The bitter fruit of Zionist policy

As the 35th World Zionist Congress prepares to convene in Jerusalem on June 19, the Palestinian people are continuing their determined and heroic struggle against the colonial enterprise that has been set up throughout their most beautiful land.

The Zionist colony in Palestine calls itself the State of Israel. It rules over millions of Palestinians through brute force and an apartheid-like legal system. Millions more Palestinians have been forced into exile and/or live in refugee camps. Thousands of others at any one time are locked up in Israeli jails. High rates of unemployment are official government policy.

The Zionists call their colony a Jewish “homeland” and encourage Jewish immigration with generous financial grants and subsidized housing. In 1967 the colony expanded into Syria, where it established illegal settlements in the Golan Heights region.

Today most settlers are either religious fundamentalists or come from countries with high degrees of economic and/or social instability such as Russia, Uzbeki stan and Ethiopia. Each year thousands of settlers—especially youth in their twenties—emigrate to leave behind a life of endless war, military call-ups and racism.

The colony relies on the economic, military and political support of the U.S. government for its survival. It is widely acknowledged to possess the latest in high-tech strategic and tactical weapons systems, including nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Successive U.S. administrations repeatedly use their veto power in the United Nations Security Council to quash any anti-Israeli motions. Billions of dollars a year flow into the colony via congressional appropriations and Pentagon grants, artificially propping up the standard of living of most settlers. This prevents a mass reverse-migration that would result in the collapse of the whole colonial enterprise.

The Palestinians fight with what they have: AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. This self-defense of the oppressed must never be confused with the violence of the oppressor.

In desperation some turn themselves into human bombs. Others construct ground-to-ground rockets with simple guidance systems in secret machine shops. Hundreds of these rockets have been successfully launched against settler towns and farms east of Gaza. While they have not caused great physical damage, their effect on the morale and psyche of the settler population should not be underestimated.

The Zionists have never hesitated to utilize terrorism against the civilian Palestinian population. Targeted killings of Palestinian political leaders and militants are an everyday occurrence. Arabic-speaking Israeli death squads in civilian clothing roam the West Bank. U.S. supplied air-to-ground missiles are regularly fired into the middle of densely populated urban neighborhoods.

A large extended family picnicking on a beach in Gaza was recently targeted by artil lery fire, resulting in horrendous casualties.

The four-day World Zionist Congress will have over 2,000 participants, but it is really only a “feel-good” event and photo-op for Zionist activists.

The real deliberations over Zionist policy take place behind closed doors in Washington, D.C.—in the White House, Pentagon and State Department.

Michael Kramer served in the Israeli Defense Forces during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.