Digital Bubble: Palestine from Darkness into Light?

Article by Dr Harry Hagopian

Dr Harry Hagopian

Dr Harry Hagopian is an International lawyer & practitioner in Alternative Dispute Resolution. Previously, he was Assistant General Secretary to the MECC in Beirut & Limassol, and later Executive Director of the MECC Jerusalem Liaison Office. He is also a Knight of the Order of St Gregory, and presently also consultant to the Armenian & Catholic Churches in the UK. He is the author of 2 books, & his website is www.epektasis.net.

If you open the New Jerusalem Bible & seek verse 8:12 in St John’s Gospel, you will read that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” There’s an awful lot of darkness in our world, isn’t there, and this verse is about bringing the light of Christ into difficult situations. But what is this light? It is not about electricity but rather about truth and justice.

So what is the truth for most Palestinians today? It is about an occupying power hell-bent on subjugating and if possible expelling them out of their lands. Over 700,000 were made refugees in 1948 & another 300,000 in 1967. So why not complete the mission by getting rid of many more again today? Gaza is already halfway there, with 2 million survivors living miserably in 30% of their lands whilst the Board of Peace is invalid in the face of the so-called voluntary migration of Palestinians by Israel - to the Sinai in Egypt or further beyond. As for the 3-plus million Palestinians in the West Bank & East Jerusalem, PM Netanyahu’s government has made it clear that they cannot enjoy statehood and will either remain as serfs in little bantustans owned by their landlords or else transferred into Jordan & beyond.

What is the justice part of the scriptural verse? It is the achievement of self-determination & freedom from the shackles of occupation. It is the ability for Palestinians to live on their own lands with their dignity intact, their rights preserved, their incomes secured & their futures hopeful. It is freedom from being reportedly persecuted, gaoled, detained, raped or beaten & their properties or lands pillaged or seized by Israel.

I recently sent a short text to the Palestinian ambassador in the UK in which I indicated that I was no more & no less than a ‘pessoptimist’ these days - to use a powerful neologism coined by the prominent communist politician & author Emile Habibi - about the hopes of freedom and liberation for Palestinians. His answer was bracing and robust: what do we have if we do not also have hope and resolve?

Perhaps part of that hope and resolve came our way when our Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband stated that the UK has woken up to its International law obligations and will introduce in the months ahead a number of measures that sanction the illegal Israeli settlers marauding on Palestinian lands. And whilst some voices were ululating about the wonderful course of action that this UK government had taken despite some fatuous opposition by different mouthpieces, I reminded those interested in peace for the region that this was indeed a robust step but that it was only a station on the road to the end-station. It was clearly not the destination.

I commend the Foreign Secretary as well as the other countries that signed letters of support for this seminal step against dangerous Israelis who in their own minds re-live the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the region over 3,000 years ago. But I also respectfully remind everyone - from faith leaders to politicians, journalists or think-tanks - that the problem goes beyond dangerous or even pesky settlers in illegal outposts. It is the entire political system in Israel that refuses the idea of self-determination for Palestinians. PM Netanyahu is not the sole obstacle: Gadi Eisenkot, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman or Naftali Bennett will not be radically different even if they win the parliamentary elections on 27 October in Israel. They will be more subtle, for sure, in order to please their Western allies or friends, but they will not be different in their designs. So sanctioning illegal settlers is helpful, but such sanctions will not end the occupation of the oPt.

In fact, substitute the names of the men competing against Benjamin Netanyahu for the forthcoming Knesset & I’m convinced that the contrived problems ranging from irredentism to annexation via expansionism, colonisation or occupation will remain intact. And I sadly wonder: where are the majority of the Israeli Jewish population in Israel today who are decent men & women - some of whom were my friends years ago? Is it possible that most of them subscribe to a post 7 October 2023 vengeful mentality? I refuse to accept it!

The late French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus once said that “In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.” Perhaps the cheerleaders of pies in the sky would ponder on this wisdom and turn away from the darkness and into the light!

© harry_bvH, 13 September 2026