[R-G] Rela Mazali: Iraq, Palestine, and Resisting Erasure

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Iraq, Palestine, and Resisting Erasure
by Rela Mazali

. . . There are many distinctions between the specific situation in  
Iraq and the specific situation in the West Bank and Gaza. But almost  
all the points above [excerpted from the "Declaration of Jury of  
Conscience" at the World Tribunal on Iraq, 27 June 2005] bear strong  
analogies to aspects of Israel's ruthless occupation and its  
continuing war against the Palestinians. As citizens of a sovereign  
state with an active elections system and legislature, it is the  
people of Israel who bear direct responsibility for the occupation  
and oppression of the people of the West Bank and Gaza, through their  
government and their army. But it is a single power-based authority  
-- the United States -- that grants and protects the international  
impunity of both the occupiers of Iraq and the occupiers of Palestine.
Resisting one of them requires and involves resisting the other.  
Resisting the occupation of Palestine means also addressing the  
U.S.A. and its actions in the region. Resisting the occupation of  
Iraq means also addressing Israel and its continuing contribution to  
the militarization of the region.

I believe that the groups resisting each part of this interconnected  
web could gain from finding out much more about each other and  
coordinating action at specific, clear-cut points. For instance,  
right now, New Profile is preparing a speaking tour in the U.S. for  
Diana Dolev (one of the organizers of this conference), and we've  
been trying -- though without clear results yet -- to set up joint  
talks with Iraq Veterans Against the War, with the feminist anti-war  
group Code Pink, and with other U.S. anti-war groups. We believe that  
the messages on each of these distinct cases -- Iraq and Palestine --  
would both amplify and clarify each other; Would underline the  
urgency of each and both. This type of work could connect us to U.S.  
audiences who haven't yet invested much interest in Israel-Palestine.  
It could offer our American counterparts various methods, ideas,  
language.

For many, and maybe all, of us this link between occupations and  
occupiers is completely evident. But I'd like to stress that I  
believe it terribly important for some of us to invest in learning  
the specifics -- exactly how the channels of connection run;  
Precisely which economic and political bodies, institutions and  
individuals are active in both contexts. It's vital to understand as  
much as we possibly can about how those exercising power in these  
different but linked locations interact and interconnect. That is the  
matrix of power that we're resisting. We need to see it clearly in  
order to direct our resistance. . . .

FULL TEXT:
<http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/mazali230805.html>

Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://montages.blogspot.com>
<http://monthlyreview.org>
<http://mrzine.org>
* Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/mahmoud- 
ahmadinejads-face.html>;  <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/chvez- 
congratulates-ahmadinejad.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/ 
2005/06/iranian-working-class-rejects.html>