Intifada never ended in Palestine – analyst
Press TV has conducted an interview with Paul Larudee, co-founder of the Free Palestine Movement from San Francisco, about the ongoing Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip.
Press TV: Well looking at the situation not only in Gaza now we want to focus also on the West Bank and what is happening there and what exactly does it mean.
First of all, do you think that it has entered another Intifada and what would it mean to the West Bank if these types of protests continue and grow? What would it mean to the regime in Tel Aviv?
Larudee: To a certain extent of course the Intifada has never ended. There have been acts of resistance continuously for more than a decade and arguably longer.
The question of the intensity and effectiveness is open but I think it is encouraging to see large groups of protesters who are participating there is the option of armed resistance but frankly in the West Bank armed resistance is very, very unlikely because the arms can be discovered and confiscated easily.
So the tactic of non-violent resistance has gained a lot of ground and it is possibly the most effective way specially if very large groups of non-violent protesters will defy Israeli restrictions and ignore checkpoints and do some of the things that were done during the first Intifada in non-violent resistance.
So this is a possibility and some people think that this is in fact what is going to happen. Of course it remains to be seen, it has to be sustained.
Press TV: Mr. Larudee, with the situation in Gaza itself, we see we are getting closer in on almost one month now of the onslaught on the Gaza Strip, what do you think has to happen in order to bring it to an end and to bring it to an end that it is not repeated in a year from now or two years from now but according to the demands of the resistance in Gaza they want a total lifting of the siege. Is that likely to happen and in your take what needs to happen there?
Larudee: Well we can always hope but realistically we have to say that the only way that it will not be repeated is if the demands of Hamas that the blockade is ended and that international peacekeepers are brought in to prevent cross border incidents, it is hard to call it the border exactly but the ceasefire line.
Basically the answer is freedom; freedom for Palestinians is what is necessary.