We interviewed comrade Farid Ziane, a socialist activist in Algeria, about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the sentiment of the Algerian people today. Despite the government’s ban, a pro-Palestinian rally took place on Friday the 13th in Alger, the capital.
How are the events in Gaza felt in Algeria?
Perhaps it is useful to remember that in Algeria, and particularly among the poor, there is strong sympathy for the Palestinian question, seen as a legitimate anti-colonial cause, in the same way as the legitimacy of the Alerian struggle against French colonialism. That is why Palestinian flags are always present in many demonstrations in Algeria against the government or in the stadiums during football matches.
Returning to the news, the Hamas offensive, due to its scale and effectiveness, surprised many. It was also surprising because the masses observed that the systematic alignment of imperialism with Israel’s positions was combined with the normalization of relations of Israel and the Arab States, which made several observers say that the Palestinian issue was being definitively pushed into the background. And now we see how this resounding return of the Palestinian question to the foreground, even eclipsing the Ukrainian question, has forcefully contradicted these pessimistic analyses.
At the same time, the Hamas offensive was welcomed with enthusiasm and joy, even thinking of Israel’s retaliation which, as usual, would cause thousands of civilian deaths and injuries as a result of the bombings. In fact, this is what we are witnessing. Netanyahu created a “war government” whose mission would be the annihilation of the Palestinian resistance. This colonial consensus within Israeli society is dangerous and puts Israeli pacifist or anti-Zionist paths in difficulty. Hence the need to intensify international solidarity campaigns.
Are there initiatives to support the Palestinians?
Palestine has always been a factor of politicization and mobilization in Algeria. For example, in January 2009, in a context marked by the ban on demonstrations in Algiers, it was around solidarity with Palestine, then subjected to Israeli bombing, that a balance of power was created that imposed the right to protest in Algiers. Previously, there were two mobilization attempts initiated by our collective at the University of Bouzareah, on the heights of Algiers, which were prevented by important security measures.
Now there is a lot of discussion about what is happening there, the betrayal of the Arab countries, the total alignment of the Western powers with the Zionist narrative. The indignation is too strong and finally led to a rally, despite the authoritarian climate that reigns in Algeria. The right to protest in support of Palestine is not fully achieved despite Algeria’s official support for this cause and its refusal to normalize its relations with the colonial state.
What do you think the outcome of this historic conflict will be?
Currently it is difficult to see the end of the tunnel as the situation has become even more complicated. The two-state solution adopted at the end of the Oslo Accords is already obsolete, the continuation of settlements in the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza have reduced the surface of Palestine to nothing, without territorial continuity. From this rotten situation, reactionary organizations such as Hamas were born and grew. They benefited greatly from the discredit of the Palestinian Authority, which had become a collaborator of Israel. But the Islamists of Hamas have also disappointed people in the test of power, a disappointment that can only be accentuated after the normalization of several Arab countries with which local branches of the Muslim Brotherhood are associated, such as the Justice and Development Party ( PJD) in Morocco. This means that the flame of resistance remains intact among the Palestinian population, who turn their backs on their self-proclaimed political representatives.
But new political leadership is slow to emerge, Israeli colonialism is careful to cut off the heads of any new figures that emerge, and Marwan Barghouti, a leading figure in the second intifada, still languishes in prison. But we always trust in the ability of the colonized to raise their heads, to invent new instruments of struggle and fight against colonialism. The national question is legitimate, we can only support it with the hope that it will be resolved under the banner of socialism and the brotherhood of peoples. Provided that there is a political leadership on the Palestinian side that reaches out to an Israeli labor movement capable of getting rid of its colonial mentality. The road is hard but there are no shortcuts.
Inerview by Pablo Vasco