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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 October 2000 Issue No. 504
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters By the people, for the people
By Abdel-Jawwad Saleh
The Intifada of Al-Aqsa ignited like wildfire. The Nero of Sabra and Shatila, by entering the Haram Al-Sharif, was not on a "mission for peace" but rather one of humiliation. He started the Intifada; yet Sharon's visit was not the main cause.
The new Intifada is the outcome of various measures and policies: the unprecedented theft of Palestinian land; the construction of new colonies and the expansion of existing ones; the demolition of Palestinian homes and the collective "punishment" of the Palestinian people.
The PA has played its part, too: in preserving Israeli security, it has given no thought to Palestinian security as represented in the preservation of our homeland. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil: these are the items on the PA's daily list of things to do.
In the meantime, its abuse of public finances and the spread of corruption have given rise to resentment and lost the PA its last vestiges of credibility. Its role in the negotiations is a symbol of its self-destruction. It has failed to fulfil its own promises to its people. The PA promised that it would never enter the final-status negotiations before Israel implemented the third phase of redeployment. Redeployment never came about, and off the PA went to Camp David II all the same.
Israeli and Palestinian policies have fed the flames of the Intifada. But Sharon's visit, and the imminent danger to Jerusalem, were truly the tinder that set the powder-keg ablaze.
The Intifada is genuine; it has not been "manipulated" by Arafat. It was a spontaneous explosion, an expression of unbearable frustration on the part of a people who have been asked to bear far more than they should. The Palestinians have sacrificed too much. We should respect their courage and willingness to keep on fighting. The resistance should give us hope.
The Palestinian people's resilience has surprised its enemies and its friends alike. Young people look death in the face every morning. They have no weapons to guard themselves against it. They run out, pockets filled with stones and hearts full of a desperate, burning hope. They fall, wave after wave, in a hail of bullets. Yet more rise from behind them, and run forward to take their places. They are not implementing any policy guidelines. On the contrary; the leadership's decisions stab them in the back.
The Palestinian people have their own alternative agenda. Whether or not the PA is coordinating its policy with Israel's demands, repression, accumulated frustration and despair cannot remain inert forever. Fear of the threat to Jerusalem triggered the explosion.
Developments on the local, Arab and international scenes also created a climate hospitable to a new Intifada. Locally, the Declaration of the Twenty was a watershed that signalled the dangers confronting the Palestinian people and brought down the barriers raised by fear of a confrontation. Palestinian university students, by supporting the Declaration, gave the first indication that something was afoot. Later, their spontaneous protest against Jospin, the French prime minister, when he condemned the Lebanese resistance as terrorists, was another important sign. But the victory of Lebanese resistance, led by Hizbullah, and the eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon, were the last nails in the coffin of Palestinian despair. Internationally, the anti-globalisation movement has its own repercussions.
A few days before the Intifada of Al-Aqsa, I was invited to attend a rally in support of the Palestinian refugees' right of return, attended by more than 4,000 participants from all over the United States. It was the largest rally the Palestinians had ever held in the US. The organisers were independent young men and women. Their homes were the campaign headquarters. To finance the gathering, they depended on donations from private individuals -- Palestinians and other Arabs. I felt optimistic and empowered; my faith in the young generation was enhanced. Our young people have defeated self-defeat, frustration and despair. Our cause is in safe hands.
The new Intifada's achievements are numerous. The people have risen in revolt all over the Arab world, generalising the Intifada for the first time, in qualitative and quantitative terms, since the death of Gamal Abdel-Nasser. The nation has rediscovered itself.
In conclusion, two points seem important. First, the PA leadership has not changed its strategy or tactics. It will not abandon negotiations, although it is abundantly clear that they can serve no purpose as long as they continue in the same way. Still, Palestinians and Arabs should not surrender to despair, for the conclusion of the negotiations will not end the conflict. There will be no just peace. We should be prepared for the alternative.
Second, the Palestinians should examine the differences between the 1987 Intifada and this year's uprising. Why have almost all the victims been Palestinian this time around? Why have so many died? Why have the settlers not been affected as they were in 1987, when they deserted their colonies? The answers to these questions seem clear. The writer is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a former PA minister.
Related stories:
National unity under stress
'Resistance will always unite us'
See also Intifada in focus 12 - 18 October 2000© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
