Review: What Does Israel Fear from Palestine? by Raja Shehadeh
Presenting a record of the destruction caused by the state of Israel since its formation in 1948, and the violence and oppression that Palestinians have faced as a result
“Gaza was once a happy place with a happy people who had a great sense of humour and led lives like other seafaring people,” writes Palestinian lawyer Raja Shehadeh — also the founder of human rights organisation Al-Haq — in his new book What Does Israel Fear from Palestine? Presented as a record of the destruction caused by the state of Israel since it was formed in 1948, and the violence and oppression that Palestinians have faced since then, it is divided into two parts. Part One, titled How Did We Get Here?, covers British colonialism, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 that mandated the establishment of a Jewish state, the creation of Israel and removal of Palestinians from their homeland (also known as the Nakba), the renaming of towns and villages to erase history, the rise of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), signing of the Oslo Accords, the building of the Separation Wall to divide Palestinian communities living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, tensions between the PLO and Hamas, Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and active state support provided to Israelis to build settlements in Palestine and further the occupation.
“The Palestinian refugees were not placed under the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) when it was established in 1951,” he writes. “They were accorded special status and a unit was created by the UN specifically to take care of them. This was the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).” Since Palestinians were not defined as refugees within the UN Refugee Convention, this meant that their special status amounted to nothing at all.
To a reader who does not live in West Asia, this narration of history comes across as horrific because of what Palestinians have had to endure for decades but it also seems incomplete because it does not include the Holocaust — the tragedy around which the entire Israeli narrative is built. Shehadeh also does not dig into how and why Hamas came into existence. Still, it would be incorrect to conclude that the author does not sympathize with the horror of the Holocaust. In fact, he calls it “one of the worst atrocities in modern history”.
But while he does not condone the Holocaust, he does contest the framing of what happened in 1948 as Israel’s war of independence. “The Israeli version of what happened in 1948 is the dominant narrative, and it is a narrative supported by that most popular of books, the Bible… It was against this background that the Palestinians had to tell the world their version of what befell them in 1948 and we are still not successful in getting this across,” he writes.
The author questions Israel’s strategy of positioning itself “within the group of decolonised nations” and its tactical use of the Bible as a historical document to back up Jewish claims to Palestinian land. Interestingly, this book identifies Israelis by their religion – Judaism – but Palestinians are not referred to as Muslims or Christians. They are only called Arabs. This seems odd, even confusing, given how religion is mixed up with politics in this context.
The second part of the book, titled The Gaza War, 2023-4, looks at the unprecedented scale of Israel’s armed rejoinder to the “Hamas attack of 7 October” wherein Hamas militants, according to Shehadeh, “killed some 1200 soldiers and civilians and took some 250 captives”. He points out that this war is “by far the most devastating Israel has ever waged on Gaza” because about 70 per cent of the Strip’s civilian facilities and infrastructure — including homes, schools, universities, hospitals, cultural centres, museums, markets, mosques, churches, cemeteries, and archaeological sites — have been decimated.
Even in this gloomy situation, Shehadeh has not given up hope. He writes, “Should Israel not accept a fully sovereign Palestinian state, living at peace side by side with it, the alternative is that Israel would be transformed into an openly fascist, racist state that has to go from war to war.” This would mean a perpetual state of war that is unsustainable in the long run as Israel cannot afford to “remain a nation forever under siege”.
The author takes strength from Ireland and Spain’s efforts to push the European Union to conduct a review of Israel’s compliance with the human rights obligations that it is supposed to fulfil under its trade agreement with the European Union. It is surprising, however, that the book does not have much to say about South Africa’s magnificent expression of solidarity in the form of the genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice.
Shehadeh’s optimism might seem untethered to reality when he asks, “What if, after the devastating Gaza war, the USA came under immense international pressure to stop shielding Israel from the application of these laws (that prohibit the US Departments of State and of Defence from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity)?” But his belief in the possibility of better times is not unfounded. This is clear from the start of the book where he mentions the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of apartheid in South Africa. These events, which once seemed impossible, did come to pass.
The author believes the state of Israel is also weakened by polarization along political, religious, economic and social lines. He mentions the rift between European Ashkenazi Jews and Oriental Mizrahi Jews but does not look at the role of Israelis who have stood up against the state of Israel during the ongoing war. It is important to recognise the contributions of conscientious objectors — young Israelis who refuse to perform mandatory military service — because they do not support ethnic cleansing. The distinction between the government and the people must be made in the case of Israelis as well as Palestinians for Shehadeh’s dream — of working together as partners on the road to peace — to be realised.
Going back to the book’s title, there are at least two ways to look at it. It can be viewed as a rhetorical question. On the other hand, if it is treated as a question in need of an answer, one will have to address the fact that fear is an emotion felt by all human beings whether they are classified as victims or perpetrators. It is not always based on facts and is fuelled by the narratives passed down by families, educational institutions, governments, religious leaders and media. Moreover, what produces fear in one person may not evoke fear in another or arouse it to a lesser degree.
Unfortunately, in the realm of realpolitik, there is hardly any room to discuss these concerns because territorial security, military muscle and the sale of weapons are prioritised over everything else. Even the few forums that were available for Palestinians and Israelis to meet and talk have either shut down or paled into insignificance. One hopes that this will change.
Chintan Girish Modi is a freelance writer, journalist and book reviewer.