Speaking in an interview with FNA, Dr. Sha’ath said, “The Zionist entity are the advanced military base of the Western imperialism which is tasked of dominating the Arab world and most of the Islamic world… The US is protecting and helping the Zionist entity to hide its committed war crimes against the helpless, entrapped Palestinian population in Gaza, as well to conceal the Zionist entity’s human rights abuses, including: house demolitions, family evictions, illegal settlement enterprise, or moving its colonial settlers into illegally occupied areas, moving Palestinian prisoners into its own territory from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem Al Quds.”
Dr. Saeb Sha’ath is an internationally recognized political expert in the West Asian affairs. He headed the Palestine General Delegation to Ireland until 2002. Dr. Sha’ath is the chairman of the Palestine Aid charity and a co-founder of Irish Map (Medical Aid for Palestine) aimed to improve the Palestinian health facilities in Gaza.
Below is the full text of the interview:
Q: How do you view the anti-Israeli international developments, namely Biden's “reset” policy with Palestine, and ICC’s ruling to probe Israeli war crimes in Palestine?
A: We knew during the selection process for the democratic party, Biden promised the left wing of the party that he will adhere to Obama’s vision of the two-state solution in Historical Palestine, among many other promises. According to an internal draft memo, reported on by Reuters: The Biden administration have a plan aimed at rolling back parts of Trump's approach that the Palestinians denounced as heavily biased in favor of the Zionist entity “Israel”- it is not a total resetting of US ties with the Palestinians.
Biden's aides said that they intend to repair relations with the Palestinians, they want to re-establish the goal of a negotiated two-state solution as a priority in US policy on the ‘Israeli’-Palestinian conflict.
What will make huge impact on the ground is a different US approach toward the Zionist entity, to take a tougher stance on Zionist entity settlement activities, to force the Zionist entity to stop its land grab and building settlements in occupied Jerusalem Al-Quds and the occupied West Bank. The US can force the Zionist entity to stop settlement activities immediately and remove settlements that obstruct the possibility of a Palestinian state, they did it during the Egyptian and Zionist entity peace talks of Camp David and forced the Zionist colonialist settlers out of Sinai.
Meanwhile, I do not believe Biden will commit his administration to any tangible U-turns.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) decided by majority, that the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate crimes that were perpetrated by the Zionist entity in the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had previously called for investigations, saying there was "a reasonable basis to believe" war crimes had happened.
The Palestinians will prioritize three major cases for the court: The Zionist entity’s criminal war on the besieged and blockaded Gaza Strip, the Zionist entity’s colonialist settlements, and the Palestinian detainees in the entity’s jails.
The Zionist entity’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the decision in a written statement.
Biden’s Administration was quick to show its disappointment. American Vice President Kamala Harris told Netanyahu that the US opposes ICC investigation into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said that Washington "firmly opposes and is deeply disappointed" by the ICC decision.
Justice requires that the Zionist entity’s violations are examined, and that it faces accountability for them. Its leaders should be brought in person to court at The Hague to answer for their war crimes.
Q: How do the Palestinians living inside the West Bank and Gaza view these developments?
A: Most of the Palestinian people including resistance and political movement, can see clearly that the US is protecting and helping the Zionist entity to hide its committed war crimes against the helpless, entrapped Palestinian population in Gaza, as well to conceal the Zionist entity’s human rights abuses, including: house demolitions, family evictions, illegal settlement enterprise, or moving its colonial settlers into illegally occupied areas, moving Palestinian prisoners into its own territory from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem Al Quds…the list of war crimes and human rights abuses goes on. Anyone expecting a real change in the American position from the new Biden Administration will be disappointed.
Q: What does it take to put an end to the Israeli occupation on the practical level?
A: The Palestinian people are resisting and fighting Western imperialism in the form of an advanced militarized colonial settler Zionist entity, who have been actively involved in ethnically cleansing the Palestinians from their land since the mid-forties of the last century. Alone, the Palestinian resistance will not be able to stop and defeat the colonial settler Zionist project, even though it succeeded in halting it and putting in reverse its colonialist project in the Gaza strip. The Zionist entity are the advanced military base of the Western imperialism which is tasked of dominating the Arab world and most of the Islamic world, therefore international forces who are interested in stopping the imperialist hegemony need to act fast and lend massive support to the Palestinian resistance.
I am not optimistic regarding Biden’s “reset” policy with Palestine, I see it as a way of managing and prolonging the conflict to help the Zionist entity to expand its occupation and grab more land while deflecting the international criticism from the Zionist entity. The US is active in frustrating the Palestine aspirations for freedom and independence since the Zionist entity is the main tool to achieve the US imperialist agenda in this region.
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