving millions in Gaza, and even in the West Bank, they're ruthlessly suffocating Palestinians with the agenda that we will leave. But we as Palestinians have no other choice and no other place.

Do you think Biden's stance on Israel is shifting?

What Israel is doing is against regional security and global peace. The US is starting to understand that they cannot tolerate that anymore, and that, coupled with domestic reasons such as the upcoming election, has underlined Biden's recent decisions to contain Israel's government.

There is an international consensus that now is the time to settle this conflict by recognising the rights of the Palestinian statehood, Palestinian people, and our right to self-determination. It's a matter of stopping Israel in advancing their malicious agenda of drastically changing the demographics on the ground. The ball is in the US's court, to lead the international community and stop the double standards. It is for the truth that has been unveiled about Israeli lies and the scale of atrocities that the Biden administration, despite its blind support for Israel, cannot hide anymore. They are starting to realise that they cannot deny the crimes against humanity which clearly contradict their talks about human rights, democracy, ethics. What Israel is doing now is a threat to US national security and its interests all over the world, especially in the Middle East, and the politicians should realise that too.

How do you view the use of Holocaust rhetoric to silence support for Palestinians?

The Holocaust was perpetrated by someone else, the German Nazis, almost a century ago. We, Palestinians, were not involved in it. So why should we suffer for it? Why are we paying the price? We are not scapegoats! The conclusion is simple: stop the Israeli unilateralism to negate Palestine from the map. We have millions of people who have been living under occupation for years. We have the right, as owners of the land, to defend it and that has nothing to do with the Holocaust or anti-Semitism.

I also think the Europeans, the Germans, who committed this sin against Jews in World War II, should not be supporting those whose ancestors were victims of the Holocaust to commit the same crimes to annihilate a complete population. The Germans have some kind of complex guilt, but why should innocent Palesstinians pay the price for what their ancestors did to the ancestors of the Jews in Israel? Why us? But it's not just Germany; all of Europe must reckon that this double standard will lead to nothing but suffering on both sides.

What is your view on Israel's stated goal for waging this "war" being to "destroy Hamas"?

The issue of Hamas is an excuse to demonise all Palestinian people. You know the history of this conflict did not start on October 7, 2023. If you count the atrocities that Israel has perpetrated for decades before October 7, the Hamas attacks would seem like kindergarten brawls. I firmly believe that the attacks were a reaction to Israeli expansionist policies and those who are responsible for what happened are the Israeli occupation forces, those who continue building walls and settlements, those who unjustifiably dictate realities for millions Palestinians on the ground. The Israelis cannot on the one side enjoy building settlements, enjoy humiliating and killing, and also enjoy peace and security on the other side. It's logically impossible. Anyone would expect a reaction coming, and that is what happened. But then look at how many they have killed and injured now in response. Most people in Gaza are either in jail, under rubble, or have been killed. All hospitals, civilian structures, sports grounds—everything has been destroyed. We need the international community to say it's time to stop now.

The Holocaust was perpetrated by someone else, the German Nazis, almost a century ago. We, Palestinians, were not involved in it. So why should we suffer for it? Why are we paying the price? We are not scapegoats! The conclusion is simple: stop the Israeli unilateralism to negate Palestine from the map. We have millions of people who have been living under occupation for years. We have the right, as owners of the land, to defend it and that has nothing to do with the Holocaust or anti-Semitism.

What is the situation like in the West Bank? Has it improved after the US sanctions on settlers?

It's very complicated. There are checkpoints, growing numbers of incursions, and even killings. After 6pm in the evening, the situation is grim: you don't see any Palestinians walking around because of the Israeli policing and humiliation to paralyse Palestinians. In East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the situation is obviously worse than before. If this type of policing and injustice continues, the explosion will come to the West Bank too. What happened in Gaza will be nothing compared to the explosion that will happen in the West Bank. As for the US sanctions, it is just lip service. The US should tell Israel to stop all of its unilateral atrocities on the ground, whether it's in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. That's the only way. The US should understand that our reaction, our resistance is legitimate, and that we Palestinians will not suffer alone.

There were talks about "post-Gaza" in the US media after Israel successfully "destroys" Hamas, replacing it with leadership from the Palestinian Authority. What is your take on this?

Excuse me, but Hamas was, is, and will always remain a part of our national fabric forever. Neither the US nor Israel has the right to decide who should lead us. The US has to lead a campaign to make the international community recognise all the Palestinian entities as one unit, and help the Palestinian Authority form one government which functions both in Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. This newly formed government should take care of all Palestinians, and all Palestinian Occupied Territories. This government should have the precinct of all political factions in Palestine. They should have three missions: 1) unite the territories, institutions and services under one umbrella and one policy; 2) rebuild Gaza; and 3) ballots not bullets—prepare the nation for general elections, to build a sharing of power through a democratic process.

So again, Hamas will remain part of our people and no one—not the US, not Israel—gets to decide otherwise. The Israeli officials should go look at themselves in the mirror and see their own fascism, the apartheid, their faces now painted with genocide. They have no right to decide or dictate what we Palestinians will do. We have the right to elect our own leadership according to our own interests—this is what I believe and what my movement FATEH believes.

Can you tell us a bit more about your movement FATEH, and how you're navigating the eruption of this conflict since October 7?

From day one, we initiated diplomatic efforts with international bodies, including the UN and its Human Rights Council, and began direct contact with everyone. We are trying to achieve four goals:

1) Stop the Israeli war; cessation of hostility in Gaza and West Bank

2) Relief and aid for our people in Gaza

3) Confront or undermine any effort to displace Palestinians

4) Ending the occupation and establishing our own independent sovereign

Our channels are open with all political factions of Palestine, including Hamas, and all the relevant important players in the Middle East. I recently visited Qatar, and then Turkey and Algeria, to discuss these issues. We were, and we remain, one family. The issue of division between Hamas or other political factions is most concerning for us. What we require most is national reconciliation and unity to lead us to independence. We have to establish ourselves as a legitimate state that can add to global security and stability. We understand what our responsibility includes, and we will act according to that—achieve sharing of power by turning pages in the book of democracy.

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