“Israel has a right to defend itself” is a vacuus phrase that will go down in history alongside “just obeying orders” as a fraudulent passport to genocide. It has become so ubiquitous that it is being used not just by downright rascals but also by people in official positions making otherwise decent-ish statements.

Israel does not have a right to “defend” its control of territory internationally recognised as occupied. The correct response to attacks on occupation forces is to lift the siege of Gaza immediately and then end the occupation.

The Palestinian people, on the other hand, do indeed have a right to resist the occupation by armed force. Their right barely gets a mention in the corridors of power and has been ghosted by the banning in many countries of organisations attempting to exercise it.

What if we recognised Israel’s right to self-defence while banning the IDF and Israel’s main political parties?