Daily Translation #14

反思巴以冲突：名为“安全”的霸权 VS 真正的正义

以色列对加沙浸信会医院的轰炸使得数百名无辜的巴勒斯坦群众遇难，这可能是巴以在加沙战争中的转折点。10月17日的这场袭击立即引发了巴勒斯坦和中东国家的大规模抗议，迫使埃及，约旦和巴勒斯坦领导人取消了之后与美国总统拜登的会晤。

不只是这家医院，在同一天还有一所联合国运营的学校也遭到了轰炸，造成至少六人遇难。这些悲剧突显着以色列以“自卫”为借口对加沙发动种族灭绝战争所产生的人道主义后果。同时也反映着以色列长久以来，借助强大的军事力量和无差别的军事行动，以巴勒斯坦人的生命为代价来实现其安全的最大化。

以色列试图通过谴责巴勒斯坦发动了对医院的袭击来混淆事实，这与它们刺杀半岛电视台女记者希琳·阿布·阿克利赫后的所作所为如出一辙。

人们容易迷失在混乱，死亡和毁灭的惨剧中，忘记如何以及为什么陷入了如此疯狂的局势。无论是清醒的长者还是困惑的年轻人都很难在持续的流血事件和无尽的互相指责中找寻意义。他们想知道在十几次战争后，无数的和平倡议和富有“创造性”的方案都未能解决的情况下，究竟是否有办法能为这场迁延已久的人间惨剧带来终结。

这就是在这动荡时局中聚焦推动和激化对抗的主要矛盾如此重要的原因。这一矛盾就是以色列所声称的“安全”需求和巴勒斯坦人依照国际法维护权利的需求之间的矛盾。

这个主要矛盾历经数年已经演变为了一场零和争端，即以色列以牺牲巴勒斯坦人的正义为代价来实现所谓的“安全”最大化。

自始至终，以色列对其安全的定义过于宽泛，并在军事和非军事方面侵犯巴勒斯坦人的基本权利与自由。

以色列的政权建立在恐怖与暴力之上，这个小小的殖民实体制定了一套令人生畏的安全原则来匹配其对威胁的高度感知，无论虚实。在它眼中，这些威胁可能来自于对外部世界的怀疑，与敌对地区的冲突，乃至原住民的反抗。

最开始，以色列专注于对战争的追求和不懈准备，即使没有备战的必要，它也会为自己的行为开脱。首先，以色列追求军事优势，战略先行权和核威慑，目的是补偿其战略纵深和较小的人口规模，确保能够在每一场战争中取得胜利，它坚信任何失败都意味着彻底毁灭。

以色列坚持侵略性军事教条，使其在1948年，1956年，1967年的三场战争中均取得胜利，导致巴勒斯坦地区永久地落入以色列之手，巴勒斯坦人长期受到以色列的军事管制。这些均是以色列打着“维护国家安全”的旗号所采取的措施。

以色列不断违反国际法，使巴勒斯坦人民遭受不公。在1948年巴勒斯坦大灾难后，以色列为了维护其“安全”公然违背联合国第194号决议，阻止上百万巴勒斯坦难民以及他们的后代重返家园。它还侵占巴勒斯坦的土地以安置犹太移民，使犹太人成为该地区的主要人口。

同样，在1967年的战争后，以色列夺走了巴勒斯坦大量的土地来安置成千上万的犹太人。这些犹太人的非法入住为以色列变本加厉地进行军事部署提供了契机，也使得联合国安理会要求以色列撤军的决议变为了空谈。

即使在1993年巴以达成了“历史性的和平协定”后，以色列仍不断通过犹太移民来侵占巴勒斯坦人的土地。如今的犹太非法定居者已经达到了70万人。

以色列肯定还要保护人民安全，大规模扩大国家安全保障。当然，代价是巴勒斯坦人的生命，土地，尊严和福祉。

为了保护非法定居点，以色列把巴勒斯坦人的领土分割为202个分散的碎片化区域，实行种族隔离制度，对巴勒斯坦人的就业，医疗和教育进行限制。

像其他殖民势力一样，以色列在意识形态领域的安全建设的危险程度不亚于在军事教条方面的战略手段。在它的理念中，安全高于一切，是一切的理由也是一切的借口，也能够缄默一切批评与反对的声音。

安全也是一切的答案：为什么建在这里——为了安全；为什么不断侵占土地——为了安全；为什么扩张犹太定居点——为了安全；为什么屠戮巴勒斯坦人——为了安全；为什么既不全面开战也不坐下和谈——为了安全。

确实，安全是以色列的意识形态，也是犹太复国主义对其殖民现实的回答。以色列口中所谓的安全，就是巴勒斯坦人眼中的霸权。如此一来，安全就超越了政策，军事，情报，监视，成为了包罗万象的霸权主义，甚至含有种族主义的概念，包括人口，移民，定居，土地侵占以及神学，考古，教化和宣传。

这些要素成为以色列军事，威慑，预防和先制的必要补充部分。

但以色列对巴勒斯坦人为自由的斗争所采取的强硬反制措施总是不能打消巴勒斯坦人反抗的念头。正如这个月我们在加沙的所见，巴勒斯坦人所遭受的苦难使得他们更加绝望与愤怒，进而导致报复的循环。

2005年以色列从加沙外围迁走了数千非法定居者并部署了军队，自那时起以色列就开始对加沙展开包围，对人口密集地带进行非正义非人道的封锁，使得超过230万的巴勒斯坦人过着更加难以忍受的生活，而其中大部分的人是从南部逃过来的难民，他们的家园被以色列所霸占。

十八年，五场战争，上万名伤亡人员，作为对哈马斯10月7日袭击事件的报复，以色列又开始对不幸的巴勒斯坦人进行轰炸，并准备对加沙进行全面入侵，给当地居民带来难以估量的损失。

以色列专横地坚持保护本国公民，但否定巴勒斯坦人在军事占领和围攻的情况下保卫自己人民的权利。这一做法长期以来都适得其反，而这个月的反抗则尤为显著。

以色列安全和不可战胜的神话这一次被彻底打破。如今应当通过正义的和平实现安全，而非通过血淋淋的安全来实现和平。

这应当是自诩为话事人的美国总统拜登此次访问以色列所要传递的信息，而不是挑唆以色列对加沙进行种族灭绝。

正如我的兄弟，资深学者阿兹米·比沙拉在他的新书《巴勒斯坦：真理与正义》中说的那样，这场冲突的核心不是需要创造力破解的困境，而是一场急需正义的悲剧。

任何正直的调停人都需要找到并维持巴以间的平衡，并以终结以色列的土地侵占和主导这场冲突的殖民思维为开始。

这并不是两面主义和“那又怎么说”主义，这是对这片土地上真实发生的历史动态的常规认识以及清醒解读。

Original Article:

Rethinking Palestine-Israel: Hegemonic security vs true justice

The Israeli bombing of the Baptist hospital in Gaza killing hundreds of innocent Palestinians may have been a turning point in the war on Gaza. The October 17 attack led instantly to mass protests throughout Palestine and the Middle East and forced the Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian leaders to cancel a summit meeting the following day with US President Biden.

The deadly bombing of the hospital was preceded by bombardment of a UN-run school on the same day, in which at least six people were killed. These tragedies have highlighted the humanitarian consequences of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, waged under the pretext of “self-defence”. Which mirrors its long history of pursuing maximum security at the expense of Palestinian lives, through disproportionate and indiscriminate use of military force.

Israel has tried to muddy the waters as it did after the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh, by blaming the Palestinians for the hospital bombing.

It is easy to get lost in the midst of mayhem, death and destruction and forget how and why we have arrived at such madness. Disenchanted old-timers, like the baffled newcomers, find it ever more challenging to make sense of the perpetual bloodshed and the endless recriminations, and wonder if there is ever a solution to this protracted and tragic conflict, after dozen wars, countless peace initiatives and innumerable “creative” solutions failed to resolve the conflict.

That is why it is paramount during these chaotic times to zero in on the main contradiction driving and inflaming the conflict, namely the clash between what Israel claims is its “security” drive and what Palestinians demand as their rights under international law.

This primary contradiction has evolved over the years into a zero-sum conflict, as Israel has pursued maximum “security” at the expense of justice for the Palestinians.

Since its inception, Israel has defined its security all too broadly, in both military and nonmilitary terms that undermine basic Palestinian rights and freedom. After its establishment through terror and violence, the tiny colonial entity developed a formidable security doctrine that matches its heightened perception of threats – real and imagined – from a cynical world, a hostile region, and a defiant indigenous population.

From the outset, Israel focused on the relentless preparation for and pursuit of war; even when its state of affairs did not require it, its state of mind justified it. First and foremost, Israel pursued military superiority, strategic preemption and nuclear deterrence, to compensate for its strategic depth and small population, and to ensure the country does not lose a single war, believing any such loss would mean total annihilation.

Armed with an aggressive military doctrine, Israel went on to win three wars in 1948, 1956 and 1967, resulting in its permanent control of all of historic Palestine, including a perpetual military occupation of millions of Palestinians, all under the pretext of preserving its security.

Israel has perpetuated injustices against the Palestinians, incessantly breaking international law. After the Nakba of 1948, Israeli “security” has meant preventing millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants from returning to their homes and homeland in contravention to UN Resolution 194. It also led to the confiscation of their land in order to settle new Jewish immigrants and ensure Jewish demographic majority.

Likewise, after the 1967 war and the subsequent occupation, Israel confiscated Palestinian lands to settle hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers, whose illegal presence became a justification for a greater, more repressive Israeli military deployment, rendering Israeli withdrawal in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions ever more improbable.

Even after Israel reached “historic peace accords” with the Palestinians in 1993, it continued to settle Jewish immigrants onto occupied Palestinian land, with the population of illegal Jewish settlers reaching 700,000 today.

It has had to massively expand its national security provision to include the security of these settlements. This, of course, was done at the direct expense of Palestinian life, land, dignity and well-being.

To safeguard its illegal settlements, Israel has also carved up and fragmented the Palestinian territories into 202 separate cantons, erecting a system of apartheid, and diminishing the Palestinians’ access to employment, health and education.

Like other settler colonial powers, Israel’s ideological approach to security has been no less dangerous than its strategic approach to its military doctrine. Security became the magic word that trumps all others; it explains all and justifies all. Its mention silences any criticism or dissent.

It is the answer to every question: why build here not there – security; why sustain the occupation – security; why expand the Jewish settlements – security; why carry out the bloodshed – security; why maintain a state of no war or peace – security.

Indeed, security emerged as the state ideology; it is Zionism’s answer to its colonial reality. It is no coincidence that what Israel calls security, the Palestinians call hegemony. In that way, security went beyond police, military, intelligence and surveillance, to an all-encompassing hegemonic, even racist concept covering demography, immigration, settlement, land confiscation, as well as, theology, archaeology, indoctrination and propaganda.

These became the essential and complimentary ingredients to Israeli military power, deterrence, prevention and preemption.

But Israel’s disproportionality in response to the Palestinian struggle for freedom has always failed to deter Palestinian resistance. The suffering of the Palestinian people has produced greater frustration and anger, leading to cycles of retaliations, as we’ve seen this month in Gaza.

Since it withdrew its several thousand illegal settlers and redeployed its forces outside the Gaza in 2005, Israel has laid siege, an unjust and inhumane blockade to the densely populated strip, making life ever more unbearable for its over 2.3 million Palestinians, most of whom are refugees from the southern part of what today is Israel.

Eighteen years, five wars, and tens of thousands of casualties later, Israel is back to bombing the ill-fated Palestinian territory, in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack on its soldiers and civilians, and is preparing for a full land invasion of Gaza with incalculable cost to its residents. Israel’s insistence on the exclusive right to defend its citizens, while denying the Palestinians the right to protect their own civilians under military occupation and siege, has long backfired. This month, it backfired spectacularly.

The myth of Israel’s security and invincibility has been shattered once and for all. It is high time to pursue security through just peace, instead of pursuing peace through bloody security.

This is the reality the new self-appointed sheriff in town, Joe Biden, must address during his visit to the region, instead of egging Israel on as in its genocidal war in Gaza.

As my brother, seasoned scholar Azmi Bishara, argued in his recent book, Palestine: Matters of Truth and Justice, at the heart of the conflict lies not a dilemma in need of creativity, but rather a tragedy in dire need of justice.

Any decent mediator will have to find and maintain the balance between the two, starting with putting an end to Israel’s occupation and the colonial mindset that governed the conflict.

It’s not bothsidesism and it’s not whataboutism, it’s common sense and sober reading of the historical dynamic that governed the reality in the land.

 

原网址：

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/18/rethinking-palestine-israel-hegemonic-security-vs-true-justice