Critical juncture: The occupation at 49 going on 50

The early days of June 2016 brought with them a series of important events for Israel and Palestine. This week marks 49 years since the 1967 war when Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem.

Now the Israeli occupation of these territories is entering its 50th year. The half-century mark is a significant and telling moment about an enterprise which is supposed to be temporary - or at least this is what the Israelis would like the world to believe. Most people though, are no longer buying into it.

Two events, each on opposite sides of the Atlantic, underscore the growing divide between official diplomatic approaches to the Israeli/Palestinian question and popular discontent towards those very approaches.

In Paris on June 3, and on the initiative of the French government, representatives from nearly two dozen nations gathered to discuss how to push the Middle East Peace Process forward. Israeli and Palestinian representatives were not involved.

On its face, the initiative represented something different to that which observers of the Middle East Peace Process have grown accustomed over the years; someone other than the United States leading.

This could have been an important departure, given the fact that Washington has not played an even-handed role but rather merely that of a convener that routinely empowered the stronger party - Israel - to stand firm behind unjust demands.

But after the conference's joint communique was issued and weighing the positives and negatives, it's clear that what took place in Paris was not very different at all and in fact business as usual.

it's clear that what took place in Paris was not very different at all and in fact business as usual

Instead of using the opportunity to signal a change in the way the international community would handle the process, the communique from the conference merely reiterated tired and well-worn platitudes. It really is a wonder why any ministers bothered to travel so far for such an outcome.

What has emerged in reporting since then, is the news that original drafts of the communique were much harsher and critical of Israel, before they were watered down following intense lobbying efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

It is not yet clear whether the Americans did this in an effort to ensure they continue to monopolise the process or just out of reflexive pro-Israel behavior that has built decades of diplomatic muscle memory. There is also speculation that the Obama administration is planning a last ditch effort in the final months of the President's second term.

Whatever the case, the Paris conference proved that even initiatives not taken by Washington could not be free enough of its influence to genuinely make progress.

As disappointment and frustration with ineffectual diplomatic efforts toward resolving the Israel/Palestine issue grow, nowhere is that frustration becoming more apparent than in the United States itself. Greater numbers of individuals and institutions are responding to the Palestinian civil society call to Boycott, Divest from and Sanction (BDS) Israel until it complies with international law and ends its denial of Palestinian rights.

To have anti-BDS legislation defeated in New York would have been a significant blow to the movement aimed at intimidating Palestinian activists

Alarmed at the success and growth of the movement, Israel and its allied institutions in the United States have undertaken something of a panicked effort to combat activism that uses BDS tactics through lawfare.

Keenly aware that they have lost the fight at the campus level, pro-Israeli Apartheid actors have fled to state legislatures in an effort to pass laws against the use of BDS tactics and fight in an arena where they more comfortable.

But this week, something interesting happened. The anti-BDS legislation that was pending in the New York State legislature, - an arena pro-Israel advocates should be very comfortable in given the concentration of pro-Israel interest groups there - ground to a halt.

To have anti-BDS legislation defeated in New York would have been a significant blow to the movement aimed at intimidating Palestinian activists, but with co-sponsors dropping off the legislation and with the summer recess session for the legislature approaching, it was not clear when, if at all, such legislation would pass.

That's when the Governor took matters into his own hands, issuing an executive order on June 5, enacting the discriminatory legislation that civil libertarians rightly condemned.

The confluence of these events - a repeat episode of Washington using its diplomatic clout to shield Israel in an international forum, and yet another sign of the growth of the movement for Palestinian rights in the United States – coming as the occupation enters its 50th year, sets the stage for the increasingly contentious battle between civil society actors and the political elite in the years to come.


Dr. Yousef Munayyer is a Middle East Analyst at Arab Center Washington DC. Follow him on Twitter: @YousefMunayyer

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.