Unsettling events by John Na'em Snobar - July edition

Unsettling events by John Na’em Snobar – July edition

‘State of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank’ vs Palestine 

Most recently, nearly 200,000 Palestinian civilians were killed by the State of Israel, and many more are maimed, or starving. This genocide, which commenced in 1948, resulted in the retaliation of October 7 2023. This 76 year-old attempt at demographic reversal is seen by some as a failure of international policy-making, and by others as ______.  It is all three.

The war between the ‘State of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank’, and Palestine, represents the greatest challenge to the so-called ‘world-order’. The former must always insist on the right to exist, whereas the latter simply, exists. Where it falters, ‘biblical Israel’ becomes a handy fall-back for religious and political, elites seeking to bridge the gap. 

There are many ‘State of Israel, Gaza, and the West Banks’,  of which 195 are recognised as States by the United Nations. They are indeed united, because they all require ‘stability and order’ for their maintenance. Palestine is an existential threat to all members of the political, business  and diplomatic elite. To them, she must be extinguished.

For most Palestinians in diaspora, navigating these constructs is not difficult. But for policy-makers, diplomats. and thinkers seeking to advise on whether the Palestinians are ‘ready’ for a ‘statehood’ – an existential contradiction arises when one considers the question of the so-called ‘State of Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian State’: why not just Palestine? 

When considering this question, one must then similarly consider what role exists at the head of the State of Palestine, or Palestinian State; which in the construct is called, the ‘Head of State’. This role is most commonly also known as the ‘Sovereign’, or ‘King’. 

The Sovereign, exists to hold all that which sits beneath it together, and to whom a government would report. In the case of modern statecraft, this is done using the vesting of land, in the name of the Sovereign. This vesting of land is enforced through violence, usually narrated as consent (except for indigenous people), or economic opportunity (or coercion). The Sovereign pays for this violence, through monies borrowed from those with access to monies, usually the banks. 

In the case of the so-called Palestinian State, if one is to accept the notion, the Sovereign would then be the office that occupies the role of the Presidency. If this office is understood as the role of Sovereign, then it must, according to the rules of the construct, be underpinned by that which is the territory that the sovereign governs.  After all, the Palestinian State must govern over territory, in order to be a State.  

Even if one is to dispense with the previous tensions regarding the ‘State of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank’, or Palestine – let’s say due to acquiescence, or wilful ignorance, or corrupt logic, the question of where the so-called Palestinian State would exist arises. More generosity, or perhaps a time machine, is then required, to entertain the proposition at all: on ‘ pre-1967 borders’.

And if that were entertained at all, then why not hop off the time machine just 19 years sooner: at post-October 7 borders. Until then, let us continue to call for the establishment of a Palestinian State, and an end to the State of Israel’s genocide. 

Regards

John Na’em Snobar