Dear friends,
in the last couple of weeks, there has been a debate (once again) on a number of Palestinian and Israeli sites, as well as twitter and Facebook about the issue of "normalisation" and what it means in relation to the Palestinian struggle. This latest discussion came about as a result of Palestinians activists taking a stand against a range of pro-normalisation conference in Occupied East Jerusalem. It has come to light in the last few days that the organisers of at least one of these conferences also organised a pro-normalisation conferences held in the illegal Israel colony of Ariel.
As most Palestinians will tell you, opposition to the "normalisation" of Zionist-settler colonial occupation and apartheid has long been a central component of Palestinian national movement. One of the first major anti-normalisation campaigns staged by Palestinians occurred in 1936 when Palestinian engaged in a six month boycott against Zionism and British imperialism.
In October this year, the Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott campaign against Israel issued a statement explaining in detail what "normalisation" is and isn't. In my opionion, the definition adopted by both PACBI and by the Palestinian BDS campaign in 2007 is simply a formalisation of what Palestinian society has widely understood to be "normalisation". I have included it below.
In solidarity,
Kim
Israel’s Exceptionalism: Normalizing the Abnormal
In
the Palestinian and Arab struggle against Israeli colonization,
occupation and apartheid, the “normalization” of Israel is a concept
that has generated controversy because it is often misunderstood or
because there are disagreements on its parameters. This is despite the
near consensus among Palestinians and people in the Arab region on
rejecting the treatment of Israel as a “normal” state with which
business as usual can be conducted. Here, we discuss the definition of
normalization that the great majority of Palestinian civil society, as
represented in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, has
adopted since November 2007, and elaborate on the nuances that it takes
on in different contexts.
Like
OneVoice, IPCRI adopts the ubiquitous “conflict paradigm” while
ignoring the domination and oppression that characterize the
relationship of the Israeli state with the Palestinian people. IPCRI
conveniently neglects a discussion of the roots of this “conflict,”
what it is about, and which “side” is paying the price. Like
OneVoice, it glosses over the historic record and the establishment of a
settler-colonial regime in Palestine following the expulsion of most of
the indigenous people of the land. The defining moment in the history of “the conflict” is therefore not acknowledged. The
history of continued Israeli colonial expansion and the dispossession
and forcible displacement of Palestinians is conveniently ignored, as
well. Through IPCRI’s omissions,
the organization denies the resistance framework we have outlined above
and brings Palestinians and Israelis into a relation privileging
co-existence over co-resistance. Palestinians
are asked to adopt an Israeli vision of a peaceful resolution and not
one that recognizes their comprehensive rights, as defined by the UN.
The
normalization of Israel – normalizing the abnormal – is a malicious and
subversive process that works to cover up injustice and colonize the
most intimate parts of the oppressed: their mind. To
engage in or with organizations that serve this purpose is, therefore,
one of the prime targets of boycott, and an act that BDS supporters must
confront together.
It
is helpful to think of normalization as a “colonization of the mind,”
whereby the oppressed subject comes to believe that the oppressor’s
reality is the only “normal” reality that must be subscribed to, and
that the oppression is a fact of life that must be coped with. Those who
engage in normalization either ignore this oppression, or accept it as
the status quo that can be lived with. In an attempt to whitewash its
violations of international law and human rights, Israel attempts to
re-brand [1] itself, or present itself as normal -- even “enlightened”
-- through an intricate array of relations and activities encompassing
hi-tech, cultural, legal, LGBT and other realms.
A key principle that underlines the term normalization is that it is entirely based on political, rather than racial,
considerations and is therefore in perfect harmony with the BDS
movement’s rejection of all forms of racism and racial discrimination. Countering normalization is a means to resist oppression, its mechanisms and structures. As such, it is categorically unrelated to or conditioned upon the identity of the oppressor.
We
break down normalization into three categories that correspond to
differences pertaining to the varied contexts of Israel’s colonial
oppression and apartheid. It is important to consider these minimum definitions as the basis for solidarity and action.
1) Normalization in the context of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Arab world
The
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
(PACBI) has defined normalization specifically in a Palestinian and Arab
context “as the participation in any project, initiative or activity,
in Palestine or internationally, that aims (implicitly or explicitly) to
bring together Palestinians (and/or Arabs) and Israelis (people or
institutions) without placing as its goal resistance to and exposure of
the Israeli occupation and all forms of discrimination and oppression
against the Palestinian people.” [2] This is the definition endorsed by the BDS National Committee (BNC).
For
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and
Gaza, any project with Israelis that is not based on a resistance
framework serves to normalize relations. We define this resistance framework as one that is based on recognition of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people and
on the commitment to resist, in diverse ways, all forms of oppression
against Palestinians, including but not limited to, ending the
occupation, establishing full and equal rights for Palestinian citizens
of Israel, and promoting and advocating for the right of return for
Palestinian refugees – this may aptly be called a posture of
“co-resistance” [3]. Doing
otherwise allows for everyday, ordinary relations to exist alongside and
independent of the continuous crimes being committed by Israel against
the Palestinian people. This
feeds complacency and gives the false and harmful impression of normalcy
in a patently abnormal situation of colonial oppression.
Projects,
initiatives and activities that do not begin from a position of shared
principles to resist Israel’s oppression invariably allow for an
approach to dealing with Israel as if its
violations can be deferred, and as if coexistence (as opposed to
“co-resistance”) can precede, or lead to, the end of oppression. In
the process, Palestinians, regardless of intentions, end up serving as a
fig-leaf [4] for Israelis who are able to benefit from a
“business-as-usual” environment, perhaps even allowing Israelis to feel
their conscience is cleared for having engaged Palestinians they are
usually accused of oppressing and discriminating against.
The
peoples of the Arab world, with their diverse national, religious and
cultural backgrounds and identities, whose future is more tangibly tied
to the future of Palestinians than the larger international community,
not least because of continued Israeli political, economic and military
threats on their countries, and the still-prevalent and strong kinship
with the Palestinians, face similar issues with regards to
normalization. So long as
Israel’s oppression continues, any engagement with Israelis (individuals
or institutions) that is not within the resistance framework outlined
above, serves to underline the normality of Israeli occupation,
colonialism and apartheid in the lives of people in the Arab world. It is, therefore, imperative that people in the Arab world shun all relations with Israelis, unless based on co-resistance. This is not a call to refrain from understanding Israelis, their society and polity. It
is a call to condition any such knowledge and any such contact on the
principles of resistance until the time when comprehensive Palestinian
and other Arab rights are met.
BDS
activists may always go above and beyond our basic minimum requirements
if they identify subcategories within those we have identified. In
Lebanon or Egypt, for instance, boycott campaigners may go beyond the
PACBI/BNC definition of normalization given their position in the Arab
world, whereas those in Jordan, say, may have different considerations.
2) Normalization in the context of the Palestinian citizens of Israel
Palestinian
citizens of Israel – those Palestinians who remained steadfast on their
land after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 despite
repeated efforts to expel them and subject them to military law,
institutionalized discrimination, or apartheid [4] – face an entirely
different set of considerations. They may be confronted with two forms of normalization. The
first, which we may call coercive everyday relations, are those
relations that a colonized people, and those living under apartheid, are
forced to take part in if they are to survive, conduct their everyday
lives and make a living within the established oppressive structures. For
the Palestinian citizens of Israel, as taxpayers, such coercive
everyday relations include daily employment in Israeli places of work
and the use of public services and institutions such as schools,
universities and hospitals. Such
coercive relations are not unique to Israel and were present in other
colonial and apartheid contexts such as India and South Africa,
respectively. Palestinian citizens of Israel cannot be rationally asked to cut such ties, at least not yet.
The
second form of normalization is that in which Palestinian citizens of
Israel do not have to engage as a requirement of survival. Such
normalization might include participation in international forums as
representatives of Israel (such as in the Eurovision song competition)
or in Israeli events directed at an international audience. The
key to understanding this form of normalization is to consider that
when Palestinians engage in such activities without placing them within
the same resistance framework mentioned above, they contribute, even if
inadvertently, to a deceptive appearance of tolerance, democracy, and
normal life in Israel for an international audience who may not know
better. Israelis, and the Israeli
establishment, may in turn use this against international BDS
proponents and those struggling against Israeli injustices by accusing
them of being “holier” than Palestinians. In
these instances, Palestinians promote relations with mainstream Israeli
institutions beyond what constitutes the mere need for survival. The
absence of vigilance in this matter has the effect of telling the
Palestinian public that they can live with and accept apartheid, should
engage Israelis on their own terms, and forgo any act of resistance. This
is the type of normalization that many Palestinian citizens of Israel,
along with PACBI, are increasingly coming to identify and confront.
3) Normalization in the International Context
In the international arena, normalization does not operate all that differently and follows the same logic. While the BDS movement targets complicit Israeli institutions, in the case of normalization there are other nuances to consider. Generally,
international supporters of BDS are asked to refrain from participating
in any event that morally or politically equates the oppressor and
oppressed, and presents the relationship between Palestinians and
Israelis as symmetrical [5]. Such
an event should be boycotted because it normalizes Israel’s colonial
domination over Palestinians and ignores the power structures and
relations embedded in the oppression.
Dialogue
In all these contexts, “dialogue” and engagement are often presented as alternatives to boycott. Dialogue,
if it occurs outside the resistance framework that we have outlined,
becomes dialogue for the sake of dialogue, which is a form of
normalization that hinders the struggle to end injustice. Dialogue,
“healing,” and “reconciliation” processes that do not aim to end
oppression, regardless of the intentions behind them, serve to privilege
oppressive co-existence at the cost of co-resistance, for they presume
the possibility of coexistence before the realization of justice. The example of South Africa elucidates this point perfectly, where reconciliation, dialogue and forgiveness came after
the end of apartheid, not before, regardless of the legitimate
questions raised regarding the still existing conditions of what some
have called “economic apartheid.”
Two Examples of Normalization Efforts: OneVoice and IPCRI
While
many, if not most, normalization projects are sponsored and funded by
international organizations and governments, many of these projects are
operated by Palestinian and Israeli partners, often with generous
international funding. The
political, often Israel-centered, framing of the “partnership” is one of
the most problematic aspects of these joint projects and institutions.
PACBI’s analysis of OneVoice [6], a joint Palestinian-Israeli
youth-oriented organization with chapters in North America and
extensions in Europe, exposed OneVoice as one more project that brings
Palestinians and Israelis together, not to jointly struggle against
Israel’s colonial and apartheid policies, but rather to provide a
limited program of action under the slogan of an end to the occupation
and the establishment of a Palestinian state, while cementing Israeli
apartheid and ignoring the rights of Palestinian refugees, who compose
the majority of the Palestinian people. PACBI
concluded that, in essence, OneVoice and similar programs serve to
normalize oppression and injustice. The fact that OneVoice treats the
“nationalisms” and “patriotisms” of the two “sides” as if on par with
one another and equally valid is a telling indicator. It
is worth noting that virtually the entire political spectrum of
Palestinian youth and student organizations and unions in the occupied
Palestinian territory have unambiguously condemned normalization
projects, such as OneVoice. [7]
A
similar organization, though with a different target audience, is the
Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), which
describes itself as “the only joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy
think-tank in the world dedicated to the resolution of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of 'two states for two
peoples’. IPCRI “recognizes the
rights of the Jewish people and the Palestinian people to fulfill their
national interests within the framework of achieving national
self-determination within their own states and by establishing peaceful
relations between two democratic states living side-by-side.” [8] It
thus advocates an apartheid state in Israel that disenfranchises the
indigenous Palestinian citizens and ignores the UN-sanctioned right of
return of the Palestinian refugees.
Another
disturbing, but again entirely predictable, aspect of the work of IPCRI
is the active involvement in its projects of Israeli personalities and
personnel implicated in Israeli violations of the Palestinian people’s
rights and grave breaches of international law. IPCRI’s Strategic
Thinking and Analysis Team (STAT), includes, in addition to Palestinian
officials, former Israeli diplomats, former Israeli army brigadier
generals, Mossad personnel and senior staff of the Israeli National
Security Council, many of them reasonably suspected of committing war
crimes. [9]
It
is no surprise, therefore, that the desire to end the “conflict,” and
the desire to realize “a lasting peace,” both of which are slogans of
these and similar normalization efforts, has nothing to do with
obtaining justice for Palestinians. In
fact, the term “justice” has no place on the agenda of most of these
organizations; neither can one find clear reference to international law
as the ultimate arbiter, leaving Palestinians at the mercy of the far
more powerful Israeli state.
An
Israeli writer’s description of the so-called Peres Center for Peace, a
leading normalization and colonial institution, may also well describe
the underlying agenda of IPCRI and almost all normalization
organizations:
In
the activity of the Peres Center for Peace there is no evident effort
being made to change the political and socioeconomic status quo in the
occupied territories, but just the opposite: Efforts are being made to
train the Palestinian population to accept its inferiority and prepare
it to survive under the arbitrary constraints imposed by Israel, to
guarantee the ethnic superiority of the Jews. With patronizing
colonialism, the center presents an olive grower who is discovering the
advantages of cooperative marketing; a pediatrician who is receiving
professional training in Israeli hospitals; and a Palestinian importer
who is learning the secrets of transporting merchandise via Israeli
ports, which are famous for their efficiency; and of course soccer
competitions and joint orchestras of Israelis and Palestinians, which
paint a false picture of coexistence. [10]
PACBI
--------------
[2] Translated from Arabic: http://www.pacbi.org/atemplate.php?id=100
[7] http://pacbi.org/atemplate.php?id=163 (Arabic)
[10] Meron Benvenisti, A monument to a lost time and lost hopes, Haaretz, 30 October 2008. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/a-monument-to-a-lost-time-and-lost-hopes-1.256342
Posted on 31-10-2011
No comments:
Post a Comment