Israeli raid on al-Aqsa meant to cause confrontation: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Bruce Katz, co-president of the Palestinian and Jewish Unity, in Montreal, to discuss the recent Israeli attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Following is a rough transcription.

Press TV: Is this just another excuse to clamp down on Palestinians and how will it affect their attendance to the mosque of the Al Aqsa?

Katz: I think it is one more incident in a series of events meant to provoke a violent reaction by the Palestinians. I think that Israel wants very much to provoke a third Intifada. This is a way also to deflect Netanyahu’s political defeat over the Iranian question in the US Senate, which is going to be repeated in the US House of Representatives. So this is a stinging rebuke; the support for closer ties with Iran and the normalization of relations with Iran is widespread.

We need to remember that the Palestinian youth have been throwing rocks and stones at the Israeli soldiers for many years. Why all of a sudden this change in direction? This change in direction is meant to inflame the situation and storming Al Aqsa which is one of the most sacred sites in Islam is part of that process.

It should also be remembered that religious zealots in Israel see the Al Aqsa as being the site of the original temple- Solomon’s temple and they want to take it over. This is part of the process that the religious right in Israel has been contemplating for a long time. Again, what is important here is for the Palestinians not be drawn into Netanyahu’s web which means basically to try to stay away from any type of violent reaction. Let the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) do its task and I think it is very important combat on the Palestinian authority to put an end to its security arrangement with Israel.

Let the entire financial burden of maintaining Israel’s illegal occupation of the Plaestinian territory fall on the shoulders of… Israel.

Press TV: Generally speaking, when can there be peace in this land then?

Katz: Well, I think it is quite obvious. The changes are never going to come from within Israel itself. It is not just a question of the Netanyahu coalition. Even the so-called Israeli left, although there is no real Israeli left except the Arab parties and the communist party of Israel and perhaps Meretz. Although Meretz still leans towards a Zionist interpretation of Israeli society.

But the Zionist left that once called itself the left, is not a left, it is a right. It is not all that different from the Netanyahu coalition in terms of view of settlements and the BDS. So I don’t think too much optimism should be seen in terms of Israel’s political establishment but Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions  may provoke a regime change in Israel which is I think a first necessary step in bringing a real solution onto the table which is not possible.

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