On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian resistance launched a counter-attack against the colonial power that has been working to materially and symbolically erase their people for over 70 years. In response to decades of ethnic razing, and in a year that had already seen a record number of murdered children, Palestinians in Gaza breached the occupation-imposed fence forbidding them from returning home.
The last time they had gotten close to that fence, unarmed, hundreds of them were killed. This time, they were ready, and targeted the occupation soldiers, neutralizing and taking captive hundreds of them. The resistance's stated aims: To free the thousands of Palestinian captives, to stop the Ramallah Authority's collaboration with the enemy and to lift the blockade on Gaza, as milestones toward liberation.
The colony used the panic and claims of extreme war crimes to respond with reckless force, even killing its own population. To this day, it is unknown how many Israeli non-combatants have been killed by the colony itself, by non-affiliated Palestinians, and by members of Hamas. Hamas acknowledged mistakes, stated that "the Palestinian fighters were keen to avoid harming civilians" as part of their "religious and moral commitment", and called for an international investigation of "all crimes committed in occupied Palestine". The colony refused and went on with the latest chapter of its 78-year old genocide of Palestine, further extending its aggression to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Qatar.
Three years on, we see the immense losses caused by the enemy. Those cannot be taken for granted or discounted as simply an inevitable consequence of the occupation. They must be revered. Life is sacred. Palestinians hold different opinions on the Al-Aqsa Flood. No matter ours, we can honor those losses by making sure they were not in vain—namely, by doing all we can to dismantle the genocidal colony.
The past three years have completely changed the balance of power. In some ways, to the colony's favor, in others, to Palestinians'. What we must do is recognize those changes and address them.
On one hand, the colony has taken unprecedented liberties in its colonial policies in Gaza and the rest of Palestine. The "Roadmap for Gaza and Palestine" and the "Commentary and additions to the PFLP's roadmap for national salvation", recently published by the One Democratic State Initiative and its coordinators, propose practical steps at that level.
On the other hand, the worldwide opinion has shifted against the colony. Palestine must not merely observe and welcome this change. It must lead it and organize efforts around a clear vision: This violence is Israel—There is no other Israel. Let us dismantle it together. Furthermore, the Al-Aqsa Flood has proved that Zionism's foundational claim —that Jews need a state exclusive to them to be safe— is false. The establishment of a Jewish settler state institutes discrimination on the basis of identity and requires constant violence to maintain dominance. For both those reasons, it is inherently unsafe. First and foremost for those it is attempting to dominate. But even for those it is claiming to protect. So what justification is there for the existence of a state exclusive to Jews?
We must not simply observe the failures of the colony's claims. We must challenge its claimed legitimacy by pushing forward the alternative and fundamental antithesis to it: One democratic Palestinian state that does not grant privileges on the basis of identity and protects rights on the basis of citizenship. The time for half-baked "solutions" is over. The resistance's Flood and the colony's genocide have exposed their absurdity. Palestinians must revive their historical vision for liberation and organize around it. Allies worldwide must align with it.
