Palestinians are defeating Israeli exceptionalism on a daily basis

Can Israel be pressured? Or is Tel Aviv the only exception to the global political order in which every country, big or small, is subjected to pressures and subsequently changes its attitude and behavior?

Several events of recent days bring the question of Israel’s legal and moral accountability to the fore. To begin with, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority last week decided to withdraw a plan that aimed to illegally seize church-owned lands in the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. The plan had sparked anger and resistance among Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike. Palestinian Christian leaders had denounced the proposed theft of the land as a “premeditated attack on the Christians in the Holy Land.”

After The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the project was set to receive approval from the Jerusalem municipality on March 2, Palestinian community and spiritual leaders began rallying support not only among Palestinians, but also internationally, to mobilize against Israel’s latest colonizing scheme. The Israeli decision to withdraw its plan proved, once more, that Palestinian resistance works. It was reminiscent of the massive Palestinian mobilization in and around Al-Haram Al-Sharif in 2017, which forced Israel to remove metal detectors and other “security measures” from the Muslim holy site.

A day after the Israeli decision to scrap the Mount of Olives plan, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court agreed to temporarily freeze an eviction order against the Salem family in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The family, three generations of which live in the targeted home, had mobilized, along with many other families, Palestinian and international activists to protest Israel’s illegal seizure of Palestinian homes in the occupied city.

While the Israeli court’s decision is only temporary and must not conceal the massive and systematic ethnic cleansing campaign underway in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and the rest of East Jerusalem, it must also be viewed in a positive light, as it gives a boost to popular resistance in occupied Jerusalem and throughout the Palestinian homeland.

Also last week, two Palestinian detainees, Hisham Abu Hawash and Miqdad Al-Qawasmi, returned to their families after many months in unlawful detention and following 141 days and 113 days of hunger striking, respectively. The immense suffering of these two men, along with footage and photos of their gaunt, emaciated bodies, had been used for months by Palestinians to demonstrate Israel’s brutality and the legendary “sumud” (steadfastness) of ordinary Palestinians.

Expectedly, the two freed prisoners were received with jubilation by their families, friends and thousands of Palestinians. Throughout the celebrations, the word “victory” was highlighted over and over again, whether on the streets, in Palestinian media or on social media.

These are just a few examples of the daily Palestinian victories that are rarely highlighted or even recognized as such. These achievements, however seemingly humble, are crucial to understanding the nature of everyday Palestinian resistance. They are also equally important in highlighting that even Israel, which likes to see itself as an exceptional state in every respect, is subject to pressure.

When Palestinians, along with many nations around the world, called on Israel to end the forced evictions of Jerusalemites in Sheikh Jarrah last May, then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the country “firmly rejects” pressure and carried on with his coercive measures unhindered.

When Palestinians subsequently rebelled, rising in collective solidarity with Jerusalem and Gaza, the likes of US President Joe Biden called on all parties to “de-escalate.” However, Netanyahu continued to behave as if his country was above the law, political protocol and even common sense. “I am determined to continue with this operation until its goal is achieved,” Netanyahu insisted. The Israeli PM even considered the war on Gaza — in fact, on all Palestinians — to be “Israel’s natural right.” But when Palestinians carried on with their resistance, joined this time by a growing and vast global solidarity movement, Israel was forced to accept a ceasefire, achieving little, if any, of its supposed objectives.

Israel is currently seeking the help of various mediators to free several Israeli soldiers — or their remains — currently held in Gaza. Palestinians are open to an exchange and are demanding the freedom of hundreds of prisoners, including leading figures, who have been held in Israel for years. Moreover, the Palestinians are also seeking real guarantees aimed at avoiding a repeat of a similar prisoner exchange in 2011, when more than 1,000 Palestinians were released, but some were rearrested shortly after. In the new negotiations, Israel will likely relent in the face of Palestinian conditions.

Israel is not the only country that claims to be above pressure and accountability. Many colonial regimes of the past refused to acknowledge popular resistance but, somehow, traditional colonialism ended with the inglorious defeat of the colonizers.

This is not to argue that Israeli exceptionalism is not real. It is and can be seen in full view at the US Congress and in the behavior of many pro-Israel Western governments. Exceptionalism often yields hypocrisy and double standards, but also the illusion that a particular state is above the natural order that has governed state relations, politics and geopolitical realignments since the start of human civilization.

While Israel continues to delude itself that it is above pressure, Palestinians must realize that their resistance, in all its manifestations, is capable of delivering the intended outcome — this being freedom. The rise of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and its ability to challenge Israel on numerous platforms worldwide is a perfect example of how Palestinians managed to take their fight for freedom to the rest of the world. If Israel is not susceptible to pressure, why would it fight the BDS movement with so much ferocity and, at times, desperation?

Israel is not the exception and, just like other colonial regimes, its apartheid system will eventually collapse, paving the way for a future where Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews can coexist as equals.

• Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for more than 20 years. He is an internationally syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books, and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. Twitter: @RamzyBaroud