The Threat of Israeli Annexation: Regional and International Implications

ACW and the Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) hosted a panel featuring Rashid Khalidi, Nasser Al-Kidwa, Raef Zreik, Noura Erakat, Leila Farsakh, and Khalil E. Jahshan to discuss the regional and international implications of Israel’s annexation plans. Rashid Khalidi framed annexation as a continuation of a century-long Zionist colonial process, noting that the Trump Administration’s public endorsement and the decline of the two-state solution have created a new, critical environment. Panelists like Nasser Al-Kidwa and Khalil Jahshan emphasized that while the US has historically enabled these policies, the current administration has become an active initiator of what they termed a "declaration of war" against Palestinian rights. Al-Kidwa called for a restructured Palestinian strategy to confront settler colonialism, while Jahshan expressed skepticism that a potential Biden presidency would significantly deviate from traditional pro-Israel policies or move beyond the fiction of a two-state solution.

The discussion also delved into the legal, social, and geopolitical complexities of the annexation. Raef Zreik highlighted the legal asymmetry in Israel that allows for easy territorial expansion through executive fiat, warning that Palestinians in annexed areas risk losing their property overnight. Noura Erakat and Leila Farsakh shifted the focus toward civil society and rights-based discourse, with Erakat drawing parallels to US racial justice struggles and calling for a more daring, younger generation of Palestinian leadership. Farsakh noted that while international actors like the EU and Arab states officially oppose annexation, their economic ties to Israel and the US limit their influence. Ultimately, the participants agreed that the annexation reinforces an existing apartheid reality, necessitating a move toward a progressive agenda centered on human rights and self-determination in the 21st century.