OPINION by Iqbal Jassat

International Quds Day which is commemorated globally on the last Friday of Ramadan, is being embraced with greater vigour than previous years.

A substantial part of the enthusiasm generated this time is due to the conviction by Palestinians that notwithstanding the enormous challenges faced by them, the colonial occupier of their lands, Israel, is running on the spot.

In brief it means that Palestinians have not been defeated nor have they succumbed to Israel’s brutal oppression.

Since being dispossessed and displaced as refugees before 1948 and subsequent to that leading up to further occupation in 1967, the Palestinians have remained resilient and determined to regain their freedom.

Never before has that determination been more pronounced than now.

Not only is it reflected in the ongoing resistance in the occupied West Bank and in the streets of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), it is emphatically expressed in Gaza’s ruins laid to waste by a ferocious period of siege, wars and massacres by the occupier Israel.

Close to seven decades after the illegal forceful imposition of Israel, it’s victims have refused to disappear. In fact their overwhelming presence within historic Palestine (1948), the occupied territories and in the diaspora, has haunted Israel.

Running on the spot means too that despite possessing nukes and the military, financial and political support of America, Israel has failed to gain legitimacy as an independent, sovereign state.

Being a member state of the United Nations does not automatically translate to a morally acceptable and respectable regime. The acceptance has to be derived from integrity based on authentic foundations.

And as is well known, Israel does not possess either of the two.

Quds Day is also marked this time round with more people and governments acknowledging that none of the so-called “peace” talks or agreements have any validity. That these, including the much-vaunted Oslo Accords have been invalidated simply because they’ve turned out to be no more than a series of hoaxes, has ensured that the legitimacy of Palestinian demands remain paramount.

Almost as if a routine has set in, Israel commits more outlandish crimes. Outrageous and barbaric behavior cannot be countenanced, neither by your friends nor your allies. Thus, notwithstanding the power Israel may foolishly believe it possesses such as nukes, a fascist military and thuggish lobbies endowed with unlimited resources, it remains severely handicapped.

Quds Day is a timeous reminder that the moral force underpinning Palestine’s quest for freedom and justice, cannot be defeated.  It looms larger than the combined perceived power of Zionism’s shaky colonial project. It possesses values of truth and valor which intimidates Israel, for it finds resonance among courageous Jews inside and outside Israel who claim “not in my name”.

Clearly the Zionist project which was predicated on the annihilation of Palestine in toto, has met with abject failure. Decades later and after amassing enormous power including access to levers of influence, Israel remains a failed state. This paradox has not been as pronounced as it is today.

Quds Day thus serves to remind Palestinians that it is their bravery and refusal to succumb to oppression that inspires others, from Johannesburg to Bangkok and from Tehran to London to punch the air in solidarity.

[Source: Media Review Network]