Ultra-Leftism Won't Help Free Palestine

Two years after October 7, public outrage against Israel is widespread, yet the US grassroots movement in solidarity with Palestine is nowhere near as powerful as it needs to be. While Trump’s ceasefire plan might provide relief from Israel’s genocidal onslaught, Gaza has been decimated, and the proposed deal would codify a vastly deteriorated situation for millions of Palestinians.

To discuss how American organizers might more effectively fight to support Palestinians’ rights to freedom and self-determination, I spoke with Bashir Abu-Manneh, who is writing a book provisionally entitled Disposable Palestinians, and Hoda Mitwally, a member of New York City Democratic Socialists of America and LSSA/UAW Local 2320 speaking in a personal capacity.

Eric: I want to focus our conversation on the strategies and tactics necessary for Americans to effectively support Palestine, but we should first briefly address the current negotiations. We’ll see whether Israel again scuttles a deal, but as of this writing, it seems like we’re closer than before to a negotiated ceasefire agreement. What’s your impression of Trump’s proposal, reactions to it on the ground, and what the deal says about the relationship of forces in Palestine, Israel, and the US?

Bashir: This is an updated version of Trump’s 2020 Peace to Prosperity vision — basically a plan to formally ratify the Israeli occupation and the de facto annexation of swathes of the West Bank, leaving Palestinians in enclaved bantustans with a series of humiliating conditionalities to meet before calling the ghettos a “state,” if ever. Back then, it was seen as a total victory for Israel’s occupation and biblical messianic worldview, while providing no rights for the Palestinians.

Given that the architect of the 2020 vision, Jared Kushner, also drafted the current ceasefire proposal, it’s no surprise the new ceasefire declaration rehashes the same logic. There’s one proviso: now the conditions are infinitely worse for Palestinians after October 7. Gaza is flattened and destroyed, and the West Bank is dangerously edging toward Gazafication.

According to the deal, Gaza will be demilitarized. Hamas will either leave or surrender, with no guarantee Israel will ever withdraw from Gaza or stop military operations there. Under the guise of demilitarization, Israel will continue to target Palestinians when it deems necessary — just as it targets Lebanon today even after the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, a far more powerful group than Hamas.

In fact, Hamas is expected to trade the hostages ...