u/1Palestine

For most of its history, the colony claimed to be both a mighty nation, militarily capable of defending its population, and a democratic one, representing the values of the states that established it. This did not make it any less of a genocidal settler colony, but it gave it a liberal image.

The continued resistance to its existence led most of its leadership to choose to forego much of that second aspect in favor of the first one. This was already proposed years ago, and October 7 hastened it. Today, although the colony still pays lip service to democracy, it has largely dropped its image of liberalism. It openly speaks of ethnically razing Gaza, settling Southern Lebanon and expanding its borders. A number of Israelis perceive the danger of this shift to their colony and are seeking to remedy it by reviving Zionism's image of democracy.

Which of the two approaches is more immoral is up for discussion. But more importantly, what needs to be discussed is how to exploit the colony's forsaking its veneer of democracy in order to challenge its existence. There are specific steps to do so.

First, instead of presenting the colony's violence as the problem, we need to present the violence as evidence of the problem—the colony itself. Instead of merely criticizing the colony, we must challenge its right to exist.

And second, we must present a clear alternative to the colony in order to force its reimagining: Instead of one occupation state that privileges Jews, one Palestinian state that respects the rights of all its citizens. In its absence of a political alternative to a system, any accomplishments will remain within the frame of that system. On the other hand, proposing an alternative to a system imposes a question mark on it and challenges its legitimacy.

The One Democratic State Initiative is working tirelessly to organize efforts to challenge Zionism in the context of its shift. If you are not part of an organization, we call on you to join us. If you are, we invite you to get in touch so we can coordinate efforts.

For most of its history, the colony claimed to be both a mighty nation, militarily capable of defending its population, and a democratic one, representing the values of the states that established it. This did not make it any less of a genocidal settler colony, but it gave it a liberal image.

The continued resistance to its existence led most of its leadership to choose to forego much of that second aspect in favor of the first one. This was already proposed years ago, and October 7 hastened it. Today, although the colony still pays lip service to democracy, it has largely dropped its image of liberalism. It openly speaks of ethnically razing Gaza, settling Southern Lebanon and expanding its borders. A number of Israelis perceive the danger of this shift to their colony and are seeking to remedy it by reviving Zionism's image of democracy.

Which of the two approaches is more immoral is up for discussion. But more importantly, what needs to be discussed is how to exploit the colony's forsaking its veneer of democracy in order to challenge its existence. There are specific steps to do so.

First, instead of presenting the colony's violence as the problem, we need to present the violence as evidence of the problem—the colony itself. Instead of merely criticizing the colony, we must challenge its right to exist.

And second, we must present a clear alternative to the colony in order to force its reimagining: Instead of one occupation state that privileges Jews, one Palestinian state that respects the rights of all its citizens. In its absence of a political alternative to a system, any accomplishments will remain within the frame of that system. On the other hand, proposing an alternative to a system imposes a question mark on it and challenges its legitimacy.

The One Democratic State Initiative is working tirelessly to organize efforts to challenge Zionism in the context of its shift. If you are not part of an organization, we call on you to join us. If you are, we invite you to get in touch so we can coordinate efforts.

For most of its history, the colony claimed to be both a mighty nation, militarily capable of defending its population, and a democratic one, representing the values of the states that established it. This did not make it any less of a genocidal settler colony, but it gave it a liberal image.

The continued resistance to its existence led most of its leadership to choose to forego much of that second aspect in favor of the first one. This was already proposed years ago, and October 7 hastened it. Today, although the colony still pays lip service to democracy, it has largely dropped its image of liberalism. It openly speaks of ethnically razing Gaza, settling Southern Lebanon and expanding its borders. A number of Israelis perceive the danger of this shift to their colony and are seeking to remedy it by reviving Zionism's image of democracy.

Which of the two approaches is more immoral is up for discussion. But more importantly, what needs to be discussed is how to exploit the colony's forsaking its veneer of democracy in order to challenge its existence. There are specific steps to do so.

First, instead of presenting the colony's violence as the problem, we need to present the violence as evidence of the problem—the colony itself. Instead of merely criticizing the colony, we must challenge its right to exist.

And second, we must present a clear alternative to the colony in order to force its reimagining: Instead of one occupation state that privileges Jews, one Palestinian state that respects the rights of all its citizens. In its absence of a political alternative to a system, any accomplishments will remain within the frame of that system. On the other hand, proposing an alternative to a system imposes a question mark on it and challenges its legitimacy.

The One Democratic State Initiative is working tirelessly to organize efforts to challenge Zionism in the context of its shift. If you are not part of an organization, we call on you to join us. If you are, we invite you to get in touch so we can coordinate efforts.

For most of its history, the colony claimed to be both a mighty nation, militarily capable of defending its population, and a democratic one, representing the values of the states that established it. This did not make it any less of a genocidal settler colony, but it gave it a liberal image.

The continued resistance to its existence led most of its leadership to choose to forego much of that second aspect in favor of the first one. This was already proposed years ago, and October 7 hastened it. Today, although the colony still pays lip service to democracy, it has largely dropped its image of liberalism. It openly speaks of ethnically razing Gaza, settling Southern Lebanon and expanding its borders. A number of Israelis perceive the danger of this shift to their colony and are seeking to remedy it by reviving Zionism's image of democracy.

Which of the two approaches is more immoral is up for discussion. But more importantly, what needs to be discussed is how to exploit the colony's forsaking its veneer of democracy in order to challenge its existence. There are specific steps to do so.

First, instead of presenting the colony's violence as the problem, we need to present the violence as evidence of the problem—the colony itself. Instead of merely criticizing the colony, we must challenge its right to exist.

And second, we must present a clear alternative to the colony in order to force its reimagining: Instead of one occupation state that privileges Jews, one Palestinian state that respects the rights of all its citizens. In its absence of a political alternative to a system, any accomplishments will remain within the frame of that system. On the other hand, proposing an alternative to a system imposes a question mark on it and challenges its legitimacy.

The One Democratic State Initiative is working tirelessly to organize efforts to challenge Zionism in the context of its shift. If you are not part of an organization, we call on you to join us. If you are, we invite you to get in touch so we can coordinate efforts.

For most of its history, the colony claimed to be both a mighty nation, militarily capable of defending its population, and a democratic one, representing the values of the states that established it. This did not make it any less of a genocidal settler colony, but it gave it a liberal image.

The continued resistance to its existence led most of its leadership to choose to forego much of that second aspect in favor of the first one. This was already proposed years ago, and October 7 hastened it. Today, although the colony still pays lip service to democracy, it has largely dropped its image of liberalism. It openly speaks of ethnically razing Gaza, settling Southern Lebanon and expanding its borders. A number of Israelis perceive the danger of this shift to their colony and are seeking to remedy it by reviving Zionism's image of democracy.

Which of the two approaches is more immoral is up for discussion. But more importantly, what needs to be discussed is how to exploit the colony's forsaking its veneer of democracy in order to challenge its existence. There are specific steps to do so.

First, instead of presenting the colony's violence as the problem, we need to present the violence as evidence of the problem—the colony itself. Instead of merely criticizing the colony, we must challenge its right to exist.

And second, we must present a clear alternative to the colony in order to force its reimagining: Instead of one occupation state that privileges Jews, one Palestinian state that respects the rights of all its citizens. In its absence of a political alternative to a system, any accomplishments will remain within the frame of that system. On the other hand, proposing an alternative to a system imposes a question mark on it and challenges its legitimacy.

The One Democratic State Initiative is working tirelessly to organize efforts to challenge Zionism in the context of its shift. If you are not part of an organization, we call on you to join us. If you are, we invite you to get in touch so we can coordinate efforts.

لطالما قدّمت الحركة الصهيونية صورتين عن الكيان: صورة القوة بحيث أنه يستطيع "الدفاع عن شعبه" وصورة الديمقراطية بحيث يمثل "قيَم" الدول التي أسسته. ولم يقلل ذلك من حقيقة الكيان الاستيطانية الإبادية لكنه منحه صورة ليبرالية.

أدى استمرار المقاومة لوجود الكيان إلى تخلي قيام معظم قيادته عن جزء كبير من صورة الديمقراطية لصالح صورة القوة. فقد تم طرح ذلك منذ سنوات، وسرّع طوفان الأقصى هذه العملية. واليوم، على الرغم من أن الكيان لا تزال يدّعي الديمقراطية، إلا أنه تخلى إلى حد كبير عن صورته الليبرالية. فبات يتحدث علنًا عن إبادة غزة واستيطان جنوب لبنان وتوسيع حدوده. ويدرك عدد من الإسرائيليين الخطر الذي يشكله هذا التحول على كيانهم فيسعون إلى معالجة ذلك من خلال إحياء صورة الصهيونية الديمقراطية.

لا شك في أن كلا النهجين غير أخلاقيين تمامًا. لكن الأهم من ذلك هو تحديد كيفية استغلال تخلي الكيان عن قناعه الديمقراطي من أجل تحدي حقه المزعوم بالوجود. وهناك خطوات محددة للقيام بذلك. فأولاً، بدلاً من تصوير عنف الكيان على أنه المشكلة، علينا أن نُظهر هذا العنف كمؤشر للمشكلة الحقيقية، أي وجود الكيان نفسه. وعليه، بدلاً من الاكتفاء بانتقاد الكيان، يجب أن نتحدى حقه المزعوم في الوجود. وثانياً، يجب أن نقدم بديلاً واضحاً للكيان من أجل فرض إعادة تصور لها: بدلاً من دولة احتلال واحدة تمنح امتيازات لليهود، دولة فلسطينية واحدة تحترم حقوق جميع مواطنيها. في غياب بديل سياسي لنظام الاحتلال، ستبقى أي إنجازات ضمن إطار ذلك النظام. كما أن طرح بديل للنظام يضع علامة استفهام عليه ويتحدى شرعيته المزعومة.

تعمل مبادرة الدولة الديمقراطية الواحدة بلا كلل لتنظيم الجهود الرامية إلى تحدي الصهيونية في سياق التحول الذي تشهده. إذا لم تكونوا منخرطين في أي مجموعة سياسية، ندعوكم للانضمام إلينا. أما إذا كنتم منخرطون في عمل سياسي منظم، فندعوكم للتواصل معنا لتنسيق الجهود.

Zionism's idea that "let Jews have a state of their own so they're independent of other governments" doesn't work.

Because it's imposing a settler state, it needs ongoing diplomatic, economic and military support to maintain its hegemony.

When that doesn’t happen, like with the U.S.-Iran agreement, the colony’s very survival is at stake. This is a fundamental flaw of Zionism.

The alternative exists.

Dismantle the settler state. One democratic state that does not treat its citizens on the basis of identity. Jews willing to drop their colonial privileges remain in peace, like before "Israel". Those unwilling leave in peace.

The end.

This very week, both before and after the "ceasefire on all fronts" deal is signed, the colony will kill Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and no state will do anything about it.

States negotiate, and fronts —meaning, human societies on those fronts— are not the objective of negotiations. They are its tools.

Palestinians must not wait for help. We must regain our agency by coming up with action programs to tip the balance of power and force the colony to recognize our right to left, as a step toward liberation and return to one democratic Palestine.