Palestinians react at a hospital where casualties of Israeli bombardment on al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip were transported on April 8, 2024, as the war between Israel and the Hamas movement continues. The liberation struggles in South Africa and Ireland, among others, demonstrate that fear is an ineffective tool of governance as every person martyred only gives rise to dozens more. It also confirms that conflict is best resolved through dialogue, the writer says. – Picture: AFP
By Reneva Fourie
The authority of the US is waning. Its response, as always, is using force to induce fear. The US is openly interfering in the affairs of other countries by inducing wars, fostering destabilisation and weaponising trade.
The most glaring illustrations of the US’s belligerence are the conflicts being championed by its proxies, Ukraine and Israel, which it provides with military support, including weapons, training and intelligence. Both conflicts place the world on the brink of a nuclear Armageddon.
Currently, developments in West Asia are causing immense anxiety. Almost a year has passed since Israel went on its post-October 7 rampage, massacring the people of Palestine – the death toll now being well over 40,000 and the injured close to 100,000. Gaza and most of the West Bank have been flattened. In the process, Israel violated several UN resolutions and killed more UN staff than any other country. It also arrogantly ordered the extrajudicial assassination of resistance leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, from the UN premises.
Israel is now preparing to flatten Lebanon because Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party, had dared to defend the Palestinians. The death toll in Lebanon is fast escalating due to the recent remote detonations of communication devices, the subsequent carpet bombing of towns, and the current ground invasion. Unprovoked aggression has also been escalated against Syria.
Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people has been ruthless since the 1940s. It is thus a willing conduit for the US’s salacious quest to dominate West Asia and raze Iran. Hamas’s October 7 intervention in Israel opened the door for renewed efforts by the US to gain hegemony in the region.
Iran has resisted severe provocation. Since its retaliatory action in April in response to the bombing of its consulate in Syria, it has been the target of numerous extrajudicial executions by Israel. In addition to having its citizens murdered, Israel also assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas political head and chief negotiator, on Iranian soil. On Tuesday, October 1, Iran finally exercised its right to self-defence. It attacked the Mossad headquarters and Israeli military bases, destroying several fighter aircraft. Extreme care was taken to avoid civilian casualties.
Netanyahu, backed by the US, is already screaming revenge. No doubt, their de-escalation by escalation attitude has demonstrated their capacity to sow mayhem. However, Israel’s reign of terror, as fuelled by the US and its allies, might succeed in extinguishing tens of thousands of people, injuring hundreds of thousands more, and displacing millions, but that will never bring it security.
The people of Palestine and its surrounds have a deep-rooted desire to protect their land and heritage, and no amount of brutality will deter their struggle against oppression. A just and peaceful settlement that accommodates the interests of all parties is the only way to stop the carnage. The liberation struggles in South Africa and Ireland, among others, demonstrate that fear is an ineffective tool of governance as every person martyred only gives rise to dozens more. It also confirms that conflict is best resolved through dialogue.
Understandably, the oppressed in South Africa would strongly identify with the Palestinian cause, given the similarities in our history, shared experiences of discrimination, and the former proximity of the apartheid regime to Israel and the West.
Dutch and British colonialism, followed by the apartheid system, caused disenfranchisement, dispossession, marginalisation, racism, economic hardship, and brutal repression, evoking deep-seated animosity among South Africans. Political organisations like the ANC, SACP, PAC, and later the UDF and its affiliates were banned. Nonetheless, internal resistance grew, leading to ongoing protests, boycotts, strikes, and strategic bomb blasts, making the country ungovernable.
In the late 1980s, there were as many as 40,000 political detainees. The level of violence, mainly state-sponsored, reached unprecedented levels, with tragic events such as massacres, notably in Boipatong, Bisho, and Katlehong, and assassinations, including that of ANC leader and SACP General Secretary Chris Hani. It is estimated that around fourteen thousand people lost their lives from 1990 to 1994.
Many people, worldwide, supported the liberation movement. They compelled their governments to put political pressure on the apartheid government, exerted pressure on companies to divest, and boycotted South African products. Some countries even provided refuge for exiled political activists, military training, humanitarian aid, and funding for the liberation movement. This comprehensive package of international solidarity contributed significantly to pushing the apartheid regime to the negotiating table.
The people of Ireland, like South Africans and Palestinians, also know well the impact of British colonialism and its discriminatory and repressive practices. England invaded Ireland in 1169, making it the first English colony. Colonialism was accompanied by dehumanisation, expropriation, settler establishments and acculturation. Resistance during the Nine-Years War (1594-1603) was met with scorched earth tactics and starvation – British imperialists governed with ruthlessness, but it did not halt defiance.
The Irish people’s unwavering quest for self-determination persisted despite continued repression through detentions without trial, states of emergency, martial law and state brutality in the 1900s. Mass protests, strikes, and armed struggle through the Irish Republican Army (IRA) forced the British government was forced to concede. In 1922, the Irish Free State, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland, achieved self-governance status, and the Republic of Ireland was officially declared in 1949. The six northern counties remain under British control.
The British intervention in Palestine in 1948 closely resembles their imposition of a two-state solution in Ireland, leading to the division of Northern Ireland from the rest of Ireland and a tragic period of conflict known as the ‘Troubles’. Ultimately, negotiations, which led to the Good Friday Agreement, signed on 10 April 1998, brought stability to the region.
While the quest for a united Ireland continues, the experiences of South Africa and Ireland confirm that repression fuels resistance and that ruling through instilling fear is not a viable long-term strategy. The US should stop stoking conflict. It must accept the reality of a multipolar world order, which rejects one country’s domination over the other. Furthermore, it should draw on lessons from BRICS+ and focus on peace and mutually beneficial development. The world is tired of war.
* Dr Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development and security.
** The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of The African