Latest Palestine plans from the EU show that the European community is a weenie. Europe has been unwilling to sacrifice even its Middle Eastern policy ties with the United States, let alone assert its own vaunted EU foreign policy values on behalf of Palestinians.

Ritualized solidarity remains the name of the game in Israel-Palestine, as the fate of Jerusalem hangs in the balance once again. So it was when church leaders in Jerusalem showed a sign of solidarity to Islam and the Muslim community by gathering at the Al Aqsa mosque for a photo-op last week. They also issued a statement on the need to respect the rights of Muslims to worship freely and show respect for holy places. But as the church leaders and their advisors know well the backdrop for their visit isn’t about freedom of religion or worship. The backdrop for increasing tensions at Al Aqsa is occupation and the dwindling place of Palestinians in Jerusalem and the land itself. It’s about an occupied and ghettoized Palestinian people with their backs to the Apartheid (political and religious) Wall.

Palestine is occupied by Israel. Al Aqsa is occupied by Israel. Can the churches in Jerusalem and throughout the land escape that same occupation? Last Sunday, Rev. Páraic Réamonn from the Church of Scotland at St. Andrews gave a sermon in Jerusalem that promised a breakthrough in the relationship between the Christian church and the Jewish state.

“Friends” of Palestine – the churches, NGOS and the UN – will go out on the Palestinian limb – up to a point. The dance that follows is what Marc Ellis calls “ritualized solidarity.” Is BDS any different? At this point, he believes it is – to some extent. But there are unexpected dangers ahead. In the end, BDS supporters may have no choice in the matter. Those driving the peace train are much more powerful than movements of dissent, including BDS.

Solidarity’s deadend: Those who have the power to change Palestinian reality, the United States and Europe, aren’t going to push the Jewish/Israeli empire too far, if at all. Their strategic interests are at play. The history of Jews in Europe and the importance of the Jewish vote and influence in the United States casts a huge political shadow. Outside efforts by “friends” of the Palestinians have been piecemeal; and they appeal to the powers that be.

So now we’re back to the status quo. Al Aqsa is open again for prayer. If you’re over 50. Perhaps identification proving age will be required. Al Aqsa AARP? The status quo is death for Palestinians. Before death, ethnic cleansing. Before death, ghettoization. Are we really supposed to celebrate occupied prayer at Al Aqsa?

Israel has closed the Al Aqsa mosque. Lesson for us all? Religious rights – however regulated – cannot be sustained without political rights. Arguing for religious rights without pursuing political rights is hypocrisy – on all sides. So Mahmoud Abbas is wrong. Closing Al Aqsa is not Israel declaring war against the Palestinian people. That war was declared in the founding of Israel. Closing Al Aqsa is Israel’s continuation of the war against Palestinians.

Are there any in more active complicity in the destruction of Palestine than Palestine’s well-wishers? J Street’s October 28 statement is the latest example of a “pro-peace” organization that is doing nothing to advance an end to the conflict in Israel/Palestine.

A October 22 letter of support from Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to President Barack Obama regarding his policy towards Israel/Palestine avoids the real issues.

Gideon Levy says Palestinians have a duty to resist occupation, and Marc Ellis says American Jews have a duty to resist the American Jewish Zionist establishment, too, in what is a historical opening.