As Netanyahu announces a new brutal offensive on Gaza City, the Palestine Liberation movement faces new challenges. On the day after the National strike, PRMI reporters speak to one of our supporters in Israel about the current stage of the struggle.
PRMI: You participated in a demonstration yesterday. Can you tell us what the demo was about, and who was there?
Keren Or: Yes, we were at a demonstration in the old German part of Haifa, which is now mainly a Palestinian neighbourhood. It’s the fourth week in a row that there’s been Thursday evening demonstrations here. For many years there have been Palestinian organised demonstrations in the neighbourhood but over the past two years, since the start of the genocide they have become more and more rare. Having a weekly thing that’s not organised by any organisation or anything, just simply by the community in Haifa is showing that there is a change in atmosphere and urgency. Specifically yesterday, the demonstration was in response to the murdering of the Al Jazeera reporters and the press in Gaza in general.
PRMI: How many took part?
Keren Or: I think it was about 70. It’s been similar numbers over the past four weeks, maybe one time it was over 100. The majority of participants are Palestinian, which is unusual because of the far higher level of repression against Palestinians within Israel. The recent demos were 30% Jewish Israelis and 70% Palestinians, which doesn’t sound much but is much better than the usual 30 Jewish people that we got used to in Haifa in the past two years.
PRMI: Do left groups, including Palestinian left groups, participate or is it just the ordinary community taking part?
Keren Or: The mood is very anti-Zionist and very radical. I suppose there were people who belong to groups, but there was no organised presence. But the group we are active with, which is not like a political organisation but a network was very present. It has the goal of becoming entrenched as part of the Palestinian movement.
PRMI: At the end of July, beginning of August, as these horrific pictures of children starving, suffering from famine started to appear, some international leaders started to make token noises in criticism of Netanyahu and the genocide. Has anything actually really changed since then? Has there been any improvement in Gaza?
Keren Or: In Gaza itself, there’s been the whole charade with the airdrops. I think they dropped about 2000 food parcels. This is about 0.4% of what was needed in the time that they dropped them. The minimum Gaza needs is about 600 trucks per day, and what they dropped was equivalent to 200 trucks, not in a day but over two weeks. So the lives of Palestinians in Gaza have only worsened, there is now stage five hunger. Every day that passes means more people are close, dangerously close to dying. Other people are getting weaker so they cannot help with getting the food.
It’s still the same situation with the misnamed “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation” GHF and the killings around food collection points. You know, they’re quite far away from many areas. There’s only four of them so people literally are often just too weak to walk that far. Some have had to move themselves permanently closer to those points. That’s part of the reason that there are only four, to try and concentrate more and more people in smaller areas.
This situation, together with the killings of the press, just before calling for an invasion of Gaza City, has been a very, very big change for people. So definitely things are changing. But I honestly think it’s just getting worse.
I think though that there are things we can look forward to in terms of international solidarity. The Global Sumud Flotilla should be sending dozens of vessels from 40 countries at the end of this month.
PRMI: I was going to ask about that because after the initial reports, the global media, but of course the western media in particular, have stopped reporting in the same intensity about the horrific famine in Gaza. Does that mean that there are lorries of aid getting across the border from other countries? Or are they still being blocked?
Keren Or: No, absolutely not. The Egyptian authorities are still holding the border in Rafah closed, even though there is pressure to open it locally from Egyptians, where there is widespread unrest in general. Despite this, Egypt is still keeping the border closed.
And the only other border is from Israel. They are letting very few lorries in, not even all those that are planned. Some are being held back by the extremists, the settlers before they even cross the border. So even the handful of lorries that are being sent do not all make it to where they are needed. So no, there has been no change.
PRMI: As these pictures were appearing in the western press, a number of governments suddenly gave the impression they were taking action. For example, Macron has said France will recognise a Palestinian state, so has Canada. Even Starmer has threatened recognition if nothing changes. But will now the recognition of a Palestinian state actually make any difference? How will Palestinians themselves look on that? How will they react?
Keren Or: Obviously I cannot speak for the Palestinian people, especially not those in Gaza. But I do think it’s an important development, even though ultimately it won’t make the necessary difference. I’ll explain why. I think it’s important because it shows that there’s pressure on them.
The pressure comes from two things. On the one hand, I think, they are trying to minimise the consequences on the day after, on that day when the world reaches a consensus that what is happening is a genocide, a consensus that there were crimes against humanity happening. These governments want to avoid being seen as complicit in any way. The most recent developments with the famine are pushing governments to act in a way that they haven’t before.
That’s one side of the pressure. The other side is just the sheer anger and complete abandonment of any hesitance in terms of international resistance. By that I don’t mean there’s necessarily an incredible shift where every single person around the world is opposing this genocide and seeing it for what it is and is going out onto the streets. But I think the people that are already leaning in that way have really firmed up their view and are participating in resistance. And I think that governments have a reason to be afraid that this anger and this shock and absolute disgust would erupt against them as well if they don’t do anything.
I do have to say that despite those who dismiss any form of international solidarity, be it from the ruling class or not, any action does give hope. When you look at Palestinian liberation and the road that we have to take to get there, I think the past month has definitely felt like it’s not a complete block. It’s not like a complete dead end. It has become a possibility to imagine things shifting.
PRMI: You mentioned a bit earlier that the Egyptian government was not opening the border despite opposition within Egypt itself. Can you say a bit more?
Keren Or: It is very significant that the Palestinian Popular Committee has organised demonstrations in front of the Egyptian embassy in Israel, within the 48 borders every single day for about 10 days. There have been protests at Egyptian embassies elsewhere. A video has gone viral after someone padlocked the gate to the Egyptian embassy in the Netherlands. In it the Egyptian Foreign Minister angrily demands the ambassador “drags the person inside and make their lives hell”. So, yeah, they’re obviously very sensitive.
PRMI: It was widely reported when Netanyahu announced the plan to take over Gaza City that the head of the IDF was opposed, and a whole number of former agents of Shin Bet wrote a letter in opposition. What significance would you give to that? And do you think it’s had any effect in building opposition within Israel itself?
Keren Or: In terms of whether they hold the power to prevent Netanyahu and the right wing government from furthering the ethnic cleansing, I absolutely don’t think so. I don’t even know if they are genuine or not. Also, we should remember that not everything reported in the international media about Gaza actually appears in the Israeli media. But this time the interviews did appear in the Israeli media, and while I am not holding a lot of hope that the majority of Israeli people, of Israeli workers will change, there is still significant opposition to this “war”, especially when you look at the hostage situation.
When you take into account how worn down reservists and their families are feeling, those declarations from IDF and Shin Bet officials do have an impact, because they are validating, in a sense, this feeling that the plans that Netanyahu and his government have are not necessarily correct.
PRMI: There was a big demonstration a couple of weeks ago in Tel Aviv. What were people saying, what were the demands?
Keren Or: You can definitely see a split in the left in the last period, it’s become very, very apparent that there’s a divide between Zionist groups and anti-Zionist groups and individuals. To the right of them there’s the whole kind of liberal, not necessarily right wing part of society that in its own way opposes Netanyahu’s regime. It opposed it even before the genocide on the basis of his attacks on democracy.
I think there is the specific divide between anti-Zionist forces and the left, but Zionist forces too are being challenged by reality, with more and more people pushed to recognise that what is happening is not just a really, really large scale war but an actual attempt to completely eradicate the people of Gaza and Palestinians in general, including the West Bank. When you get to that realisation, then you have to act in a more radical way. So I think this divide is getting a bit more blurred.
PRMI: On Sunday a national strike has been called. Who called the strike? Do you think it will be successful?
Keren Or: Yes. It started out as a call by the families of the hostages and people who are opposing the occupation of Gaza City. Support will have grown as a result of those declarations by IDF officials. The call for a strike spread very quickly and was then taken up by left forces.
The Communist Party and the Peace Coalition (uniting many organisations that was set up at the beginning of the war) started calling for people to join the strike on the basis of opposition to the genocide. This form of unofficial action, not supported by the workers’ organisations and trade unions with some exceptions is similar to what we have seen before here.
I think many, many people are going to stay at home. And there are also demonstrations planned, so it’s not just like people silently taking a day-off work. I’m excited because I get to strike.
In this sense, it’s a big thing and I think some people are incredibly angry at this stage that this genocide is happening, it’s really become apparent that there are people who are just not going to take it anymore. Those who are already out in the streets, you know.
[Editor’s note: Indeed since this interview was recorded, the strike has taken place. Hundreds of thousands have participated in demonstrations in Tel Aviv and across the country and more participated in symbolic actions in their workplaces. Major roads have been blocked by protesters demanding a release of all hostages and an end to the attack on Gaza city, dozens arrested.]
PRMI: How is it that Netanyahu can continue and dig in with his plans? Surely at some stage there will be some moves taken against Netanyahu?
Keren Or: When we talk about opposition, we are talking about a very specific part of Israeli society, I can’t talk percentages. There are instances of people refusing to enlist either for the first time, or to return as reservists, or go into Gaza again, and although these are not isolated instances, the majority is convinced that this is their war to fight even at the price of the worst suffering that we’ve seen on this land, at the price of their own mental and physical well being, at the price of being isolated from the international community. They justify their actions in the belief that the situation is inevitable. They believe that in order to live peacefully on this land they need to protect the Zionist project. Yes, overall, you know, there’s still soldiers going into Gaza every single day, like they really are convinced that they need to do that.
There are still police officers who are coming in their hundreds to violently repress demonstrations against the war, to silence opposition. There is the entire media trying to cover up as much as they can about what is really happening, and legitimising every single step.
You may have seen the recent report about the fact that two years ago, the IDF set up a group to legitimise the killing of journalists in Gaza. They absolutely know what they are doing.
At the same time local resistance is becoming much more prominent. Palestinian resistance in the past month has become a daily thing, there’s daily demonstrations in every single Palestinian town. International solidarity has intensified, but it’s still not enough to stand in the way of those who truly believe they need to murder every single Palestinian, to ensure Jewish supremacy and the idea that this land belongs to the Jewish people.
PRMI: Now we are talking about the West Bank, Smotrich has announced his plan, which has now been approved by the cabinet, to build three and a half thousand new houses in the West Bank. What is this going to mean for West Bank Palestinians?
Keren Or: The suffering of the Palestinians of the West Bank has not had the same media coverage as that of Gaza in the last two years, which has been horrific for all communities in the West Bank, starting from the refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem, down to the more agricultural communities that are threatened daily by the army and settlers.
Decisions to expand the annexations of more and more land have continued since the war started in 2023. I’ll let you know a secret about those decisions and plans that the government is permitting right now. Usually, when they say that they’re giving a permit to build 3000 new homes or buildings for settlers in the West Bank, they’re actually retroactively approving things that are already on the ground. So obviously this creates space for the same amount of units and areas to be further developed, but still, probably most of those 3000 units are already there, and the decision is about retroactively allowing them. And anyway, the settlers are always three steps ahead of any legal justification for their projects. Since the genocide started, many of the army units have been re-positioned from the West Bank to Gaza, so settlers have been given weapons and uniforms to take their place.
Basically, you know, one day a settler is coming to your house and killing your sheep. The next day they turn up in army uniform and an M16 saying, okay, so it’s not just the sheep now, it’s also this piece of land and if you don’t give it to me, I can shoot you. You know, I’m backed up by the army because I’m a soldier now. It is this reality that communities in the West Bank are not just facing settler violence, but they’re facing settler-soldier violence backed up by the system.
The state gives every single ounce of legitimacy that they can to the settlers. There was the recent murder of the Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleeen. The settler shot him at close range, then turned to the soldiers watching nearby to point out which members of Awdah’s family should be arrested for ‘causing disruption’. Those family members were in prison for about 10 days, after the murder of their sibling. The settler was released about less than 24 hours after the murder. Now he’s roaming the same village with his bulldozer, whilst the family and community is grieving. The army has declared it a closed military zone so solidarity activists cannot enter to grieve with the family.
PRMI: Netanyahu has now come up with his plan to allow Palestinians to leave to live in South Sudan. Do you think that there will be any willingness of the Palestinians to accept that?
Keren Or: First of all, it is just unbelievable that they are suggesting to relocate Palestinians to yet another area that is suffering from the most brutal war. But no, I think if there’s one thing that we can learn from the past two years is that the steadfastness of the Palestinian community is beyond anything we can imagine. Obviously, I cannot speak on behalf of individuals or even the entire community, but honestly, people are not going to leave their land, it’s the only thing that they have left.
PRMI: How do you think events are going to develop in the next few weeks or months?
Keren Or: I honestly don’t know. I think in the very near future the takeover of Gaza City will happen. I reckon it’s probably already in motion in some way. We will have to see what that means, but if hunger intensifies the weaker layers of Palestinian society in Gaza will be in a more and more dire state. But I have already mentioned the Global Sumud Flotilla leaving in the last week of August first from Spain and then Tunisia. That is an important aspect of international solidarity. We then have to see what the rest of the international movement brings because it can go either way. I feel like things are coming in waves and it’s possible that the next wave of rage could happen in a few weeks.
One of the arguments of the IDF when they argued with Netanyahu was that they didn’t think they had the means and resources to actually capture and hold the whole of Gaza. I think that’s correct. So that could be a moment where things could change in a positive direction. And I also think that the fact that the Palestinian society within 48 borders is still advancing its resistance is also a huge factor. We need to see how the strike on Sunday goes and we have to see if the Palestinian community is going to organise a strike within the 48 borders as well, and how it affects the major cities. There are still tools to use, you know, that haven’t been used before because the conditions weren’t the same as they are now.
And I think pressure on Egypt is definitely also something that could change the course of events in terms of more mid-term, long-term events.
PRMI: The last question is what do you see as the solution now to the Palestinian conflict?
Keren Or: The immediate solution would have to be the end of the siege and the complete exit from Gaza. This would need bringing in international aid en masse, be it doctors, food, and reconstruction. Billions and billions of dollars are needed for immediate relief. This means we need a complete change in how the world’s resources are used.
The next thing then is obviously the complete Palestinian liberation within the entirety of this territory, the end of the occupation of the West Bank, the exit of settlers from the West Bank, and the right of return for the millions of Palestinians in the diaspora.
We still have to see what Palestinian liberation means in terms of who the Palestinians chose as leaders, how the millions and millions of Palestinians are involved in decision making as they strive for liberation, for freedom, and for the end of the Zionist project. I honestly just don’t see how, after the end of the genocide, there can be anything other than the complete change of how this piece of land is currently being organised and ruled.