7 -13 December 2000
Issue No.511
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 7 -13 December 2000 Issue No.511 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
The only way to Palestine
By Medhat El-Zahed *
Some people view the Intifada only in terms of the number of people killed or injured. It is, however, the Palestinian and Arab villages and cities voicing their anger, the massive street marches, and the rising number of those resorting to the only means of opposition at their disposal -- throwing stones -- in their bid to assert Palestinian and Arab rights that should be the criteria of the Intifada's success. In recent weeks, news bulletins have been opening with news of the Palestinians killed or maimed by Israeli fire, followed by words of condolence to the victims' families; but when an injured teenager told a radio broadcaster that he had been hit while hoisting the Palestinian flag and pelting Israeli soldiers with stones, she asked him in amazement: "Aren't you a bit young for that?"
The Egyptian and Arab media have covered the events in the occupied territories with the warranted footage, focusing on the anger of the masses and the Israeli atrocities; yet the message seems to be that the Intifada is little more than an endless funeral. The emphasis is on the figure of the victim, rather than the hero or freedom fighter.
The Intifada cannot be reduced to the number of martyrs. A vivid new picture of the occupied territories, pulsating with life, is unfolding before our eyes. The injured and the dead are symbols of resistance. The Palestinian flag rallies all national forces today, and the boundaries between Palestine and the surrounding Arab states seem to have melted. Angry young Arabs from Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon alike are protesting with a single voice, burning the Israeli flag with a common sense of purpose and a new awareness of their own power.
The Intifada is a sensitive movement. Its tempo will change, adapting to developments on the ground, escalating and subsiding; but it will remain the one sure path to Palestine.
*This week's Soapbox speaker is a journalist at Al-Ahali.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
