by Michael Starr
Following the Gaza ceasefire, anti-Israel activists ramp up calls to dismantle Zionism, demanding arms embargoes, Palestinian sovereignty, and the right of return.
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With a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in effect after two years of pro-Palestinian protests demanding “ceasefire now,” anti-Israel activist groups have pivoted their advocacy toward several objectives to weaken Israel militarily or politically, with many expressing that the next step is the eradication of Israel.
Activist groups explained on their platforms, following the ceasefire’s implementation on Friday, that the ceasefire was only an initial demand by protesters, and their ultimate objective was to destroy Zionism.
Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal stated on Instagram on Thursday that “While a ceasefire has been a central demand of our movement, it only marks one phase of aggression: We remain committed to confronting and dismantling Zionism in all its forms.’
Another PYM chapter in New York City said of a Friday protest that the ceasefire was a respite for Gazans, and the continuation of the “struggle” to ensure “Zionism is never allowed to persist again” was on Western supporters.
Barnard College and Columbia University Jewish Voice for Peace, JVP University of Michigan, Jews for Justice DePaul University, Anti-Zionist Jewish Student Front George Washington University, and AJSF American University issued a joint statement in which they held mainstream American Jewish institutions responsible for a supposed genocide in Gaza and committed to erasing “Zionism from every crevice of Jewish life.”
The groups believed that the ceasefire had “fractured the Zionist entity” and would serve as the “first step to the inevitable fall of empire.”
Leeds Students Against Apartheid Coalition (LSAAC) said in a Thursday Instagram story that a ceasefire was “the bare minimum” and that their protests were “never about a ceasefire.”
“Our duty is to uphold the Thawabit [Palestinian fundamental principles], to ensure that Zionism is completely eradicated, and to fight until Palestinians have complete sovereignty over their land,” said four Leeds groups. “From the river to the sea.”
Groups associated with the Protect Palestine campaign sought to implement the destruction of Israel through the invasion of a multi-state military coalition. Supporters participated in a Saturday London protest under the banner of a One State Palestine Bloc, calling for an international force to invade the Levant, defeat the IDF, and “dismantle” the State of Israel.
Some groups only reoriented toward the concept of “liberating” the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, implying the eradication of the State of Israel, though not outright stating as such.
The Instagram account Palestine Reveals stated on Thursday that the “fight for Palestinian liberation does not end with a ceasefire” but would continue until the “total liberation of all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.”
Other groups echoed this sentiment but added the immediate objectives of lifting the blockade around the Hamas-controlled territory and freeing further security prisoners held by Israel.
Montreal for Palestine protested at the Israeli consulate in Quebec City on Sunday, demanding that the blockade be lifted and that all prisoners and “every inch of Palestine” to be free.
“The ceasefire begins; our fight continues,” read a protest advertisement.
Toronto for Palestine said that the ceasefire didn’t wash away a supposed crime or “occupation,” and that it would continue to operate “until the siege is lifted and until total liberation.
The People’s Forum announced a protest in NYC on Saturday in order to demand the lifting of the blockade, noting it would continue to engage in protests “until total liberation.”
Other groups added the need for the implementation of a Palestinian right of return, which would see the inflow of millions of people with Palestinian heritage into Israel obtain citizenship, ending the Jewish majority in Israel.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign organized a Saturday protest in London, stating on social media that it would continue to protest until “the Palestinian people are free from the river to the sea.”
PSC director Ben Jamal called for a right of return in addition to an end to military “Occupation,” the dismantling of a supposed system of apartheid that exists “all over Palestine.”
PYM, in a Friday Instagram post, said that it must “struggle until the last jail cell of occupation is empty, every inch of Palestinian land liberated, and the right of return fulfilled.”
The Sameer Project said on Friday that the ceasefire was just a pause in a supposed genocide, but that “nothing is final until the siege over Gaza is lifted, apartheid ends in the West Bank, all our hostages in Israeli prisons are released, the 7 million Palestinians in the diaspora can return home, we are liberated, the occupation falls, and Palestine is freed, from the river to the sea.”
Austin for Palestine held a Thursday protest to “recommit to the long fight ahead for a global arms embargo, the release of all prisoners, and full liberation and return.”
Focus on arms embargo, boycott
Many groups elected to focus on achieving a ban on the sale and purchase of weapons to and from Israel, which they term a “two-way arms embargo.”PYM stated that Western supporters “must organize for the implementation of an arms embargo. Our cities, legislatures, and workplaces can no longer be pipelines for genocide.”
On Friday and Saturday, hundreds of anti-Israel activists led by Geef Tegen Gas disrupted the Port of Rotterdam, demanding that arms to Israel cease to be moved through the shipping hub.
JVP said in a statement that “Even with this ceasefire in place, our movements will continue to call for an immediate and full arms embargo and an end to the complicity of US corporations that profit from ethnic cleansing.”
The progressive group continues that those “who have organized for a ceasefire” would not seek to “upend the financial, cultural, and political alliance that ties the US and Israel’s ongoing atrocities.”
Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, which is tied to the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, called for an intensification of activities by the Palestinian diaspora in order to isolate the “Zionist entity.”
Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) participant and Masar Badil co-founder Jaldia Abubakra said in a Monday statement that activists should work to impose “economic, cultural, and political boycotts on the occupation entity, in addition to exerting political pressure on governments around the world to stop all forms of support and recognition of the occupation, and especially to put an end to what is called ‘the two-state solution.’”
The Global Movement to Gaza and GSF called on protests throughout Spain and Europe on Wednesday, not only to lift the blockade and establish an arms embargo but also to completely isolate Israel with a complete break in diplomatic, economic, academic, and sporting relations.
“Free Palestine! From the River to the See [sic],” said GMG and GSF in a Monday Instagram post.
Both groups called for protests to demand trials and investigations into the supposed genocide in Gaza. Columbia JVP also indicated its support for a similar objective, stating that the “architects, profiteers, and abetters of genocide must face justice not only in the International Criminal Court but also in the court of public conscience. Zionism must fall.”
At the Saturday London protest, Your Party co-leader MP Zarah Sultana called for the UK government to “sever all diplomatic relations with the genocidal apartheid state of Israel, expel the ambassador, and shut down the embassy.”
Abubakra also called for lawfare to prosecute Israeli leaders and “war criminals” in domestic and international courts.
The ceasefire in Gaza has been reached, but just as the conflict with Hamas is not over until all the steps of President Donald Trump’s September 29 peace plan are implemented, the continuation of the conflict through other means will not end abroad until the underlying issues are addressed.
Michael Starr
Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-870550
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