Robert Fantina is an author and journalist as well a peace and human rights activist. He has written extensively on the oppression of the Palestinian people by the usurper Zionist regime. He has written several books on U.S. crimes, including Desertion and the American Soldier: 1776 – 2006, which is a detailed history of desertion from the U.S. military; Look Not Unto the Morrow, a Vietnam era, anti-war novel, and Empire, Racism and Genocide: A History of U.S. Foreign Policy. In an interview with Mr. Fantina, we have asked him about the U.S, president's latest decision to declare Jerusalem as the capital of the apartheid Israeli regime and its consequences. The following is the full text of the interview:
Do you think announcing Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of Occupied Palestine indicates weakness and inability of the Zionists?
The United States recognition of Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of the Zionist entity defies international law and the consensus of the global community. It is rumored that one or two other countries may do the same, but this recognition by the U.S. has been condemned around the world. All of the U.S.’s major allies, with the obvious exception of Israel, have criticized this decision, and stated that it will not change their positions.
Had other nations, and the European Union, which also condemned the decision, been less vehement in their protestations, Israel might have been able to say that this proved the strength of its position. However, it only shows how isolated Israel is, when only the U.S. has made this illegal and immoral decision.
How should the world of Islam respond to declaring al-Quds as the capital of the Zionist regime?
The world of Islam responded appropriately, by universally condemning the decision. It should also reduce or completely severe ties with the United States, and those that are doing any business, or sharing any intelligence, with Israel, should immediately cease doing so. All Islamic nations should refocus on Palestine, and work to free Palestine from Israeli oppression. They should demand access to Gaza’s shore, and immediately begin bringing in much-needed supplies. They should enter the West Bank, and dismantle all the checkpoints. All nations that support peace and justice should demand that the United Nations send a peacekeeping force to supervise the orderly departure of all the illegal settlers.
The U.S. has, for decades, sponsored negotiations between Israel and Palestine. These have always been a farce, for two major reasons:
- Negotiations can only occur between two parties, each of which has something the other wants, which it can only get by surrendering something it has. Israel takes whatever it wants from Palestine with complete impunity. Therefore, there can be no meaningful negotiations.
- More importantly, negotiations are unnecessary. All that is required is for Israel to abide by international law, which means removing the blockade of the Gaza Strip, dismantling all checkpoints in the West Bank, removing all the illegal settlers and respecting the borders established by the United Nations in 1947. The illegality and immorality of that decision is a topic for another discussion.
Who is responsible for the suffering of the Palestinians?
The horrific, unspeakable Palestinian suffering is mainly the responsibility of the United States, although most of the international community is complicit. The U.S. finances the Zionist, apartheid regime of Israel, giving it $4 billion in aid annually, more than it gives to any other nation. It routinely vetoes any resolutions critical of Israel that are raised in the United Nations Security Council. It is unable to do so in the United Nations General Assembly, where nations often condemn the savage behaviors of Israel. This was seen most recently on December 1, prior to Trump’s infamous decision, when the General Assembly voted to disavow Israeli ties to Jerusalem. The vote was 151 in favor and six against, with nine abstentions.
The U.S., as it has so often been in the past, is once again on the wrong side of history.
How does war in the region safeguard the Zionist Regime?
With the complete complicity of the U.S., wars have been waged in many Middle Eastern nations, the sole purpose of which is to destabilize those nations to grant Israel complete hegemony in that part of the world. Libya, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon have all suffered as a result. Yet for the Zionist entity, it is a losing battle. Syria, with assistance from Russia and Iran, has been able to expel most of the U.S.-backed terrorists from its borders. Iraq, greatly assisted by Iran, has been able to do the same. In Lebanon, efforts by Israel and the U.S. have been unable to weaken Hezbollah, further stifling Israeli power.
President Trump seems anxious to provoke a war with Iran, possibly thinking to have the same result as the U.S. war in Iraq: the complete destruction of that country. He is an ill-informed and ignorant man; he is possibly the most incompetent president the U.S. has ever had. He does not realize the size and power of the Iranian military organization, nor does he recognize its increasingly prominent position on the world stage. Such a war would be a disaster not only for the Middle East, but for the entire world.
