Jalil Dabdoub | What a tangled web woven, and temerity to do so in Jamaica

“What a tangled web we weave when we practise to deceive aptly describes ‘ Israel’s right to exist critical to peace in the Middle East” by Israeli Ambassador Raslan Abu Rukun published November 24. Littered with inaccuracies and ignoring international law, it is typical Zionist propaganda.

Abu Rukun’s attempt to sanitise Zionism and paint Israel as some innocent victim despite decades-long brutal occupation and apartheid is a veiled attempt to take readers to fantasy land and a threat to the world that once Israel is challenged there can be no peace.

The cause of the Middle East conflict is Israeli colonialism, oppression and occupation underpinned by racism reflected primarily in the Palestinian struggle. A simple case of settler colonialism when the British “on behalf of one people (the British) granted to a second people (white European Zionists Jews) the land of a third people (the Palestinians) “(Galloway former British MP). Abu Rukun ignores this fact.

Prior to Israeli terrorism that created Israel in 1948 there was relative peace in the Middle East and no Israeli-Palestinian “conflict.” The formation and sustenance of Israel continues through terrorism. Created by the morally repugnant acts of ethnic cleansing, forced displacement and murder of the Palestinian people ( The 1948 Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, by Ilan Pappé, an Israeli academic); Israel today occupies all of Palestine (the longest military occupation in the world), parts of Syria and Lebanon. Israeli expansionism, oppression, apartheid and occupation causing resistance from the indigenous population is the problem.

STEALING LAND

Despite the ICJ ruling “Israel is under the obligation to bring an end to its unlawful presence in Occupied Palestine ….” – Israel continues stealing land from and demolishing Palestinian homes, illegal occupation, displacement, terrorism, apartheid, building illegal settlements populating them with European and American settlers who have no legal claims and taking of Palestinian hostages. According to Amnesty International, in November there were 7,200 Palestinians hostages in Israeli prisons, including 250 children. Palestinians, as is their legal right, continue to resist occupation, oppression and apartheid.

This conflict is not about Israel’s “right to exist” or Israel “battling Iran’s proxies “. Israel exists, is recognized by the UN but has breached 62 UN resolutions, more than any other member of the UN. No state has a right to exist. There is no such concept known in law. Human beings have the right to exist. States are political entities which can change or dissolve at any time. Any state which fails to respect international law, human rights and imposes apartheid should not be part of the international community. As a result of Israeli terrorism and policies what is at stake is Palestinians’ right to exist as human beings.

The conflict predates October 7. In September 2023 protesting Palestinians were shot in the ankles, there were numerous Israeli air strikes on Gaza over the years and air strikes occurred in September and October 2023. In 1978, 1982, 2006 and 2024 Israel invaded Lebanon. Hezbollah, a political party formed in 1982 was a response to Israeli aggression. Hamas, formed in 1987 is a resistance party to Israeli occupation. Its Charter does not call for the destruction of the Jewish state or the killing of Jews, it calls for resistance against colonialism and Zionism. Paragraph 16 of the Hamas Charter states “conflict is with the Zionist project not with Jews. “To say otherwise is a gross misrepresentation of the truth.

“The road to peace remains possible – also with the Palestinians – when their leadership is ready to recognise Israel’s right to exist and engage in direct negotiations. Peace cannot be achieved through UN resolutions or inflammatory rhetoric. It must come through dialogue, respect for mutual rights, and the courage to move beyond hate.”

GASLIGHTING

In making this statement it is clear that Abu Rukun is a stranger to the truth and is gaslighting. He knows of the Oslo Accords in which the Palestinian leadership agreed to a two-state solution to live alongside Israel in peace and he knows that every single Israeli administration has taken steps to frustrate its implementation. Israeli leaders said so themselves!

He knows:

1. that there are 850,000 illegal settlers on Palestinian land attacking Palestinians with the protection of Israel.

2. that Israel’s PM Netanyahu has said there will be no Palestinian state

3. that every single Israeli administration has taken steps to thwart the Oslo Accords.

4. the genocidal statements of Israeli Ministers referring to Palestinians as ‘’Human animals’’.

5. the genocidal actions of Israel in cutting light, food and water and starving an entire population

6. the deputy speaker of the Israeli Parliament said “wipe Gaza off the face of the earth,” “Gaza must be burned.” “I stand behind my words... It is better to burn down buildings rather than have [Israeli] soldiers harmed. There are no innocents there,”

7. The words of Israeli Minister Smotrich that it is “justified” to cause two million Gazans to die but the world won’t let them.

In speaking of “extremist ideologies”’ Abu Rukun conveniently fails to mention the above. It is Israel’s government that must find, as he suggests, “respect for mutual rights, and the courage to move beyond hate “. The Israeli entity’s failure to acknowledge the legal rights of Palestinians under international law exposes their true agenda – continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in furtherance of land grabs to expand their racist ethnocratic settler colony.

One would expect that in crafting his article Abu Rukun would have been sensitive to Jamaica’s history. That he has the temerity to attempt to gaslight Jamaicans who emerged from colonialism and oppression while advocating for Israel to perpetrate these very evils speaks volumes to the moral compass of the entity he represents.

Jamaicans know better. It is time that he and his fellow Zionists stop tek we fi fool and tek wey himself wid his racism and supremacist ideology. Betta you wheel and come again Mr Abu Rukun!

Jalil S. Dabdoub is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com