Ireland, Spain and Norway (and soon Slovenia) could not stand the Israeli genocide in Gaza and decided to recognise Palestine. There are now countries recognising Palestine on the maps of Western Europe. Israel was very disturbed by the breach in the wall by these three countries. They issued threat after threat. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that they would open as many new settlements as the number of countries recognising Palestine. Those who recognise are Europeans, the persecuted Palestinians… Moreover, the illegal settlements will be built in the West Bank, where Hamas is not present. And this is not the first time they are building illegal settlements. For decades, they have confiscated the lands and houses of Palestinians in the West Bank and built houses for themselves. They built them whether other countries recognise Palestine or not.
The recent genocide in Gaza has shown the true face of the Israelis to such an extent that countries that are not influenced by the Jewish/Israeli lobby have quickly turned against the atrocities. If the Jewish/Israeli lobby had been influential in Ireland, Spain and Norway, buying politicians who relentlessly defend Israel with donations, these countries would not have recognised Palestine either. There is a photograph circulating on social media. In the photo, there are tweets posted by around 20 American congressmen. All of the tweets are almost identical to each other. Even the word equivalence (equivalence-equivalence) is mentioned in all tweets. The aforementioned tweets about Hamas and Israel not being equivalent/equal were obviously written at the request of Jewish lobbies such as AIPAC. You know how they say America and Israel are allies? No… As Netanyahu said, Israel rules America.
Since this is not the issue, let us skip it. The issue is the answer to the Israeli authorities’ challenge. If Israel is opening new illegal settlements in revenge against the countries that recognise Palestine, then those countries should not allow settlers into their countries. How is it right for a person who takes someone else’s property by force, and not only that, but also persecutes, kills or deports him, to come to the aforementioned countries for a holiday? Today, among the Israeli tourists wandering the streets of Spain, there are people who are just being themselves, as well as those who have massacred in Gaza and come on holiday to relax. They are on holiday as a reward for the massacre, and when they return, they will rest for a while in their homes, which they seized from the Palestinians, and then join their troops in Gaza.
The way to stop this is to deny admission to other countries to every Israeli citizen who contributed to the genocide. Just as Israel first made Gaza an open prison for 2.5 million Palestinians and then bombed it, killing at least 40,000 and wounding 100,000, so Israelis should be imprisoned in Israel. The people of other countries no longer want the Israelis among them because they have seen their true colours. But the reaction of the people is not enough. If the Israeli government is going to deal with the countries that recognise Palestine, the governments of those countries must respond in kind. No one has to turn a blind eye to the atrocities of a rich society. In fact, if Palestine is recognised, it means that all kinds of trade, including arms, can be done with Palestine. In other words, arms deliveries to Palestine are legitimate. However, since it is known that America, which is a prisoner of Israel, will deal with the countries supplying arms, no one dares.
However, there are many instruments to be used other than weapons. Israel can be isolated through announced and unannounced sanctions in areas such as tourism, import, export and investment. Then Israel would really become a Gaza. Unlike Gaza, however, no Israeli nose will bleed because the rest of the world is not as ruthless as Israel. There will only be deterrent sanctions and exclusion within a civilised framework.
Another way to fight Israel is through lobbying, which both the Arab world and the Palestinian diaspora should have taken action long ago. Lobbying is the activity of influencing the decisions of power centres such as the government and the bureaucracy. Statistics show that sometimes a lobbying expenditure of $10,000 brings in $2,200,000. It seems that the Jewish lobby in the US generates even more than that. Jewish non-governmental organisations such as AIPAC transfer hundreds of millions of dollars to American politicians every year. This year there will be American elections and Jewish organisations have allocated $100 million to help candidates who support Israel win. This budget includes defamation and defeat of Israel’s opponents.
In fact, pro-Israel lobby groups are extremely successful in their work. This is the reason why the US government gives Israel $3.8 billion in military aid every year. When a country receives this much aid every year, it naturally has a strong army. Such aid also means that the war is won in America, not in Palestine. On the other hand, the US government recently gave an additional 17 billion dollars to Israel, which is massacring people in Gaza. This will also help Israel’s deteriorating economy. In addition, the US continues to send all kinds of weapons to Israel so that it can commit genocide.
Pro-Israel groups know how to get Americans on their side. They support the election campaigns of members of Congress, regardless of which party they belong to. When they win, they do whatever the lobbyists tell them to do. It is said that Jewish lobbies such as AIPAC and ADL visit Congress once or twice a month. They have made politicians so pro-Israel that for many of them Israel comes before America. In addition, congressmen like Brian Mast went so far as to wear Israeli army uniforms. Normally a shameful thing for a politician, but Mast shamelessly wore that uniform.
From now on, American politics cannot be expected to pursue a more neutral foreign policy. Whoever donates more to politicians and visits them more frequently wins. Recently, a congressman made a statement. According to him, no one has ever visited him for Palestine. They were all employees of Jewish organisations. This is very sad for the Palestinians. It is also for the Arab world. It is understandable that some Arab countries keep their distance from Hamas, but at least their non-violent and innocent lobbying activities could have been supported.
However, it is better to cut your losses. Even starting lobbying activities today would be beneficial. For this purpose, the Palestinian diaspora in particular and the Arab and Muslim world should establish non-governmental organisations to defend the Palestinian cause in Washington. Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and Colombia will certainly support such an endeavour. Because the Palestinian cause has now become a humanitarian issue. Everyone with a conscience will support Palestine, and as a matter of fact, many countries have sided with Palestine with the ongoing genocide in Gaza. These countries will certainly defend Palestine at all times and places.
To summarise, countries that are not silent about the massacre in Gaza should prevent Israeli citizens involved in the atrocities from travelling around the world. If they cannot issue an official regulation on this issue, they can also prevent them de facto. As a price for such atrocities, Israel must be Gaza-ised. In this way, the mass murderers will not feel comfortable in other countries. On the other hand, Palestine should also make an opening before America. Both the Palestinian diaspora and the countries supporting Palestine should establish a Palestinian AIPAC.
These measures will not end Israel’s occupation, but they will show that Palestine will not be defeated and that most of the world is behind the Palestinians. The world is bigger than Israel and its supporters and it is time for them to realise this.
