‘The West has given Netanyahu the licence to kill Palestinians’

Palestinian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Yousef SY Ramadan speaks to Ramisa Rob of The Daily Star in an exclusive interview about the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinian civilians, West's hypocrisy and the urgent need to let humanitarian aid pass through the borders. 

Almost four weeks since Israel declared war following the Hamas attack, how do you view the Israeli aggression in Gaza? 

It is pure genocide. How do you justify killings of over 8,000 people, out of which more than 4,000 are children? This is not a war to "end Hamas," as they say. It is a war with the intention to kill Palestinian civilians. Israel's government is doing the same thing in the West Bank where Hamas doesn't have power, where since October 7, more than 110 innocent people—some were just cultivating olives—have been killed by settlers and soldiers.

Gaza Strip is such a tiny place, only spanning 360 square km. It's already been under siege and occupied to start with. Now they want to occupy it all over again. Before the conflict, there used to be 500 trucks a day carrying essential aid, such as food, fuel, medicines, etc, for the Palestinian population of 2.3 million in Gaza. Now, only 20 trucks are being allowed to pass through. The hospitals in Gaza are flooded with wounded people. There are 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza and they are not being able to get beds in hospitals. Nothing, no self-defence, can justify this inhumanity. 

The Israeli government's plan is to make Palestinians suffer and suffer so that they finally leave. They want to tell Palestinians, "Look, it is too dangerous to stay. Please leave for a certain period of time as we finish the ground operations and then you can come back." That's exactly what they did in 1948. But we're not going to accept this deal. They can't break our determination or make us fear them. Palestinians will resist and fight and they are ready to die in their lands for freedom but they will never leave. 

Is Israel's aggression linked to the hostage situation? 

If Israel wants the hostages to go back to their homes, they should sit and negotiate instead of committing genocide. There is a growing movement inside Israel to let the people come back home. But frankly speaking, Netanyahu is not interested whatsoever in bringing them back. We have known Netanyahu for over 30 years. We know how selfish he is. He will destroy as much of Palestine as possible, as he thinks by doing that he can save his corrupt skin and remain in power in Israel. 

Did you see the woman who was released by Hamas? She shook hands with Hamas because she said they treated her well in captivity, providing her with medicines and doctors. Palestinians suffocating in Gaza only want to be treated like humans. But the Israeli government calls us "human animals," while they call themselves the Israeli Defense Forces. Are they really defending themselves? Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan as well. It's the Israeli Occupying Forces; that's the truth—like the killer calling themselves the judge. 

Can you explain Hamas in relation to the Palestinian society? Is Hamas a terrorist organisation and what does Hamas want? 

Hamas is an ideology and a resistance movement within the Palestinian society. It is part of the Israeli propaganda to demonise Hamas to justify their own killings. Hamas came to power winning the election. I belong to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). But today there is nothing between us. We are all Palestinians, united against one vicious enemy. 

People of Palestine have been living miserable lives. They are hungry, thirsty, without electricity, but that has never broken the Palestinians' will in the past decades of occupation. Even the children have not been spared but they withstood. The people fighting today are fourth generation. They did not witness the Nakba, and they were born after we signed the peace agreement with Israel. They try to be peaceful people. But they are human, with flesh and blood, with feelings. They react according to what they witness in their lives—the oppression of the Israelis against the Palestinians. They want to fight against the ongoing injustice, and that's how they go to Hamas. Contrary to false narratives, Hamas doesn't force all Palestinians to fight, there is a process of application. If Hamas could take anyone they wanted, the number of people fighting in the resistance would be much higher. 

You see, people under occupation have three choices. First, to accept occupation and what they inflict upon you. Second, to leave the country. Third, to resist, using every option available. The Western media, unfortunately, has twisted this reality and presented fake narratives since October 7. We don't want bloodshed. But the blood has never stopped for the Palestinians for the last 75 years. Why is the Western media acting like this war started on October 7? Hamas attacks and all of a sudden, everyone remembers Palestine. What about every Palestinian who has been killed starting from Nakba? What about the Palestinians, the children, repressed in their own homes under occupation? 

I believe the world is changing for the better however. Every day, we are seeing people challenging what their government tells them, thanks to the internet and social media. The mass protests for Palestinian people are unbelievable. I also read an investigation in The Cradle, published on October 24, titled "What really happened on 7th October?" The investigation talks about figures published in a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that shows half of the Israeli people killed on the 7th were members of the military and the other half were killed in the heavy crossfire exchange between Hamas and the Israeli soldiers. 

Slowly, the truth will start coming out. And the truth lies with the Palestinian people. It's not related to politics by the way. It's a humanitarian issue. It's humanity at stake. We just want to know, are we living in a civilised world or a jungle? The real fight is being on the right side or the side which has the power.

On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution for "humanitarian truce," but Israel's ground operations continued the next day. What can stop Israel? 

Israel has not fulfilled any of the Security Council resolutions. How can you expect them to fulfil the General Assembly resolution? As you say, it's non-binding. 

The West has given Netanyahu the licence to kill Palestinians by singing the same song, "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East." What about the fact that Israel is the only power that occupies other nations? What kind of democracy would be killing women and children and wiping Palestinians out? Netanyahu even says in press conferences that he has mobilised strong support from the West. So you may ask, support for what? What is the intended outcome? To kill Palestinians. 

The truth, the only truth, is that if Joe Biden tells Netanyahu enough is enough, then Netanyahu has to stop. Only Biden has this power to play the role of the referee and stop this genocide. But he is choosing to help those who are committing genocide. It is extremely sad. 

Unlike the Trump administration, Biden tried to restore relations with the Palestinian authority in 2021. Why do you think he has taken such a sharp turn against Palestine now? 

The day Biden came to power, he showed his interest in peace talks for Palestinians. He was not happy with Netanyahu on many occasions; there were disputes between them. But when this Hamas incident took place, with US elections just around the corner, Biden suddenly forgot how Netanyahu embarrassed him for the past two years. The administration doesn't actually care how many people or children die. For them, the most important objective is to remain in the White House. It is very clear. Otherwise, Joe Biden would not be showing such kind of loyalty to Netanyahu and his genocidal mission. What I don't understand is: how much pressure is Biden under from the pro-Israeli lobby that he is not able to stand his ground as a human being? 

The US is supposed to be the most powerful country speaking about human rights, values and morality. Where are all these nice things they have been lecturing the world to abide by? How can I believe them anymore when they don't mean business while talking about human rights? If you don't apply it to yourself, then you have no right to lecture anyone. When you're a criminal yourself, you have no right to lecture anyone about criminology. 

Do you think there is any possibility of diplomacy and peace between the current Israeli government and the Palestinians? 

It is impossible. If the Western world was genuine about peace, it would pressurise Netanyahu to act according to the two-state solution that it itself has presented, which leaves only 22 percent of the land for the Palestinians who are the majority. They must tell Israel that if you don't accept this deal, there will be consequences, in the form of economic sanctions. But the Israeli government has made up some form of excuse or the other to prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian state where Palestinians are given the dignity to live a human life. 

The Western world has just talked and talked while Palestinians have lost more and more lives and land. We have almost 600 Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank. We have several cases of Palestinian mothers delivering their babies inside the ambulances because the Israeli checkpoints don't allow the ambulances to pass through, and the Israeli forces watch the women delivering babies, laughing and joking. They force us to hate them and force us to call them enemies. We don't hate anybody but with what they are doing to us, they don't leave us with a choice but to fight them with everything left in us. 

We Palestinians ask for the possible right, not even the absolute right. We gave up 78 percent of our country. Israel's population is 5.6 million and we are eight million people inside Palestine. Can you imagine how painful the concession is for us? But we have done it for the sake of peace. What has Israel done for the sake of peace? We just give and give and they just take and take. So what should we do? We welcome anyone who will tell us what we are doing wrong and we will do what is needed to stop this killing. But don't keep blaming us and supporting Israel when they are killing us. It's unfair. We are not going to beg anyone to help us. 

What do you think about the Global South's response? 

Relating to Bangladesh, I highly appreciate the position of the Bangladeshi people, the government and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressing her support publicly. Bangladesh also suffered from occupation and fought for freedom. Bangladeshis know that the fight for freedom comes with a price.

What is your message for the world? 

We hope the world is united with humanity, not just Palestinians. The demonstrations for Palestinians around the world show that people have sense. We only need humanitarian aid to be allowed in for the basic rights of the Palestinians suffering in Gaza. Is that too much to ask? We just want the whole world to unite and protect humanity from being slaughtered. Palestinian people want one thing only: for justice to prevail. 

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