A resurgent Palestinian nationalism is needed

There are times when your counterpart across the peace table needs to be reminded that the only alternative to achieving a just and acceptable peace for both sides of a conflict is resumed conflict, a resumption of armed struggle, but above all an absence of peace of mind. In Israel there is at present a delusional right wing government that thinks it can erase historical facts from every school text book that it can isolate Palestinian towns and villages into economically unviable pockets, surround them with high concrete walls and watch towers, and that that alone will ensure peace of mind for its people.

There are people who think that a return to armed struggle for the average non-fanatical, non-militant Muslim Palestinian is unthinkable so long after Oslo. They think that armed resistance to Israeli imperialism, neo colonialism, and blatant occupation of Palestinian and Arab land, is only possible if you join a certain political camp, namely that of Iran and the Syrian regime. They cynically tell you that these regional players conveniently use the Palestinian cause to further their own political ends (true to some extent), to give themselves political weight regionally and internationally, primarily by pulling Hezbollah’s strings.

But, for the average Palestinian in any given refugee camp, residing in any Arab Capital, or in any corner of this planet for that matter, he/she still harbors a desire to return to a homeland few have actually seen. The myth of the homeland has grown, fueled by grandparents’ tales of the Nakba, of life before 1948, of Palestine as a land of plenty like no other, of the Arab betrayal, the shame of defeat and exile, the need to erase the defeats of the past, and stories of the heroism of martyrs.

Of course, in reality, there are another people living on that same land, there is commerce, there are cities, factories, roads, ports and airports, a whole other nation and country that has taken the place of the absentee Palestinian. The absentee nostalgic dreamers who yearn to return, which is their right, are about as welcome in the land of their grandfathers as are the ghosts of a long dead family in a house they once lived in but which has passed on to new owners. The hardest thing is to convince a ghost that it’s dead, that it does not belong in the place which it haunts. Sometimes a ritual is performed to help a ghost along its journey, to leave its former earthly home.

But Palestinians are not ghosts yet, although the present Israeli government will do what it can to achieve this end. The fact is Israel is haunted, troubled by wondering homeless spirits caught between this world and the next. The only way Israel will find peace is if every absentee Palestinian is allowed to return to their homeland. There is no other route to peace. A ritual cleansing needs to be carried out whereby the Israeli State takes a good, hard, honest look at itself, at its reason for existing in its present form as an exclusive homeland and safe haven for the Jews of the world. It should look at how safe its citizens are as a direct result of its selfish land grab policies and it’s callous and brutal attacks on Arab population centers, the moral reasoning behind its actions, in short it should bring into question everything.

This is not something that a right wing neocolonialist Israeli government can achieve; only the people, the free citizens of Israel, can undertake such a process and elect a government that will lead the process. A South African-style purge of the old apartheid system in Israel is what is needed, shedding light into the deepest darkest corners of the distasteful past, taking responsibility for countless atrocities and massacres, a simple admission of guilt, an apology to the long suffering victimized Palestinian nation, the turning of a new leaf. All this would pave the way for a new era of real peace, built on solid foundations, not a peace process that is more of a propaganda tool waved before the eyes of the world to show them that a viable process is underway but that it just takes time. The whole sham process allows the Israelis to halt negotiations when convenient, restart it when convenient, talk to this side when convenient, and ignore the other side when convenient, without any penalty or criticism from the so-called international community. If anything, any criticism of Israel is quickly silenced.

Israel may have managed so far to surf the wave of global sympathy for the Jewish national catastrophe, their undeniable suffering during the Holocaust, which in unquestionably horrible and a shameful chapter of human history that should never be repeated. But, this does not absolve Israelis of the crimes they committed against the Palestinian people, and until they recognize that God’s justice requires a reckoning of all the Israeli State’s actions since its inception, that those guilty of spilling innocent blood should be punished, that those who represent the state should offer if not physical reparations to the Palestinian nation, then at the very least moral reparation, an admission of past crimes, and a sincere apology. Before such is achieved, any peace talks are an insult to the memory of all the innocents who died, in countless Israeli military operations since 1948.

There are many well meaning Palestinian patriots who rejected Oslo, some where bullied to accepting it later, at least tacitly; others were pushed to the sidelines. The rise of Islamic militant movements across the Muslim and Arab world overshadowed the national nature of the Palestinian struggle. This has led me to think that the militant theologically driven Islamic movement rose to prominence only with clandestine US assistance for the sole purpose of undermining the Arab national struggle. This is not as far fetched as some might think. The only threat to Israel was a competing nationalism that was equally determined, dedicated and focused. The fact that the top leaders of the Palestinian national struggle included Christian Palestinians was even more disconcerting for the US. The more sympathy the Palestinian cause got in the 60s and 70s and into the early 80s, the harder it was to dehumanize the Palestinian as a violent and alien creature. Islamic extremists with long beards, on the other hand, could more easily be portrayed as the brutal enemy that needed to be crushed.

The fact is Palestinians, like any people on this planet, do not relish war and conflict, but are rather thrust in the middle of it. We are in a fight for national survival and recognition as our unique national identity is being undermined, our right to the land of our forefathers is being questioned and denied. The first thing that needs to be reexamined and reaffirmed is national identity. Its not done through folklore alone, or taking part in cultural events, but it is achieved through living the struggle for national identity every day and in every context. The struggle does not need to be a violent one, and it can manifest itself in many ways. Above all, we must never forget who we are, we must never be bitter about the past, or about how others treat us. How people behave towards you based on mindless stereotyping is their problem not yours.

The militant left, the PFLP, for example, was among the most successful groups in the 70s when it came to direct action, its strength lay in knowing what it was fighting for, that it was part of a global class struggle. Muslim militants have their own reason for fighting, just as compelling. None of them have Palestine as their sole focus, only a resurgent Palestinian national movement can achieve that focus. When you show your enemy inner strength, a battle becomes almost unnecessary. Only then can we go to the peace table united, only then will Israel respect us, only then will the world listen.