Basic collective human rights – self-determination, national independence, territorial integrity, national unity, and sovereignty without outside interference – are essential and universally legitimate.
Before the birth of modern Israel, Zionist groups – newly arrived in Palestine – engaged in armed struggle against the British military, whom they labelled as “occupiers.” But now that the tables have turned (and the UN has enshrined the right of armed struggle as a vehicle of indigenous liberation) the Israeli occupation refuses to recognize the Palestinian resistance as legitimate.
Israeli military lives lost, while tragic, are sacrifices made willingly by the occupier who is fully aware that the resistance is ongoing.
Palestinians’ struggle for self-determination is a difficult, costly march; yet history teaches there is simply no other choice. Silence is surrender. To be silent is to betray all those who have come before and all those yet to follow.
Israel’s new Nation-State Law gives Jews exclusive right to self-determination; names Jerusalem as united capital; prioritizes ingathering of exiles and Jewish-only communities.