FOLLOWING on from the mass demonstration earlier this month against the looming annexation plans of the Jordan valley in the occupied Palestinian territories, opposition across many sections of the Israeli working class has been mounting, often in conjunction with Palestinians – both within Israel and in the West Bank.  

Trump’s so-called “deal of the century” and “peace plan” – as endorsed by the Netanyahu-Gantz government – will see 30 per cent of the West Bank annexed, and will allocate significant funds to the settler-colonial project at a time of mass unemployment. 

However, the proposed plan has been widely opposed by vast sections of the Israeli public (by 46 per cent, according to a recent survey compiled by the Israeli news outlet Channel 12), and many have taken to the streets to protest against it.

Last week, demonstrations and rallies took place across many towns and cities, both in Jewish and Arab-majority areas of Israel, as well as in the Occupied Territories, in which joint Jewish-Arab struggle was a focal point. 

These included Umm al-Fahm, a Palestinian Arab city within Israel; Isawiya, a Palestinian neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem (which has also been the scene of ongoing military and police oppression); Jericho in the occupied Jordan Valley, attended by the Israeli-Palestinian organisation Combatants for Peace; and several demonstrations in the predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem.There was also a mass demonstration against government corruption outside the Israeli PM’s residence, in which three arrests were made — including of a former Israeli air force brigadier general, aged 66.

Another important demonstration was organised by a group of young people, under the banner Youth Against Annexation, which took place outside the home of Israel’s Alternate PM and Defence Minister, Benny Gantz. The group chose this confrontational location to formally present the Israeli government with a letter that was co-signed by over 400 young people. Many of them face conscription in the coming year and plan to enlist, while others are determined to refuse military service altogether – an action that can result in a prison sentence. Nevertheless, they came together to affirm their opposition to the occupation and to annexation. An excerpt from their letter reads:

“Today, when we have come of age and when the State of Israel demands that we take an active part in implementing a racist and violent policy, we are firmly determined to actively oppose annexation. 

“This plan will undoubtably bring about a renewed stage of violent clashes in our region, the victims of which will be both Palestinian and Israeli. It will entrench the conflict even further, perpetuate the cycle of bloodshed and death, and normalise the occupation, violence, and racism.  

“The struggle against the annexation is the struggle for the future of the two states, just as it is for the future character of the State of Israel. This is the moment of truth – do we want our flag to be marked with violence, or with peace? With oppression, or with hope?

While this is only a small sample of popular opposition to the annexation, it is evident that vast sections of the Israeli working class acknowledge that the occupation has to end – for their own sake as much as for the Palestinians’. They realise that if Trump, Netanyahu and Gantz’s plan is to go ahead, the formation of a Palestinian sovereign and sustainable state alongside Israel will be impossible. Israel’s economy would never reflect the true interests of her people, investment in military suppression of the Palestinians would be prioritised, and continuous cycles of oppression and resistance would inevitably ensue. 

A popular and increasingly organised form of opposition is developing across Israeli civil society to stand against colonial annexation. This is precisely where internationalists and anti-racists in Britain and elsewhere – who seek to stop the annexation and end the occupation – should be looking to, and lending their solidarity. 

Maor Yavetz grew up in Jerusalem and now resides in Liverpool, where he is active in the local ACORN branch, and is also an NEU member.