Occupation root cause of Palestinian plight: Activist

Press TV has conducted an interview with Raja Abdulhaq, a Palestinian activist, about the impact of regional and international developments on the intensification of the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you think about the situation that’s happening in Palestine? Given that the world is rather focused on trying to supposedly resolve the crisis in Syria, we’re seeing Israel intensify its attacks on innocent Palestinians?

Abdulhaq: Yes. I think what’s really taking place right now in Palestine is Israel is utilizing the focus on Syria, the focus on the attacks in Paris and the US to really fulfill its plans and goals into achieving its counter-insurgency plans, which basically Israel, as you mentioned earlier, the killing of three Palestinians, and Israel is really adopting the basics of counter-insurgency, which is one attacking or eliminating the insurgents, which is those three individuals who were caught today.

But on another hand, [it’s] utilizing the population-centric approach, which is really targeting the population, targeting the Palestinians. It’s really a problematic approach, which is population-centric, which was what the US used in Iraq, in Afghanistan and eventually in the last century used in Vietnam, which is in a way... it’s a colonial occupation project, that really aims at driving the colonizer occupied subjects emotionally and intellectually to seek calculated self interest in favor of this occupation, in favor of its colonization, against the will of the people, against the aspiration of self-dignity and aspiration of really having or living in dignity in a free, liberated land.

So, I think Israel again is utilizing that time and it’s working day and night by creating social media accounts, and creating websites and creating a platform to spread the rhetoric of rejecting resistance and the rhetoric of submitting to power at this time.

Press TV: Do you see any end in sight to the conflict between Israel and Palestine?

Abdulhaq: Well, I think the problem is this is actually why... the clashes are escalating and becoming worse is that nobody is really pointing out to the root cause of the problem. The problem is very simple; it’s the occupation Israel and the West in general.

And as we said, Israel is utilizing... the world is really busy in Syria, really busy in different places to spread or to increase its occupation and to increase its monstrous acts in Palestine... is by ignoring the cause, which is the occupation. The West and Israel refuse to agree or refuse to admit that all of this is happening, it’s because Israel refuses to end its occupation, it’s that simple.

And the West and Israel collectively are trying to think that since counter-insurgency passed or succeeded in different regions in the world, that can be accomplished in Palestine. And they feel that they could make the Palestinian people submit to the occupation and to finally accept to live under foreign occupation of the land of Palestine.

I think to keep repeating it and we can get tired of repeating it... is that the fact this is not going to end except when Israel decides to end its occupation. And I feel that the Palestinians and specifically now that we see the so-called lone wolfs...  who commit resistance movement operations or try to live in dignity, it is very clear that Israel cannot deal with it and is not able to deal with it.

And that’s why it actually commits collective punishment against Palestinians because it refuses to admit that its occupation is causing all of this. So, I think again to summarize in order for us to cause to end Israel needs to stop its occupation.

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