A call from Ilan Pappe: Let us go from making demands to playing politics – One Democratic State Initiative
In an interview with an ODS supporter, Ilan Pappé called on Palestinians and allies to not just support ODS, but to form political organizations that support this call and that aim to take power. We have republished his calls to Palestinians here and to allies here. There, he makes it clear that limiting ourselves to activism and demands might affect political decisions, but will make no real difference on the long term.
As you probably already know, our vision originates with Palestine, but it is not limited to it: We regularly make the case that although Zionism’s weaponization of identity in favor of a settler colonial enterprise is an extreme case, virtually all societies in the world are being fragmented by leaders and capitalists politicizing identity. This cannot be faced with demands or activism. This is why the very introduction on the Initiative’s website states that our mission is “to mobilize individuals, entities and political parties, in Palestine and abroad” behind this vision. For Palestinians, this means we are working to turn from an initiative to a political movement; for allies, this means we are building relations with political parties that grasp the danger of politicizing identity in view of reaching an in-depth agreement (here is a recent example) and encouraging ODS supporters to join such movements.
If you are not yet active with the Initiative, whether by spreading this call on the ground or online, or by helping build a network of movements who share such a vision, we invite to contact your local coordinator or email us back to discuss what you can do.