Shawqi Issa
The Palestine Issue in the Context of the Global System
Why is it important for the colonial system in the world?!
And why does it use all its power against the Palestinian people?!
By: Shawqi Al Issa
The crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people that are occurring these days have clearly revealed that the colonizer of Palestine is the global colonialism led at this stage by the United States of America, along with Europe and all the colonial capitalist powers in the world. It is not just the direct agent, which is the Zionist movement, as part of global colonialism.
Sometimes delving into details can mislead and confuse strategic understanding, so there is a need to return to the roots and the historical context in which the global colonial system, especially European capitalism, evolved. And why it’s crucial for them to have Palestine under colonial power permanently.
Europe lived through bloody conflicts and backwardness during the Middle Ages. The conflict among them led to terrible bloody outcomes. Their choices were either to continue in their bloody conflicts or to investigate the causes and eliminate them.
The emergence of the Industrial Revolution in Europe before other continents, leading to the transition from the feudal system to the capitalist one, gave them an advantage over others despite their small geographical size compared to other continents.
Philosophers, political scientists, economists, and sociologists were able to identify the obstacles to their development and the causes of conflicts:
1. The existing ruling systems that continued hereditary monarchy.
2. The extensive power held by the Church and the clergy.
3. Ethnic and racial conflicts.
4. The struggle over natural resources.
5. Poverty, which causes many conflicts.
Accordingly, they were able to find solutions to these causes to ensure their stability and development.
They separated religion from the state to limit the power of the clergy and the Church's interference in governance. They changed or reduced the power of royal families inherited from the feudal system, creating political systems in line with industrial development and the capitalist economic system.
To treat ethnic, racial, cultural, and linguistic conflicts, they developed the modern state as a temporary solution for a certain period, defining the geographical borders of each state in various ways and organizing them through modern constitutions and laws, including resorting to federal and confederal systems.
Although this largely ended most conflicts, it did not solve two problems that are crucial for maintaining the stability of the capitalist system and its development: poverty among large segments of society and the issue of natural resources, without which industrial development and prosperity cannot continue.
They enacted laws to reduce extreme poverty and ensure an acceptable standard of living for most citizens, significantly reducing socio-economic class conflict but without affecting the continued dominance of the capitalist class over the overall system in each country. Also they solved the problem of not involving half of the society (women) in production by including women in work and production.
To address the issue of natural resources necessary for the continuation and development of industry and global domination, they resorted to colonizing non-industrialized countries on other continents. The Industrial Revolution gave them the ability to develop military capabilities that enabled them to colonize.
However, military superiority alone does not ensure the continuation of colonialism.
With their previous experience of the causes of the weakness and conflicts, as they once were, they were able to transfer and deepen these conflicts among the colonized peoples.
They succeeded greatly in colonizing Australia and North America (the United States and Canada) through committing genocide and ethnic cleansing crimes, and, though differently, in colonizing Latin America and South Africa. Colonial expansion in various forms extended to many countries in Africa and Asia.
In the 19th century, especially in its second half, signs of social and economic problems began to emerge within the capitalist system. The movement of history does not stop, and within it, the movement of the development of socio-economic and political systems continues, especially since the structure of the capitalist system and its production relations create their contradictions.
During this period, the European racial superiority over other peoples in other continents (white racism) deepened, further reinforced by industrial development and economic wealth. This spread among them regardless of their economic, political, and social ideas (of course, there are exceptions).
With the increasing struggle among them for wealth and influence, they became more aggressive in colonizing non-European countries until World War I broke out with the aim of splitting influence and dominance.
During the war, it was clear that the Ottoman Empire would collapse, so the European colonial powers agreed on how to divide the areas of Ottoman empire after its fall, considering that their permanent colonization of the Middle East would be a great achievement.
They had successfully achieved (through crimes) permanent and irreversible colonization of America and Australia, replacing the native populations with their settlers.
After World War I, a new socio-economic system emerged in Russia, competing with the powerful capitalist system. However, it soon diverged from Marxist socialist ideology in its political practices, as Russian superiority emerged to control neighboring countries under the guise of spreading the socialist revolution. They imposed Russian obedience on neighboring states, extending this imposition to communist and socialist parties in various countries. The Soviet Union supported colonialism when the colonizer was its subordinate and supported and backed the colonization of Palestine under the pretext of confronting capitalist colonialism and competing with it over spheres of influence.
During that period, capitalist colonialism worked rapidly to develop its methods with a long-term understanding that direct military colonialism could not continue in the future. However, they needed to continue looting resources from other countries by maintaining their dominance over them, even without direct military occupation.
Colonization of Palestine
After European colonialism had permanently settled in North America and Australia, and after dominating and colonizing many other countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and with the emergence of a socialist ideology competing with capitalism, and their strategic long-term understanding that classical colonialism could not continue, especially with the spread of national liberation movements, they had to think creatively to continue their dominance and exploitation of resources.
They considered that permanent domination of the Middle East through planting a permanent colony there was an absolute necessity required for continuing indirect colonialism over surrounding areas, and later to strengthen the capitalist system in its struggle with the socialist system.
They established a racist movement in Europe, the Zionist movement, representing secular European Jewish capitalists. The fertile ground for it was provided by the existence of Christian Zionist ideas that had emerged since the time of Napoleon's rule. This movement exploited the Jewish religion and the conditions of Jews in Europe, especially Eastern Europe, to promote the idea of establishing a colony allied with European colonialism. They decided to establish it in Palestine due to its geographical, historical, and religious significance.
Global colonial powers considered planting a permanent colony in Palestine to ensure their continued dominance and control over resources in the Middle East and to strengthen their global system. Knowing that repeating the colonial pattern used in America and Australia was not possible in Palestine, neither in terms of place nor time, the use of the European Jewish Zionist movement and religious myths to permanently colonize Palestine was seen as a golden opportunity to achieve long-term strategic goals for dominance over the region for as long as possible.
The results of World War I, in which they divided spheres of influence, were not satisfactory to all European colonial powers, necessitating a second war to impose a new division.
After World War I, colonialism began a massive development of its patterns and tools worldwide by creating transcontinental corporations, international organizations under its control to use in achieving its goals, massive media and artistic institutions, international and regional specialized research centers, permanent and temporary international courts, international and regional military alliances, and creating local governing systems subordinate to them to ensure the continuation of their dominance.
And cleverly, they attracted non-submissive powers to be part of these systems and work within the limits set by colonial powers.
After World War II, conditions matured for planting the permanent colonial state in Palestine.
Global colonial powers all mobilized their resources and used all their arms to create the state of Israel as a European colonial state in Palestine. They used the United Nations, international institutions, corporations, media outlets, and the regimes that were loyal to them in the region.
Global Capitalist Colonialism after the Establishment of Israel
Colonial capitalists’ powers successfully used every possible devious method to establish the colony in Palestine as a permanent reality, making all countries seek solutions that keep Palestine permanently colonized.
To maintain this situation, they had to engage in complex operations to keep the peoples of the region weak and to lead the Arab peoples to deeply accept, consciously and unconsciously, that Western civilization is the standard, that it is superior, and that they must acknowledge and imitate it, and submit to it. They instigated and continually renewed sectarian and ethnic strife among them.
As a result, everyone, including the Palestinian people, began to search for a solution that does not end the colonization of Palestine but only a part of it.
On the other hand, to continue controlling their own populations in western capitalists’ countries, they turned most of their citizens into production machines, each working in their field without thinking about public and collective issues.
But once again, the more the imperialist capitalist system developed, the more brutal it became, creating more internal contradictions. Technological development has turned the world into a small village where people can easily access information.
These interactions and accumulations continued until we reached October 7th. The events of October 2023 in Palestine can be likened to a mass LASIK procedure to correct the world’s vision, where everyone’s minds, especially those in colonial countries, were opened to the reality of what is happening in Palestine. The fear of colonial countries for their achievements in the region made them participate with all their power, shamelessly and openly, in a crime of genocide against Palestinian people, without any moral, legal, or humanitarian restraints, increasing the chances of success of the LASIK operation in correcting global views and concepts about the reality of colonialism in Palestine.
What is required of the Palestinians now?
First, the focus should be on the fact that the issue of colonialism in Palestine is not between the Palestinian people and the Jews of the world, but rather that the Jews have been used by colonial powers as a tool to achieve colonial goals. The fact that the European colonizers in Palestine adhere to the Jewish religion does not change the reality that they are European colonizers.
Second, the elimination of colonialism in Palestine is necessary to bring about peace and stability in the region, ensuring the freedom of its peoples. The danger will not be removed from the countries of the region unless colonialism in Palestine is eradicated.
Third, building the broadest and most inclusive coalition with all those who stand against colonialism worldwide, regardless of religion, race, culture, and ideological beliefs, including the citizens of the colonial countries themselves, is essential for ending colonialism in Palestine. This requires giving a greater role to the younger generation due to their dynamism and modern capabilities.
Fourth, rejecting any solution that leaves Palestine, or part of it, under the racist European Zionist colonial rule and working toward a solution like the one implemented in South Africa, which would rid Palestine of the European racist Zionist colonial ideology and dependency on Western colonial countries, and liberate the Palestinian people in their independent state for all Palestinians of all religions.
Fifth, the ongoing transformation in the world that will end the unipolar dominance over the global system makes the elimination of colonialism in Palestine easier than at any previous time.
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