Anti-imperialism and the liberation of Palestine

Ali Abunimah - 1 July 2021

Israel’s massacre of Palestinians in Gaza in May and its intensified ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem continue to reverberate across the region.

The unified Palestinian response to Israel’s assaults – including the military resistance from Gaza, protests in the occupied West Bank and within Israel, and a general strike – gave renewed hope to Palestinians that Israel’s regime of occupation, apartheid and settler-colonialism can successfully be resisted.

Despite the Gaza ceasefire, Israel’s ethnic cleansing has not let up in Jerusalem, while the US and EU-backed Palestinian Authority acts as Israel’s puppet.

Yet Western liberals and “progressive” US politicians – among them many who rhetorically support Palestinian rights – are often uncomfortable with or outright opposed to Palestinian armed resistance, or even nonviolent boycotts.

Others say they support Palestinian rights, yet still also support US imperialism, regime-change efforts and sanctions against peoples and countries in the region.

Those in US crosshairs are typically the only countries or organizations that actually provide support for the Palestinian resistance.

So can Palestine be liberated while the US remains the imperial hegemon, backing despotic client regimes and waging invasions, bombings and proxy wars against any state that resists its domination?

Did May’s Israeli attack on Gaza mark a turning point in how the world sees Israel and the Palestinian struggle?

And do people in the region support resistance – despite US efforts to sow sectarianism as a tactic to divide its opponents and turn people in the region against each other?

These were some of the topics journalist Rania Khalek and I covered Wednesday in a wide-ranging discussion on her show Dispatches on BreakThrough News.

We also talked about Israel’s “new” government and whether it makes any difference for Palestinians.

Watch the video above!