fullspate

We are not terrorists

In the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 president George Bush declared war on terrorism, and he insisted that he would make no distinction between the terrorists and those who supported them. You are either with us or you are against us. When he declared war he knew that he was clearing the way for some fundamental changes in the legal system. Wars are extreme situations, and they call for extraordinary measures.

Across the Atlantic, America's foremost ally followed suit. It quickly drafted and passed the Terrorist Act. Amongst other things, this made it an offence to support terrorism anywhere in the world. It was made clear that this would include speaking out in support of terrorist movements abroad.

But who decides who the terrorists are? In the conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinians, who are the terrorists? Not the Israelis apparently. Their bombs are fired from fighter planes, and the state of Israel is backed by the US, so they can't be terrorists. The Palestinians, who have certainly been terrorised, and who don't have a single plane and whose only airport is kept under lock and key by the Israelis, must be the terrorists because they are the only ones who have resorted to suicide bombing. Anyone who blows themselves up when they attack others must definitely be a really bad guy. Similarly, there can be no doubt that the pilots who fly bombing missions over refugee camps which have no air defence system whatsoever are the really good guys.

When we first heard about the new legislation we were worried that the long arm of the law might come knocking on our door. After long discussions into the night we decided that these anxieties were dishonourable. It seemed to be small-minded and weak to stand by and allow the government to erode our civil liberties without speaking out. There is a question of principle here – a principle that should not be so easily ditched in the panic about national security. People ought to be prepared to stand up and be counted.

As subjects of Her Royal Highness the Queen of England, the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, the guys at fullspate would like to take a stand. Although they are basically good guys who abide by the law and would never incite or plan any acts that could be construed as acts of terrorism, they do support certain causes around the world which, from time to time, have been said by some to be associated with terrorism. A case in point for us is that of the Palestinians. Tony Blair has been very vocal in his criticism of Palestinian suicide bombers who target Israeli civilians. They are terrorists and their actions are unjustifiable.

Let us make our position clear: we support the armed struggle of the Palestinians against the overwhelming might of the Israeli state. We appreciate that the Palestinians are not angels and that there is no way of characterising this conflict as a simple one of good against evil. Both sides make the conflict all the more intractable by insisting on diametrically opposed views of their historical claim to the land and of the link between politics and their respective religions. Nevertheless we have read the book “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” by T.E. Lawrence and we seem to remember that those riding the camels and fighting alongside Lawrence of Arabia to liberate the area from the Ottoman Empire were not Jews but Arabs. We seem to remember promises being made by the British of an independent Palestinian state.

Furthermore, we have been appalled to read of abuses of power by the Israeli state in dispossessing Palestinians of their lands, demolishing their homes and in severely curtailing their freedom of movement. “Unjust” is not quite the word that comes to mind when we read about the Israeli armed forces “policing” Palestinian territories and operating a shoot to kill policy instead of arresting those suspected of being a threat and giving them a fair trial. Bombs fired by Israeli planes into Palestinian housing estates are not always as smart as they should be, civilians get killed, and there is no possibility of redress.

The policy of Israel is clear: neither will it accord Palestinians equal rights within Israel (the Jewish character of the Israeli state cannot be compromised), nor will it allow the Palestinian state to organise itself properly so as to become a viable and autonomous political entity (hence, for instance, the Israeli insistence that they retain strict control of the Palestinian sea ports and the airport in the Gaza strip). Anyone who considers that these policies are justifiable ways by which the Israelis uphold their historical claim to the land should not be surprised when Palestinians who feel powerless and downtrodden, and whose families have often lived in the area much longer than many of the immigrant Jews decide to hit the Israelis where it hurts them most.

We believe that writing and rewriting history books to justify kicking people out of the villages where they were born is both bad history and bad politics. We are also firm believers in a separation of church and state. Despite these reservations we wouldn’t want to see the descendants of those who rode with Lawrence lose a right to self-determination that has since been recognised by the United Nations. We are also inspired by an article describing what things were like before the British left and before the Zionist movement (the movement for a Jewish state) took off. The Palestinians, apparently, were quite happy to live alongside their indigenous Jewish countryfolk.

If this declaration of support for our Palestinian comrades puts us on the wrong side of the law, we are prepared to face the consequences. Legislation that outlaws such a gesture of support deserves to be defied.

See you at the border.