Healing Palestine, Healing the World

As Goes Palestine, So Go We

Please indulge me.

I need to share my ideas about what needs to happen for Palestine, and for the world in light of the ongoing genocide and wars that the west supports. They will end sometime, and we need to have questions and actions ready.

Western governments started this horror, and we as citizens need to hold our leaders accountable for their support of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Here in the west, we’re held hostage by governments that support genocide, using our tax dollars, while the cost of living is through the roof, fewer of us have roofs over our head, and we’re reaching critical environmental tipping points. Our economy funnels money that should address these things to the already wealthy, as our social safety nets deteriorate.

How did we get here? Is this the system we want? If not, what do we do?

Some geopolitical broad strokes:

The USA and its allies have been funding Israel which is not only committing genocide in Gaza, but attacking neighbouring countries, killing journalists, health workers and UN staff, and trashing international law.

The west is also losing the NATO backed proxy war supporting Ukraine against Russia.

These two military adventures as well as earlier attacks on Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and others, some of which are ongoing, have destroyed the reputation of the west, and has galvanized the rest of the world against its ongoing destruction.

Through BRICS the global majority is organizing and standing up to western backed institutions like the World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The last ten minutes or so of this video gives a great overview of how many of the global majority see things. In a nutshell, many are fed up with being exploited and invaded by western countries, and they’re standing up to imperialism.

Add to this the years of neoliberalism, and funnelling money to the very rich at the expense of everything else, the economies of western countries are tanking.

Something’s got to give. To me it looks like the world has reached a pivotal moment.

In the Middle East

Israel’s genocide must be stopped. And I wonder if it will be Jewish people themselves who do the most to achieve this. I just finished watching Israelism, and it looks like Jewish resistance to Israel’s genocide in Gaza is rapidly increasing.

There has to be a permanent ceasefire. The killing and destruction in Gaza and other neighbouring countries must be stopped, preferably by international forces representing the United Nations.

Many Israelis have moved back to their families’ countries of origin, and have left many empty homes behind. While peace negotiations take place, people in the occupied territories who live within the 1967 borders, could either move to some of these empty homes or return to the countries of their families’ origins.

Displaced people from Gaza and the West Bank could then move into the homes in the occupied territories, some returning to properties that were stolen from them.

Palestinians should then be able to receive all the medical care they require, and adequate food, water and amenities, which should be paid for by AIPAC. Some sources they may be able to trust to help would be Cuba or China, but that will be up to Palestinians.

AIPAC funding of politicians needs to become illegal, and those funds should go to support Palestinians as they recover. Palestinians’ elected representatives need to have full control over these funds.

International Law

There needs to be new Nuremberg trials where Israel and its many international enablers will be held to account for the genocide they’re committing or supporting.

The United Nations will need to carefully review the genocide in Gaza. They should then take the necessary steps needed under international law to prevent anything like this from ever happening again, using the information they’ve gleaned from their review.

Questions need to be asked and answered.

For example, why does a country that is funding and arming Israel’s genocide have veto power on the UN Security Council? Isn’t this a conflict of interest?

Why has Israel been allowed to remain in the United Nations when, besides committing genocide, it’s murdered UNRWA workers, declared UNRWA a terrorist organization, broken multiple international laws including by committing genocide, and declared the UN Secretary General persona non grata?

Why has this genocide not been stopped, and what mechanisms should have been in place in order to be able to make it stop?

I also think it’s high time that NATO is disbanded. It has caused immense destruction, and has been a constant drain on western economies. The funds from NATO aligned countries should be distributed to countries that have been harmed by war. These funds should be managed by the countries that were invaded by NATO.

Palestine

Palestine has applied to join BRICS. As it negotiates with member countries, their decimated lands, buildings and infrastructure need to be restored, while adopting best practices for community and environmental restoration.

As Palestinians heal and organize themselves, they will oversee and control the careful rebuilding of Gaza, restoring historic sites, orchards, homes, schools, universities, hospitals and all necessary infrastructure.

The world pays close attention to what goes on in Gaza now, and needs to continue as the land, people and society heal. Gaza can become a model for the rest of the world. Other countries will carefully observe the governance models they put in place and the ways in which they restore their devastated lands.

Community design that encourages well-being and environmental restoration honouring the leadership of indigenous people has the potential to bring in a new era of well-being for Palestine and the rest of the world.

NATO countries

In western countries, neoliberalism has to end. It has abandoned any duty to its citizens, the environment, and countries it interacts with. It is a system dominated by greed, and seeing its willingness to support genocide — the crime of crimes — tells us that it has to end.

Now there is legislation being passed in many western countries equating criticism of Israel, as it commits genocide, with anti-semitism. As well, freedom of speech and of association are under attack, as is honest reporting.

What do we replace our systems with? There are many ideas out there, but a cap on wealth, creating a robust social safety net, and decreasing military spending would be a good start. So would creating actual democracy, including proportional representation and citizens assemblies.

Western leaders

And the people who have designed and profited from these systems? It’s hard to imagine their state of mind.

The knee jerk reaction to international crises of this group has been to organize coups, colour revolutions and assassinations, while vilifying their targets in the mainstream press first. The mainstream media, especially lately, is happy to parrot the words of the powerful. With social media, they can no longer get away with this.

I can only wish these people epiphanies: learning to care for others and the world more than they care for money and power, the willingness to abandon a system that destroys so much and harms so many, seeing the fact that we’d all be so much richer — including them — if people had time to develop their artistic, scientific, athletic and all other abilities.

In western countries, the rest of us are struggling. Many are angry, overworked, living precariously. And this is the context that holds us all, including the wealthy and powerful.

We need to consciously design a system that supports life, that doesn’t exploit or pollute, and that encourages community and wellness.

We could have a global renaissance, and it would bring all of us joy, including the powerful.

The horrors of what is going on in Gaza need to be stopped and reversed. This has to be humanity’s turning point.

So what do we do now?

• Keep on demonstrating, writing, boycotting.

• Make sure the news sources you read give accurate information.

• Vote only for people and parties that do not support genocide.

• Organize to support community members, and to develop grassroots power.

• Amplify Palestinian voices, and voices for peace.

• Work with others to stop the genocide and change the system.

• Blame the system, and not minority groups that have it worse than you. Fascism is a tool of the forces that are causing you problems. Remember, there’s only one race, and that’s the human race.

In conclusion

This situation must stop at some point, and we need to have our questions ready, and be willing to take action in order to restore any semblance of democracy in the west. We also need to ensure that our governments represent our interests and learn to play fairly in the international sphere.

Many of us are questioning our colonial belief systems, and trying to dismantle them. Even Joe Biden issued an apology to American indigenous people for the harm our society has caused them. This would have been a powerful gesture if the American government wasn’t supporting genocide against Gaza, which stems from the same colonialist impulse.

The western ruling class has demonstrated its indifference to suffering, not only the suffering of their own citizens, but of people destroyed by wars, including genocide. They’ve failed to address the environmental crisis, and the exorbitant cost of living and housing crises in their own jurisdictions.

What is the alternative to addressing this? If the powerful of our countries are willing to support genocide, what else are they capable of? How much worse can things get?

I hope we’ll question our roles as citizens, and do all we can to bring about the kind of changes that will lead to a truly civilized global society.

What ideas do you have about restoration of Palestine, and revamping the system that has caused so much misery to so many?

* * * * * * *

I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here's an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/browse/1

Here's a way to help others not in your bubble to boycott Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/stickies_2024_en

And here's where you can support Palestine by buying a keffiyeh:

https://www.hirbawi.ps/