Worst and Best of Palestinian Action

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Posted Mar 24, 2011      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
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Worst and Best of Palestinian Action

by Rabbi Arthur Waskow


During the past week we have seen both the worst and the best versions of Palestinian action. 

The worst: the murderous attack on an Israeli bus station today that killed at least one person and wounded dozens.

The best:  nonviolent rallies by thousands of Palestinians, mostly young people, criticizing BOTH Hamas and the Palestinian Authority and calling for a national-unity government and new democratic elections throughout the Palestinian community.

The youth rallies in Gaza and in Ramallah were attacked by thugs from both Hamas and the PA.

The old and destructive journalistic slogan, “If it bleeds, it leads,” has once again resulted in the elevation of murder to the Big Story and the use of nonviolent protest by Palestinian youth has been all but ignored by US media.

But the nonviolent rallies—sparked by the Egyptian revolt but deeply rooted in Palestinian hunger for fresh leadership and a new way of seeking Palestinian statehood alongside Israel—might be far more important in the longer run than the vile murders of Israeli civilians, which are far more likely to freeze the status quo of fear and rage than to bring change.

Indeed, especially taking into account attempts by both old-line factions to attack the nonviolent rallies, it seems not impossible that today’s terror attack was a deliberate effort to restore the violent status quo and the power of its ossified officials. As always, hawks on one side of the barricades are the best allies of their “enemy” hawks on the other side.

Tania Kepler for the Alternative Information Center (AIC) reports that the “March 15” Palestine solidarity demonstrations were held in cities throughout Palestine and the world to “End the Division” of Palestinian political parties and call for new elections and electoral reform. Her report continues:

Thousands of unity demonstrators gathered in Gaza City’s Unknown Soldier Square, chanting for bipartisan Palestinian unity. However, hundreds of members of Hamas arrived, carrying flags and chanting.

According to one unnamed participant, two of the unity demonstrators were hit with Taser guns and fainted as they shouted, demanding the removal of all politically-affiliated paraphernalia from the area, reported Maan News.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands more unity demonstrators gathered at Manara Circle calling for political unity of the Palestinian people against Israel. However, after a few hours, members of the Fatah party arrived with flags and they began taking down posters calling for unity.

A small group of young people have been on a hunger strike in the Square since Sunday, calling for unity.

“We are hunger striking to prove that we exist in the real world and not just online, and to show that we are ready to die to end the division,” organizer Fadi Quraan told AFP.

“We slept here to prove that we are the ones running this campaign,” he said, expressing concerns that the major political factions would attempt to co-opt the youth movement.

These protests, organized under the banner of national unity and reconciliation, are being organized by the Gaza youth movement “Gaza Youth Breaks Out” and the Palestinian youth movement “Palestine for Us”.

“We emphasize that resolving the predicament of Palestinian disunity must be based on principles and values agreed upon by the Palestinian people regardless of their political affiliation. The first of these principles is the illegitimacy of imprisoning people based on their political beliefs. Consequently, we demand the release of all political prisoners held by the government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank,” wrote Palestine for Us.

The group Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO) is a grassroots non-aligned movement, led by a core group of individuals who remain anonymous for security purposes. The Gaza group coordinates with students in the West Bank and has been in contact with Palestinians and pro-Palestinian groups around the world.

More than 1,500 people also gathered in Bethelehem’s Nativity Square. Protestors marched through the city before gathering in the square. According to Maan News, scouts from the Aida refugee camp drummed national songs, and slogans like “Oh Haniyeh… Abbas, Palestine is the core issue” and “We want national unity in Gaza, Haifa and Jaffa,” rang out across the square.

In both Ramallah and Bethlehem Palestinian Authority police monitored the happenings.

A group of some sixty demonstrators also gathered outside the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City. They raised signs calling for unity and chanted in Arabic against political divisions. Israeli police on horses closely monitored the situation.

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails also sent a letter supporting the protests in Ramallah and Gaza City.

“We believe that restructuring the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the national and Islamic factions, and Palestinian civil society organizations is a priority at this stage in order to end rivalry and establish a Palestinian state,” the message read.

We in America who are committed to security and peace for both Israel and a new Palestine might wish that both the terror attack and the nonviolent rallies,  in the midst of deep changes across the Middle East, will signal to the Obama administration that the time has come and the need is sharp for it to act vigorously to support the Arab League’s call for a full regional peace settlement among Israel, Palestine, and all Arab states.

But there is little sign of such vigor at the top. It is unlikely to emerge unless American Muslims, Christians, and Jews who do support US efforts for such a regional peace create grass-roots Abrahamic Alliances to support the nonviolent peace-seeking elements in the Middle East.

 


Rabbi Arthur Waskow, director, The Shalom Center http://www.theshalomcenter.org; newest book, co-authored with R. Phyllis Berman, is Freedom Journeys: The Tale of Exodus & Wilderness across Millennia (Jewish Lights), available from “Shouk Shalom,” our on-line bookstore — https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/602/t/4180/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=698

 

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