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Spring Flowers Withering

The Arab spring was a tsunami that invaded the area. 3 Arab presidents are down so far. None of the Arab regimes are down yet. The Bahraini revolution was shut down by America’s ally Saudi Arabia. It was buried in the closet and no one talked about it again. The Yemeni and Syrian regimes are still Standing.Algeria, Morocco, Jordan and the Arab Gulf countries managed to build a high dam in front of the tsunami waves of the Arab spring. What’s happening? Did the flowers that flourished in the Arab spring wither in the summer? What’s happening in Syria? Is it still a revolution or a conspiracy?

We were the first to stand in support of the Syrian youth revolution from the first days. Even though all the Palestinian factions decided to not take sides, we took the side of the Syrian people. The Syrian youth certainly stood up to get rid of the dictatorship ruthless regime that ruled them for decades. They wanted to open the doors of a prosperous free Syria. But Syria’s freedom is a danger to an anti-freedom apartheid neighboring state.

May 2011 in Al-Manara Square. Palestinian Youth supporting the Syrian Revolution

The image of the peaceful revolution has become vaguer day by day. The Syrian regime has been talking about militias interference. It could be doubtful. It could be the commanders executing the soldiers who refused to follow orders. But this has been going on for more than 5 months. The videos that come out from Syria through social media are even vaguer. We see videos of demonstrations without noticing any presence of the Syrian security forces. And then in separate videos we see images of the victims. Footage of the connection between the first and the latter is almost non-existing. Then what is really happening? I directed that question to a friend in Syria, one of the Syrian youth. She said that the youth are still there. But she also confirmed that militias are also there.

The Egyptian revolution had an address, Tahrir square. The youth have publicly announced their demands for all. Even opposition parties who tried to ride the wave failed. They could not take any steps that were not acceptable in Tahrir square. Where is the Syrian’s revolution address? What are the exact public demands other than over throwing the regime? Does the Syrian opposition represent the youth demands? The opposition has easily ridden the wave of the Syrian revolution. Farid Ghadry, a Syrian oppositionist in the US, has publicly announced his relations with Israel. Even the Muslim brotherhood oppositionists have not been aligning with the Syrian public opinion regarding a very sensitive topic, the Golan Heights and relations with Israel. What is the address of the Syrian revolution? The Syrian youth must take a real action to protect their revolution.

We are yet to see one of the revolutions to succeed. Warnings from early celebrations were not taken seriously. The Egyptian and Tunisia revolutions are deteriorating. Libyans are celebrating the capture of Tripoli early. But is that it for NATO? Are they backing out or are they preparing the pretext for a larger intervention in Libya? In Yemen, the US is working hard to protect Ali Abdallah Saleh’s regime. The Yemeni rebels should take brave steps to save the most beautiful revolution of the Arab spring. Bahrain’s revolution is yet to find its way out of the closet. And the Arab Spring Tsunami should revive as thunders in a new Arab Winter. This winter will hopefully water the flowers that will flourish once more beautiful than ever.

Olive Revolution: We'll keep on going!

Palestinian youth have marched today to knock on the doors of Jerusalem. They marched to knock down the apartheid on their land. And under the title of "Olive Revolution" it was. Palestinians denied entry to Jerusalem held their Friday prayers in front of the military checkpoints.

In the morning, the presence of the PA security forces was exceptional. They were not present to protect the Palestinians from an Israeli attack. They were present to collaborate with the Israeli soldiers who were denying Palestinians the right to pray in Jerusalem on the last Friday of Ramadan. The image of a two Palestinians wearing their formal kaki uniform standing inches in front of the Israeli army, checking Palestinians IDs was very hurting.

The Palestinians denied from entering to Jerusalem held their prayers in front of the fully armed soldiers. After finishing their prayers, they stood up high chanting and screaming out loud. That loud voice that the Israeli brutality has failed to shut down.

Despite the few numbers of youth and activists present, it was a very hopeful scene. The demonstration gathered Palestinians from the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948. It gathered them all standing and screaming out loud, we're ONE PEOPLE. We fight for ONE CAUSE. Nothing will split us anymore.

The numbers of protesters were much lower than their numbers in the June 5th and May 15th marches, but the numbers actually standing face to face with the soldiers were higher. About 100 to 150 protesters were standing in the front line compared to the dozens in June 5th and May 15th.

The Palestinian tweeps were all present. They were all very courageous. They were not satisfied with their cyber presence. They went down to the street at the time others preferred to remain locked up in their rooms re-tweeting them. There are two kind of people, one that make history, other that follow it.

The youth who were standing there were the regulars in the popular resistance. The youth that keep coming week after week. Is it an addiction to the toxic gas? Maybe. But for sure they have an addiction to the act of freedom.

These young ladies whom I heard chanting in March 15, they're the same courageous ladies chanting weekly in Nabi Saleh, and again they're still the same ones who screamed the hell out of their vocal cords today. And week after week they bring more hope to me. These are the core of the revolution.

The revolution does not start with the masses. It starts with the few courageous. And it eventually triumph with the masses. But the revolution in Palestine have already started months ago. People will just start noticing it as it grows larger. It's like the Anemone in Palestine. It starts growing in winter but people start appreciating it in spring.

A courageous young lady screamed at the soldiers before we head home: "We don't fear you, and we will keep on coming." We certainly will. And the Olive Revolution will keep on going. Despite the enemies we'll come. Despite the attempts to frustrate us, we'll keep on coming. The revolution is not a must, it's a choice. We already made our choice. Alone or with the masses, we'll keep on marching towards our rights. If we don't succeed we at least have the honor of the attempt.

Long Live Palestine.

A solution for everyone

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been ongoing for decades. The climax of the conflict was when the newly born State of Israel expelled about 70 percent of the Palestinian population from their homeland.

After creating facts on the ground, world powers got involved politically. They started advocating a two-state solution. After 63 years and more facts on the ground, even the two-state solution is not applicable without land swaps.

The peace process since Oslo has been a failure because the core of the conflict is not a border dispute. The core of the conflict is the refugees and apartheid rules of the Zionist regime.

The two-state solution is unrealistic. And, let’s be honest, no one wants it.

The right-wing Israelis, the majority of the Israeli community, want all the land of historic Palestine. And it’s morally difficult for Palestinians to give up their rightful claims in the land of their fathers and ancestors. A refugee from Akka is Palestinian because Akka is Palestinian. It’s impossible for that refugee to say otherwise because then he won’t have an identity. He’ll just be an alien.

Politicians say the one-state solution is just a dream and it’s impossible. Most of them can't explain why. The only argument I heard on behalf of that claim is that demographically, it’s impossible for the refugees to return home. There’s no place for them. Let’s remember what’s important here is that humanitarian rights are achieved fully. A political solution should be based on the achievements of the rights -- not the other way around.

There’s a solution - we just have to think outside the box. A one-state solution that would include the historic land of Palestine and what’s now known as Jordan. This solution could be the answer for all the concerned parties in the conflict; the Zionists, the Palestinians, and the Jordanians.

The Jordanian monarchy was established in the early-mid 20th century. After being promised a united Arab kingdom, Abdullah was given a princedom based in Amman. This princedom has evolved to a kingdom due to the influx of Palestinians who were expelled from their homeland. In 1948, Jordan was happy to annex the West Bank to its territories before the disengagement in the 1980s.

The king would not have a problem with a one-state solution that includes both historic Palestine and Jordan if he was still the king. This would have to be an honorary position like in the UK.

As for the Zionists, their dream is to bring all the Jews around the world to the “promised land”. This dream is also shared by the Christian Zionists who strongly influence American foreign policy. This dream has failed and only a minority of the Jews today reside in the Holy Land, so ending the conflict is extremely crucial to this dream.

And the large one-state solution would provide a larger area that will enable the immigration of more Jews without any demographic conflict. Even the area of the current State of Israel poses a challenge to that dream.

But the refugee question is the core of the conflict. Most Palestinian refugees reside in Jordan. Thus, the large one-state solution would solve the issue without posing a demographic threat to the Jewish presence.

With an honorary king ruled by a parliament formed by the residents, equality could be applied to all citizens.

The right of the return would be achieved for all Palestinians. The Jews would be able to immigrate to their “promised land” peacefully, as opposed to the current form without the consent of Palestinians.

A kingdom could be answer for all the parties. The only ones who would not be happy about such a solution are the arms traffickers and warlords. But we can’t make everyone happy.

Co-Resistance vs. Co-Existence

For decades, many powers worked on portraying the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a problem of co-existence. Millions have been pumped into co-existence projects, projects that have just reinforced relations between the oppressor and the oppressed.

If any had had a little time to read history, they would know that Palestine was actually the land of co-existence for hundreds of years.

It’s the land that hosted the Armenians when they were massacred by the Turks. It’s the land that embraced the Jews who were oppressed in Europe. And the co-resistance that takes place daily here is a clear example that there isn’t any co-existence problem. The real problem is Zionism.

Zionism is not only the enemy of the Palestinians and Arabs, but also, the enemy of the Jews worldwide.

A lot of Jews who were born with Israeli citizenship have realized that Zionism and the Israeli regime is their enemy. It’s our common enemy. Thus, the trend of co-resistance has been evolving for years in Palestine. Jews carrying Israeli citizenship have been part of the popular resistance taking place in Palestine. Co-resistance is a danger to the state of Israel.

Even the mainstream media has been avoiding recognizing those activists as Israelis. The Israeli media refers to them as just “Anarchists”.

Co-resisting with Israeli citizens has been also a sensitive topic in the Palestinian community. A lot of activists fear to fall in the trap of normalization. The basis to this fear is true. The PA and its supporters tried on several occasions to counter Palestinian activists that diverted from the PA’s political path with rumors. They used the fact that Palestinian activists co-operate with their Israeli counterparts to spread distorted rumors of their involvement in normalization work. The involvement of the left Zionists in several demonstrations has added more vagueness to the issue.

We have to be open about the subject now more than ever. We have to set the standards for our co-resistance. Yes we do co-operate with the Jewish citizens of the State of Israel. But the standards of this co-operation are clear. We work together with every Israeli that opposes Zionism and fully recognizes the Palestinian rights, freedom, equality, and the right of the return.

Together with them we co-resist the Israeli occupation and the Zionist enemy. Together we call for the rights of the Palestinians that have been disregarded not only by Israel and western powers, but also by Arab regimes. Some Arab regimes have either prioritized their business interests or just simply lost belief in the possibility of achieving the full Palestinian rights. We still have the belief.

And those rights are indivisible. These are basic human rights. You either believe in it, or you don’t. Freedom, equality, and the right of the return.

As Zionism is also the enemy of the Jews, those Israelis have the right to resist it. Those activists are not only there for solidarity. It’s also their war. The Palestinians who try to portray the co-resistance as normalization have to first go down to the front line and resist. We have nothing to hide. Our work of co-resistance is under the sun. It’s not underground. And we oppose co-operating with the leftist Zionists who take part in demonstrations or call themselves peace activists.

Those left Zionists do not care about the Palestinian rights. They just understood that the occupations' and settlers’ practices will harm their Zionist dream, a dream that disregards the Palestinians from their rights in their homeland.

The State of Israel clearly does not speak for the Jews. Its practices have started a new wave of hatred towards the Jews worldwide. To help end that wave, the anti-Zionist Jews should file a lawsuit against the State of Israel to forbid it from speaking in the name of Jews. A lot of them have said it before, ‘Not in our name’. But this shout should be louder. And legal actions should be taken. The concept of co-resistance will continue to grow larger.

The anti-Zionist Israeli activists are heroes and their courage is admirable. Those activists have been marginalized in their own communities. They went through a lot of trouble. They have been always on the front lines. They have been beaten up, shot at, and arrested. They come week after week knowing that they put their own lives in danger. They do it because they have the belief, the belief in rights and humanity.

They have principles and for that I respect them a lot more than a lot of my people who have given up. Yes we co-operate with those activists. They’re our comrades. And this is co-resistance.

Our struggle is for rights not political solutions

The Palestinians have suffered violations of their basic human rights since 1948.

The core of the Palestinian – Zionist conflict was the expulsion of about 70 percent of Palestinians from their homeland. Besides that, violations to human rights and children rights occur on a daily basis in Palestine.

In 1994, after 46 years of the Nakba, or catastrophe, Palestinian leaders came close to compromising many of the Palestinians' rights by signing the Oslo Accords.

For 46 years before Oslo, Palestinian factions marginalized the participation of the Palestinians living in their homeland in the struggle. After Oslo, Palestinian leaders switched sides. Palestinians-in-exile were marginalized and Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza became the spinal cord in the new era of political negotiations.

For 17 years, the newly-formed Palestinian political body -- the Palestinian Authority -- has struggled in fruitless cycles of negotiations with the state of Israel. Oslo-affiliated business interests reined in any form of struggle for Palestinian rights.

Nonetheless, in the sunrise of the Arab spring, the sun has paved the way for the uprising of popular resistance for rights in Palestine that has been taking place for a long time. The non-military resistance in several Palestinian towns is building on the momentum of this Arab spring.

Palestinian youth, away from factions, started their movement in a series of demonstrations and a 40-day sit-in in Ramallah's Al-Manara square. A parallel movement took place in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The movement in the Gaza strip faced most difficulties. But after failing to hijack the youth movement in the West Bank, the Palestinian Auhority used several methods to disperse it, mainly because the youth movement called for a democratically-elected Palestinian National Council.

Last week, a member of Fatah Youth was still boasting that the PA sent the group to disperse the youth protesters. He expressed his annoyance that the PA failed to prevent protesters from setting up a tent in Al-Manara square.

The youth faced the difficulties and remained in Al-Manara for 40 days. After a series of hunger strikes and demonstrations, few accomplishments were achieved. Nonetheless, this gave hope to the Palestinian youth movement.

The first stage of the movement concluded with the signing of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement in Cairo on May 4. Although it seemed like an agreement on quotas rather than a real reconciliation, it energized the youth to move forward.

The second stage of the youth movement started on May 15. The youth diverted their full efforts against the occupation. May 15 witnessed the first Palestinian uprising to unite Palestinians in homeland and in exile.

Non-militarized demonstrations marched towards checkpoints and the Palestinian homeland. It was a beautiful scene of Palestinians marching peacefully towards their rights. This youth uprising on May 15 witnessed the first, though short-lived, return of refugees.

It was followed by another on June 5, when Palestinians factions abandoned their people in the West Bank, Gaza and in exile.

The resentment from the factions was clearest in exile refugee camps. There are over 20 Palestinian factions, and they were established to liberate Palestine. Factions are tools to liberate Palestine. After decades of struggle, the factions have failed to liberate any part of Palestine or to retain any Palestinian rights.

Therefore, it is time to move on to a united front. This particular argument is still being denied by faction-affiliated politicians and youth. They all use the same argument of the long history of struggle of these factions and their martyrs. This is clearly an over-used card now.

The next stage of our struggle will probably start after the UN bid for statehood in September. We know and the political leaders know that it will fail. Nonetheless, it will be the last nail in the coffin of decades of fruitless and destructive negotiations.

We want to make it clear: our struggle is not about political solutions, it is about rights -- the rights of return, equality and freedom.

Factions could continue to pursue their political agendas, but the youth have it clear in their minds more than ever before. We know that a lot of sacrifices must be made. Nonetheless, in the last three months it has been clear, at least for the occupation, that these youth are willing to make these sacrifices.

Despite the violence used on May 15, June 5 and weekly in Nabi Saleh and other fronts, we keep on coming week after week.

The state of Israel had a chance to kill Palestinians' rights if they had taken negotiations seriously. This chance is over now.

Over the next few months, the area will witness a strong united movement for Palestinian rights, a movement that is led by Palestinian youth in exile and in the homeland.

A Letter to Linah

In reply to her blog post: http://lifeonbirzeitcampus.blogspot.com/2011/06/unwanted-reaction-to-nabi-saleh.html

To Linah,

You’re part of us. We are part of you. Just wanted you to know that we all went through, and still do, the same with our parents. We understand the worries of our parents for their children. But our worry for Palestine is just greater. We understand very well that a lot of sacrifice has to be done. And we are ready to give these sacrifices. Our struggle is not for political solutions. Our struggle is for our rights. I for one have participated for the first time only in March 15. Not because I didn’t believe in the cause before that, but I just didn’t believe in the fruitless protests. I’ve been in hunger strike for 21 consecutive days (30 days in total) and slept on Al-Manara for more than 40 days. Not to get Hamas and Fateh to agree, but to unite the Palestinians here and in exile. That’s why our first demand was the PNC elections. The past 3 month of my life is more precious to me than the whole 25 years of my life. I met people that are the world to me. They’re not politicians they’re revolutionaries. The ladies who led the protests and the movement were an inspiration to me. I’ve witnessed first-hand the reason the word Freedom and the word resistance in Arabic are feminine.

We are still struggling. We see the light at the end of this dark tunnel. And we will reach there eventually. If we didn’t, having the honor of the attempt is enough for me. Other than the ladies, Abul Qasem El Shabbi was an inspiration to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzdDMQLAo5w

I’m aware of all the opportunists around us. But I for one have taken the decision. I had two choices. One is to sit home go to my work get rich and my world would be revolved around me. Or the second was to stand up and make my world revolve around Palestine. I chose the second. I believe that the movement I’m part of now may not achieve our rights. But for the past 3 months I lived proud like I never did. I loved Palestine like I never did. And for the first time in my life, I don’t have dreams at night of what can I do to free Palestine. I’m living that dream. This is the first step. But I’m living it.

I’ve never loved in my life. So I was always shocked to see what people in love do. They go through useless hell to be together. My love is Palestine. And I’m willing to sacrifice everything for it. At the end, it’s not about how you die. It’s about how you live. If I ever had children, I would want them to talk about my actions to their peers, not repeat my words blindly.

Dear Linah, I was honored to meet you in Nabi Saleh. You showed extreme courage there. Hope to see you in front lines more. If I don’t, I know, we all know that our backs are safe with people like you.

Hopefully sooner rather than later we would be reminiscing about this in a free Palestine.

The belief is all I got now. I couldn’t convince my parents, but I surely live in peace with myself. If I die tomorrow, I will know that I have nothing to regret.

Stay safe and strong.

Sincerely,

A Palestinian