- 8 نيسان 2018
- أقلام مقدسية
By Walid Salem
Following the last two weeks non violent peaceful events on the Gaza borders with Israel,and the Casualities that took place, and following the Israeli and the American responses to them, brings to the one mind the saying coined by the Palestinian Professor Joseph Masaad that “the right of Israel to exist is used to justify givening it the right to be racist”. Further we can say that it is used to justify killing, demonizing, accusing the victim for what is happening to them, and dispossessing.
According to this concept the weak should pay the price for their weakness, they should accept the Israeli policies and practices without complaints about their fate and they should be impotent. Other wise they are eligible to killing, torturing, beating, jailing, humiliating, and other procedures.
Despite that Gaza put Israel and its forces in the defensive. Israel became crystal clear as powerful in regard of the use of force and killing, while it became also crystal clear that Gaza has the ethical superiority. The latter defeated the former who start trembling from the fear that Gazans will cross the borders despite all the cruel power of the Israel army.
Among the right wing in Israel their acts take the shape of all those physical aspects mentioned, and among the left wing it takes the shape of “ We know better what suits you than you know yourselves”. The last example on this left wing patronizing behavior took place in Jerusalem, where the left is taking the patronizing position of telling the Palestinians that the only way for them to have Democracy in the city is to vote in the Israeli municipal elections, instead of of supporting the Palestinians to get back their Democractic right to vote for their municipal structure that was dissolved illegally by the Israeli Authorities in 1967. Why there is a silence about this democratic right of the Palestinians? Why not to assist to get it back in the ground?. Why not to connect East Jerusalem municipal elections with those of West Bank and Gaza instead of creating a separate track for the Palestinian Jerusalemites? And other many “ why’s”?.
Back to Gaza, what is going there is an outcome of both long term and other short term considerations. In regard to the long term, it should be mentioned that 80 percent of its population are refugees from inside Israel. Therefore “ the right of return” is ringing highly in their marches as a major demand, besides the other shorter term demand about “ Breaking the closure”.
Nevertheless these two demands are inherently intertwined: In one hand Gazans were expelled from their cities and villages inside Israel, and then got “ ghettoized” in Gaza, which is not more than a “ concentration camp” that is worse than the “ reserves” that the United States created to the Indian Americans from the 18th century till today.
The people of Gaza are suffering from poverty, unemployment, lack of food and services, they use an undrinkable water, and lack electricity, job opportunities, and salaries. As such they will only explode in the face of their executioner by calling for breaking the seige in order to get their way out towards their freedom crystallized in their right of return. Therefore breaking the seige and the right of return are both intertwined.
Other observation to note here is the classical dichotomy that existed in the Palestinian discourse between the right of self determination and the right of return. Gaza collectively declared in the last two weeks that this dichotomy is not any more valid, and that thier self determination can be achieved through the fullfilment of their right of return, they declared their strong no to keeping them imprisoned in the miserable ghetto of Gaza, and that they want their freedom and self determination out of it. This declaration by Gaza is also a strong response to the White House Conference about Gaza and all the proposals alike that are aiming to improve the life conditions of Gazans inside the cage instead of breaking it.
In Gaza, all the people participated, young and old, secular and religious, all social groups.The only flag that was
raised is the Palestinian flag, and the leadership is a civil society coalition that include all. This coalition is called: “ The Higher Commission for the March of Return and Breaking the Seige”.
This mode of action is alike Jerusalem during last July Al Aqsa Intifada. Today Gaza is struggling to break the cage, and Jerusalem is struggling against getting it in the cage by obsessing the Jerusalemites to join the Israeli municipal elections opposite to their free well.
West Bank also joined the struggle, but the presence of the Israeli Army outside the populated cities, made their participation less invisible. This objective dilemma of the non violent struggle in West Bank can be compensated by adding additional components to the non violent struggle in West Bank such as boycotting the Israeli products, initiate creative acts such as rebuilding Al Karamah and Bab Al Shams villages once again, and then again and again after each time demolished by the occupation. That is in addition of creating Palestinian facts in the ground in area C and East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian people are not week, mainly when they wage their systematic non violent resistence. Gaza brought the hope back, let us celebrate Gaza, celebrate our people and keep and escalate the non violence momentum.
