Palestine Youth Voice

Blog moved!

2011-09-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

Please be aware that i have moved my blog to a new location
http://palestineyouthvoice.wordpress.com

Thank You!

Spring Flowers Withering

2011-08-29T05:19:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-08-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-13T10:34:00.001-07:00

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

2011-08-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-20T02:40:00.000-07:00

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

A historic announcement by Abbas?

2010-09-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

West Bank and Gaza President Mahmoud Abbas leaked to the press that he will be making a historic announcement on the 4th of October in the meeting of the Arab League Peace Committee.

Now everyone is waiting for that announcement. Not me anyways. A year ago he claimed many times that he will make historic announcements from resigning to declaring the PA state to others. None of which came through.

Before they got into the proximity talks, PA said that it will not happen unless Israel announces a total settlement freeze in the West Bank including Jerusalem. Ofcourse none of that happened and they still got in the proximity talks. Netanyahu went up on stage to announce a settlement freeze that excludes East Jerusalem. It also excluded building in West Bank settlements of synagogues, schools, kindergartens and public buildings. And also another 3,000 housing units. Regardless of the fact that settlers continued building behind that, I don't see how frozen was the settlement activities. Seems to me like a settlement activities plan not a settlement activities halt. But anyways the result was that PA decided to enter the proximity talks.

A month or 2 before that he was hinting that he is left with no choice but to resign. He didn't. Maybe he just figure the Palestinians will get lost without him. He's our GPS system.

Then again, PA announced that the proximity talks was a failure. They claimed that they will not get into direct talks unless settlements construction is halted. But sure enough, they still resumed direct talks. And sure enough they went back to announcing that no progress is made and threatened to withdraw from talks.

The PA talks the talk but never walks the walk.

Back to Abbas' "historic statement". Let's drop down to the table some guesses. Is he going to resign? Is he going to announce the withdrawal from the talks? or is he going to "declare" a state within the 1967 borders? Or is he going to sign a reconciliation agreement?

Well, Is he going to resign? I'm not sure he's allowed to take that step. But who knows! If he did that means PA will need new elections. And new elections means that they have to sign a reconciliation agreement with their counterparts in Gaza. For the past weeks, reconciliation seems to be closer than before. That might be a sign for elections coming up. But why would anyone care. Best case scenario, this means that we will replace a Coke with a Pepsi. Both make you lazy and give you headache. Maybe one would just seem to taste better for some than the other.

Is he going to declare the state? Well, Mitchell is here. Ashton is following. And some reports talked about Obama's willingness to recognize the state on the 1967 borders. Is anything being cooked in the kitchen? We have to wait and see. But so what?

Is he going to announce his withdrawal from the talks? Will they've been threatening and threatening. Egyptian Abu Elgheit "predicted" that they will. In talks or out of talks, anyone noticed any difference? Will the only difference that we might notice is that Winter is knocking on our doors. A drop of temp. next week after a the heat wave.

Or maybe he's satisfied with signing a reconciliation agreement. As I said, this means we will have both the Pepsi and the Coke in our fridge.

Call me crazy, but this is not really my idea of a historic announcement. My idea of a historic announcement would be more like, "we are dismantling the PA". "We are following American and European lead, the same way they ended occupations on their lands and got back their rights, it worked, we might want to give it a try". "We don't want a to state solution, we're seeking a one-state solution."

And I like to always repeat the same question to the negotiaters. Are you seeking peace? or are you seeking a 2-states solution?

The Arab follow-up committee has postponed the meeting for the 6th of October. They're making us wait 2 more days. I hope it's worth the waiting. Do I think it is? No, I honestly don't. But as they continue their play, I feel like screaming this out loud. "Anyone interested in talking to me? I've lost a house and a land. I've lost an identity. I wish to get that back." We waited long enough. But if you think I should wait until you finish the stuff you got in your hands. After the shippment of the red carpet taht will be rolled to the elite to claim their salutes. I will wait.

Do me a favour, don't make me wait long enough. I might have a personal historic actions of my own.

Palestinians already have a homeland

2010-06-13T02:45:00.000-07:00

Palestinians are not desperate for a homeland, they already have one. Palestinians want to go back to their homeland.

After his meeting with President Abbas, a meeting meant to difuse calls to punish Israel on its flotilla massacare, President Obama came out to pretend he understands it all. Obama came out to say: "It is time for us to go ahead and move forward on a two-state solution that will affirm the needs of Israeli citizens and will affirm the needs of Palestinian -- Palestinians who are desperate for a homeland."

Obama is desperate for a two-states solution not for peace. But never mind, all former American Presidents were committed to the same concept, a two-states solution to guarantee the legitamizing of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. They never discuss a solution for peace. They always discuss a solution for a two-states solution. Regardless of all that, Obama and his predecessor have always thought we are desperate for a homeland. I wonder who gave them this idea. Preseident Obama - we are not people who were massacared somewhere in Europe or America and we immigrated all the way to this land looking for a homeland because we don't like our previous homeland anymore. We do have a homeland. Our homeland is here. My homeland is Haifa. Our homeland is Akka, Haifa, Yafa, Safad, Bisan. Our homeland is Palestine. Remember Palestine. Maybe if you ask the British they'll tell you. Ask them about the land that they mandated in the early 20th century. Ask them where it is. The 27,000 km square land, Palestine.

Dear Mr. Obama - we are not Americans. Americans consider their place of residency as their homeland. We are Arabs. We are Palestinians. Our homeland is the land that our ancestors have built and grew shedding sweat and blood. Our homeland is Palestine.

Sure some Palestinians who still live on their land in the West Bank and Gaza are fed up with the rest of us and want a political entity. You can work on that. You can solve their problem. But you better know that you are not solving the issue here. You will be deviating 30% of Palestinians out of the equation, but the rest of us are still waiting to get back home.

President Obama - I do understand that the interest of the American people is to control the region with the zionist presence, but please do understand that the interest of the people in the region is to end zionism.

So please do not copy the zionist slogan "a land without a people for a people without a land". This land is called Palestine. With three Political entities "Gaza, West Bank, and Israel" but it's called Palestine.

Dear Obama - We DO have a homeland.

We Should Stop Commemorating 'Nakba' (Cnt'd)

2010-06-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

Continuation of Part 1: http://palestineyouthvoice.blogspot.com/2010/05/we-should-stop-commemorating-nakba.html
We have a growing movement of peach activism that operates in several parts of the West Bank (and lately in Gaza Strip). Though such a movement is important, this movement has been quite useless. Not because of its entity but because of its system. I passed by an area in Bethlehem that witnesses a weekly protests that includes international and Palestinian activists. Unfortunately, I happen to be there on week day not a Friday. The work on the apartheid wall is continuous with no interruption. What is the point of the Friday protests then? To voice concerns to governments? Governments already know what's happening. If any government world wide wanted to speak up they would've done it long time ago. Life is choices, and they chose to be silent. More over, in some areas, especially Ni'lin, these 'peaceful' protests turns in just 5 minutes into protests that are far from peaceful. You can raise a hand for peace, but you need to protect this hand from being cut.

Protests in Sheikh Jarrah are silencing day by day. After all the weeks of protests, the result is many more families to add to the long list of Refugees and homeless, and huge steps closer for the Sheikh Jarrah to be completely ethnic cleansed of its original inhabitants. Silwan is next. Maybe after the demolitions of several houses there, protesters will head to Yasmine Neighbourhood in Silwan to practice another weeks of protests. The final words comes from the politicians who would probably tell you 'tough luck, it's not feasible to undo what's done'. We should prove to them that it's not feasible to preserve what's done.

The local organizers, rather than recruit members of the international community to hold signs of protests, they should recruit the Palestinians into a mass civil disobedience movement. The Palestinians, especially the youth, should rise up and take control of the situation. They should be part of it. We should not wait for others, with all do respect and appreciation to them, to come and advocate for our case. The disobedience should bycottall aspects of life the Israeli army has forced into us. We should issue our own identity cards and tear down those provided to us by the Occupation. The run after a state of our own should stop now. We should limit our requests in any political talk to the return of the refugees. What would a Palestinian State solve? The refugees will always be refugees. We did not ask loose a state to struggle for one now.

The Palestinians and those who support them outside should tour refugee camps and start collectig Data on refugees hometowns and lands. We can't advocate for a cause without having the facts on papers. We all know the names of the towns that were ethnic cleanses in 1948. But we need to know the names of the refugees that awaits to return to those lands. To advocate for UN-resolution 194, we need to present our case with the names of the refugees that are ready to practice the right of the return. We should present it with the exact amount of compensations they're entitled for, AFTER they return.

The law of return is useless withour returnees. We can't keep going in loops we should break that loop and move forward. We have to protect our principles and ideas. But we should present facts. We should use these facts to operate on the ground. Refugees should stop their daily life activities and peacefully march towards their towns. Who is going to stop them? The Arab government who wants them gone? Yes the Israeli government will use force against those unarmed peaceful civilians who will be practicing their right of the return as stipulated in UN reslutions. But wait a second, the Israeli army uses this force daily against all Palestinians and the International protestors. If we loose martyrs in that march and we keep on marching til we're back, it's better than loosing lifes on daily basis with no results. We just make it easy for the occupation.

Urgent call to bring to justice: The NaZionist Murderers and War Criminals

2010-06-01T05:44:00.001-07:00

Authentic world orthodox Jewry decries unequivocally the cold blooded slaughter carried out by the blood thirsty Hitlerist and Nazi-like occupation forces against innocent peaceand freedom-loving civilians, on ships in international waters bearing humanitarian aid for our brethren the Palestinian residents of Gaza. They are being punished for their sole transgression: compassion on our Palestinian brethren who are confined in a closed ghetto in Gaza city; an explicitly illegal act which breaches in a serious and terrible manner basic human rights and international law.

We call hereby upon all world leaders and all enlightened countries, guarantors and
advocates of justice and integrity, to use all available means to abolish the Zionist state and to exclude them from international law, and to annul their membership in the United Nations, and we demand that the Zionists NDF (Nazi Defense Forces) are brought to judicial court in Hague for war criminals.

We find it imperative to clearly declare and define that the State of “Israel” has no
relationship with the Authentic Jewish people, they have no proprietary right to any slice or clod of soil of the holy land; they do not represent the Jewish people; and they have no right to speak in their name. Their domineering of the holy land through the strength of their murderous tactics is in direct opposition to the Torah law, given to us on Mount Sinai. They profane the holy land with their abominations and slaughters; the holy Torah strictly and explicitly forbids any Jewish rule over the holy land.

We express our profound condolences to the families of the murdered innocents, as well as our heartfelt wishes for speedy recoveries to all those wounded by the Nazi-like occupation forces: may Heaven send you complete and swift healing.

We pray to G-d for the quick redemption of the Palestinian nation and her leaders from the hands of the Nazi-like beasts of prey. We hope for the great day when Palestinian rule shall be restored over the entire holy land, with its capital in Al Kuds, the Na-Zionists will be driven from the holy land by G-d’s hand, and we will merit the prophets’ promise of the revelation of His kingship over the entire world, and all peoples will serve Him in unity.

Signed in pain and in anger,
Rabbi Meir Hirsh
Neturei Karta, Palestine
www.nkusa.org -- info@nkusa.org

We Should stop Commemorating 'Nakba'

2010-05-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

As Palestinians get ready to mark their catastrophe, we are less excited about the activities as we were last year and the year before. We could draw the whole series of events of this day before they happen. Demonstrations, sit downs, words and some more words, that's all about this day. In all innocence, a friend told me "why do you guys still commemorate "Al-Nakba", move on!" And at that point it struck me. What the hell are we doing?

Since the day of my birth, I witnessed more than 20 Nakba commemoration. Each one of them was an exact copy of the other. I heard people arguing that it's how we keep it alive in our minds and the minds of our children and the world. But I figured out that we're just hiding. We hide by coming up. By demonstrating and talking, we are running away from our duties.

The Jewish around the world started marking the day of the 'Holocaust' after they brought those responsible to courts. Since the first day of the Holocaust, every year after they planned to make it stop. They didn't mark it. They worked on ending it. And when it ended they started marking that day to keep it awake in the minds of their children. It worth noting here that the State of Israel does mark it for a completely different reason. They mark it as a political tool to build on their massacres without being questioned.
People marks the end of disasters not their beginnings. You celebrate the beginning of a good thing. People celebrate the day of their independence, the days of their victories. The beginnings are celebrated. But we should mark the end of a disaster.

We should stop running away from our fears. We should face our catastrophe. We should start planning on the day our Nakbeh. Start planning on how to end it. We should sit down and talk about our plans to go back home to our land. We should rally for our freedom not for our catastrophe.

Today we are just a year closer to freedom than we were last year. We're tired of counting up years. We want to start counting down years. Let's set down and discuss our options.

Armed Resistance and Politics

2010-02-28T04:35:00.000-08:00

For a long time, I have been thinking about the words by an old wise Chinese man who said that politics is a necessary tool to harvest the fruits of war or a resistance. I was puzzled on how could we practice that on ground. Should politics and armed resistance walk side by side? Or one should follow the other? I've always believed in armed resistance, but I've also known that politics is needed.

After years of thinking and while standing on the top of one of the Galilee mountains, I finally came to a conclusion. In short, I believe that the armed resistance is meant to force the enemy to recognize the rights of the oppressed. Politics and negotiations role is to achieve the rights, or the maximum possible, after they're recognized.

Alot of our leaders talked about the relations between both. But they only did that to excuse their hang on to one of them. They never could explain the role of each. In our case, the armed resistance didn't achieve anything because politics came in too early in our struggle. And politics never achieved anything because the enemy never recognized our rights yet. On the contrary, they still persist and call on expelling the rest of us from our land. We should not be negotiation on our rights. We should negotiate on how to achieve them after they've been recognized. Politics is the art of possibilities.

We should not confuse intellectual and cultural struggle with politics. Negotiations and politics are not forms of struggle. They are the fruits of the struggle. They harvest the fruits of our struggle.

We should not also confuse armed resistance and struggle with destruction and random wars. Armed struggle is meant to force the enemy to recognize our rights not to find the excuse to deny them.

The Palestinians must plan their struggle based on right foundations. We should recognize our mistakes and learn lessons from our past and past resistance all over the world.

A year of Obama's promises...

2010-01-20T11:16:00.000-08:00

A year has passed since the Obama's Inaugural speech. A year full of words and promises. The words and promises he made are enough to put presidential speech writers in America out of job to join the line of unemployment. But, it also create jobs for doers, if they exist. Let's take a look.

Inauguration Speech (January 20, 2009):

"We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan."

The U.S. is still as deep in Iraq as it was a year ago. No signs of leaving Iraq. Afghanistan lived yet another bloody year. 30,000 more American soldiers are being sent there.

"we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders"

The U.S. is still indifferent to the suffering of the Gazans. Or maybe they're really "not indifferent" they're part of this suffering, they support it. Last thing they did to ensure the suffering continues, they publicly supported the steel wall being built by Egyptians on the borders with Gaza to ensure that, besides weapons, no food, medicine or any type of goods would arrive to Gazans to help them survive the siege. Also, this will harm underground water. No food, no Water, nothing. He's really not being indifferent. Please be indifferent.

American organizations continue to fund settlements in the West Bank that participate in West Bankers sufferings. Please be indifferent.

Obama pledged 3 Billion Dollars of military support for the Israeli army that continues to violate every human right in Jerusalem, by expelling people forcefully and tearing down and occupying their houses, in West Bank with the daily incursions, capturing and murdering Palestinians in while naked asleep in their houses, in Gaza with the daily raids on civilians. The list goes long with the violent attacks on the peace activists to journalists. Obama, Please be indifferent.

Obama's remarks to State Department employees (January 22, 2009)

"First, I can say without exception or equivocation that the United States will not torture. (Applause.) Second, we will close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and determine how to deal with those who have been held there."

Torture still resumes in Guantanamo. No actions were taken to investigate the torture that took place there. The CIA was reported to train PA security forces on torturing Palestinian detainees in the Palestinians cells.

Guantanamo is still in business.

Cairo Speech (June 4th)

The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements...It is time for these settlements to stop.

US didn't do anything to stop the settlements. Settlement keeps on growing aggressively in the West Bank and Jerusalem. More over, the U.S. keeps on pressuring the Palestinian side to give up their demand of a complete settlement halt.

President Obama, you have not kept any promise. You have not made any action. Just tons of words and promises from the Inauguration speech to Turkey to Cairo to the UN and until today. Mitchell comes back today with less hope that anyone had a year ago. No progress was made on the promised peace. Only mor suffering to the Palestinians. Please stop promising. At least be indifferent. Not only you did not keep the promises to us, but also to your people. Americans are being treated with disrespect and humility on Israeli border posts and you took no action to protect them.

I assume the U.S. government does know that no promise was kept. That's exactly why the photo album (a highlight of Obama's first year in office) were photos remarks his speeches, nothing remarking any action.

A read on S.E. George Mitchell's recent interview with Charlie Rose

2010-01-09T06:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.charlierose.com/view/content/10796

Senator Mitchell Said:

“…10 months of no new start in the west bank…much much greater than any government asked…”

Senator Mitchell, you are overlooking the facts that these were words only. Settlement activities is continuing in the West Bank more furious from the day one of Netanyahu's announcement. The facts are not a secret and not hidden. The Israeli media have released several videos that shows the continuation of the settlement constructions in the West Bank mainly on Saturday nights. Minister Barack has publicly approved hundreds of new units in the West Bank settlements.

Even without all that, Netanyahu excluded 4000 new units in the West Bank and other service buildings. This amount by itself is unconstructable in the 10 Months. They've had their hands full and it's busy at it is already.

“…understand the different prospective…for the Israelis what they’re building in is part of Israel…the Israelis will not stop construction in E. Jerusalem they don’t regard that as a settlement because they think it’s part of Israel…they’re disputed legal issues”

Seems that you tend to understand the Israeli's prospective. How about the Palestinian prospective. They're launching attack on Israel that is established on their own land that was annexed in 1948. Not only facts and Palestinian prospective says so, but also UN resolutions recognizes that this is their land and their homes and they should have the right to return to. So Palestinians will not stop fighting and launching attack on Israel because they don't regard that as Israel they regard it as Palestinian Arab lands. Palestinians don't THINK it's an Arab land, they know it is, and the UN recognizes that by recognizing their right to return. At least, you may also find that as a "disputed legal issue".

“The Israelis have a state…a very successful state...they want security…the Palestinians don’t have a state and they want one.”

Whether Israelis have a "very successful state" or not, this is something that people living under that state will disagree with you on, especially the 20% Palestinians living under the Israeli state who are treated with discrimination and racism.

Th Palestinians do not want a state. Mr. Abbas and Mr. Fayyad wants one? I agree. West Bankers and Gazans want one? maybe if you want to believe so. But what about 80% of the Palestinian who are refugees and want to go back to their homes. Why would a refugee from Akka want a state on other Palestinians land. He has no right in such a state to start with. He just want to go back home. Remember, Palestinians are not only West Bankers and Gazans, and they're not only the pro-PA in the West Bank and Gaza.

“The Israelis have taken steps…”
I'm sorry come again. What steps? Let's figure out what steps they have taken in the past couple of month only. More houses in Jerusalem being destroyed or roped. More innocent civilians being murdered in the West Bank and Gaza. More Mosques and religious places being torched or attacked. More Jerusalemites being expelled from their City. More lands being roped and settlements being built. and the list go on.

again what steps?

“Barack is an outstanding leader…”

I don't know about that, but I'm sure he's an outstanding war hero. His numbers talks for themselves. 1387 (1419 on other stats) Gazans murdered in just 3 weeks (according to Israeli reports 1021 of them are civilians, 230 of them are children - according to other reports 318 are children and 111 women) 5300 injured including 1600 children.

In Lebanon 2006, in 33 days. He murdered 1300 civilians, 4400 injured.

Of course, this is talking about human causalities since the summer of 2006 in only a total of 55 days. Impressive!!

What an outstanding leader.

“Fateh believes in non-violence and negotiation Hamas believes in violent resistance and the destruction of Israel”

Well, Fayyad is not Fateh, Abed Rabbo is not Fateh. Abbas is Fateh I'll give you that. But not all Fateh members agree with Abbas. Let me remind you that the most popular Fateh figure lies in the Israeli prisons because he believes in the armed resistance or "violent" resistance as you wish.

You are deceived to think that Hamas believes in the violent resistance. Hamas' ambitions are exactly like those of the PA's. It's just the chairs. And if you go back a year and 2 years ago, I'm sure you will notice that Haniyeh and Mishal repeatedly agreed on the 67 border and "peaceful" negotiations.

Also, let me remind you that the Orthodox Jews around the world calls for the destruction of Israel. "http://www.nkusa.org/"

“this will send the message that the violent resistance paid off…it will lead others around the world to seek more hostages”

well, yes the "violent" resistance has paid off. It was the only way that resulted in the release of the Lebanese prisoners. And it was the only way that led to the release of many Arab prisoners in the past. Did any other way work. I don't think so. The "negotiations" led to only more prisoners being captured, around 11,000 prisoners are now in the Israeli prisons. Many of them are children and women. And many other are elected parliament members and ministers. Not mentioning the human rights activists who practice the non-violence resistance. Do the names of Abu Rahma, Jumaa and Othman ring a bell. Yes these 3 human rights non-violent activists were prisoned in the past months, besides the other non-violent activists of course.

“…they want a Jewish state a position that we support”

Well again, Jewish do not want a Jewish state. Why would you support the Zionist on building a Jewish state. And if 20% of the citizens of "Israel" are Palestinians, how democratic is that? Unless you encourage religious states and extremists, which am sure you don't.

Good luck Senator Mitchell in your efforts. Although we see these efforts as useless and unintentionally misleading, but we still appreciate the efforts you put.

Happy New Year Palestine!

2010-01-01T07:59:00.000-08:00

A new year has knocked on our doors. A year that will just be another witness on our suffering and heroism resistance of the Occupation. At the time when many people here does not see it as a "happy" new year, we argue the opposite. They see it as an extra year of occupation; we see it as one year less in the age of the occupation. They see it as another year of the suffering for the Palestinians; we see it as another year of a heroic resistance. A graffiti on the apartheid wall always reminds us "to exist is to resist".

Fellow Palestinians:

Exist! Exist on the land of your fathers. Keep on existing in the legend of Palestine, a legend of resistance, heroism and existence. No one will uproot us from Palestine. And as we enter a new year, remember that, even though some of us feel powerless in the face of this ruthless occupation, our persistence on our principles is the key to our freedom. Don't be driven to extremism. Most importantly DO NOT bow to what they call moderation. Fighting for your principles is not extremism. We will not surrender our rights to be accepted by others. They want us to accept them the way they are; then, they MUST acknowledge our rights. Our right to return, our right to freedom.

Our peace is our return. Their peace is our uprooting. We will fight for our peace. We will EXIST; we will RETURN. We will celebrate this year, and next year and every holiday coming, to prove to them that we still exist. They will never succeed to steal our dignity. They will never succeed to steal our happiness. And they will never succeed to steal our souls.

Fellow Palestinians:

Get out and celebrate. We're celebrating our existence and their failure. Our tears will freeze into Icebergs that will crush their Zionist project. As much tears they make us drop, it will just make that Iceberg bigger and bigger. The iceberg that sank the legendary "Titanic" is nothing compared to this one.

Happy New Year Palestine.

Merry Christmas from the Haganah (a.k.a. Israeli Defense Forces)

2009-12-26T02:19:00.000-08:00

They never fail to wish Palestinians a happy holidays every year. Their gift to us is always generous. The terrorist Anti-Semitic organization "Haganah" (a.k.a. Israeli Defense Forces) executed 3 Palestinians in Nablus and another 3 in Gaza. To be fair to them, they did not discriminate against either the West Bank or Gaza. They decided the pain has to be equal on either parts.

The Haganah is the terrorist organization that lead the Zionist massacres and ethnic cleansing against the Arab Palestinians in Palestine. After the declaration of the Zionist state, Israel, this terrorist organization formed what is now known as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Though changed its name, this organization kept its values. The values of murder and destruction. A value shared between them and Al-Qaeda. The values are the same and so are the victims.

Palestinian armed men decided to take justice into their own hands. Palestinian men shot dead a Zionist Anti-Semitic criminal. The Zionist criminal is a member of the terrorist Anti-Semitic settlers movement, murdering civilians, roping their lands, and burning their religious places. The Israeli authorities refused continuously to bring these criminals to Justice. I wouldn't blame them. These terrorists are on the front line of their inhuman Anti-Semitic Zionist project.

The Palestinian Authority, an entity formed by the Israeli State, hurried to detain Palestinian men in an effort to look for the Palestinian men involved in the shooting. The PA was not given time to continue these efforts. In less than 24 hours, IDF terrorist organization invaded Nablus, executed 3 Palestinian men. The "ethical" IDF refused but to enforce equality; thus, their air crafts executed another 3 Palestinian civilians in Gaza Strip. You decorate your trees in Gold and Red, and they decorate your land and conscience with the same colors, Gold (Fire) and Red (Blood).

Dear Palestinians, Dear Arabs, Dear Humanity,

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the Israeli Defense Army.
--------------------

A video of members of the terrorist Anti-Semitic settler movement that the shot criminal (settler) belongs to.

Settlers: We killed Jesus, and we are Proud of it.

Are We Anti-Semitic?

2009-12-20T09:17:00.000-08:00

Since the end of the World War II, the world have learnt of a new term called "Anti-Semitism". To be more accurate, they have used it, but never learnt why. Every one who insults or criticizes a person following Judaism is accused of being Anti-Semitic. The reason doesn't matter. I asked a friend of mine, who used this term alot, why do you refer to anything against a Jewish as "Anti-Semitic"? Do you know what does it mean? She stumbled with her own tongue, so I threw a saviour for her and asked her about her favourite wine. I find it astonishing that those same people who are committed to this term cannot give me an answer for that question. This commitment grew stronger after the Nazi's holocaust against Judaism, Slavic race, homosexuals, Polish, and others referred to by the Nazis as "The Others". The Zionist movement, consisting of members who were not the victims of that holocaust, picked it up and used it in their propaganda. The first victims were the survivors of this holocaust. Their pain and suffering was taken advantage of by the ruthless Zionists. I find it astonishing as well that the Jews, the survivors of the holocaust, did not repel against these Zionists. In contrast, they worked side by side with them to accomplish their crimes against humanity, expelling 80% of the Palestinians from their lands, massacring hundreds of thousands of Arabs, and committing one of the worst, if not THE WORST, crime against humanity.

I will tell you why do you use this term. At the establishment of the modern Zionist movement, Zionists were eager to prove that all the Jews in the world are one nation. I say modern because the first Zionist movement was established centuries before that "a Protestant Zionist Movement". That's not true. Maybe all the European and American Jews are the descendants of the same race. Herzl, the father of Zionism, had to gather the Jews of the world. After overlooking Argentina as the target for his Zionist state, Herzl settled for the land of Palestine. Thus, he tried to convince the world that the Jews of the world are all the descendants of the Sons of Israel. The sons of Israel are historically the descendants of Shem the son of Noah. And that's the root of the term "Semitic". The fact that the world ignore is that the Sons of Israel were one of the Arabic tribes back in the centuries. The Arabs are all the descendants of Shem the son of of Noah. Isn't it ironic that the most people accused for being Anti-Semitic are Semitic!

This brings us to the questions, are all the Jews the descendants of the Sons of Israel? Are they a nation?

If i was to be born now with no knowledge, I'll find it difficult to believe that these people of different ethnic backgrounds are one nation. Are Muslims a nation? Are Christians a nation? I don't think so. I can believe that the Arab Jews are the descendants of the Sons of Israel, if not they're sure the descendants of other Arabic tribes. They share the same racial characteristics as the Arab community. The Ashkenazim, European Jews, still discriminate against them, the Sephardim, till this day. This is normal, since the Ashkenazim are of a different race.

Before the establishment of the Russian Emperor in the 9th century, a strong kingdom ruled mid Asia and parts of Eastern Europe. The ruthless Kingdom of Khazar brought hatred from all the nations they occupied. For several reasons, the atheist King of Khazar converted to Judaism; thus, his people followed his footsteps as it was common back in the days. After its establishment, the Russian Emperor launched a fatal attack against the Kingdom of Khazar, expelling the Khazar from their homes to settle in Ghettos in many parts of Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia. These Khazar came to be known today as the Ashkenazim.

It's very ironic that non-Semitics are on the lead of accusing Semitics, Arabs, of being Anti-Semitic. How long would it last before the world learn about this irony? How long will it take them to discover this naivety.

What is our Right?

2009-12-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

For the past 15 years, the Palestinian leaders have been calling for an independent political entity called the Palestinian state on the land of the West Bank and Gaza. Shockingly, Palestinian refugees have been part of that political struggle.

The Zionist movement, after establishing it's political entity "State of Israel" over 79% of the land of Palestine in 1948, did not take away from the Palestinians a political state. In fact, they robbed the Palestinians from their homes and land. They expelled, using terrorism, 80% of the Palestinian population. Throughout the history, the Palestinian people, living on the holy land of Palestine, never established an independent political entity. This land and its people have always lived under the control of other regional entities.

Political entities became the subject of the civil movements throughout the world after World War II. A political entity serves as a protector of people's interests and their resources on a specific geographical area. Nonetheless, a group of refugees settling away from their homeland have no right of such entity. Although they share the same ethnic backgrounds with the people of several neighbour countries, the people of the geographic area called Kosovo have struggled for their right of an independent political entity to protect the interest of its people. They did not start this struggle until they achieved the goals of a previous struggle against the expulsion and ethnic cleansing by the Serbian Regime in the 90's.

The West Bank and Gaza Strip are not "The Occupied Palestinian Territories", rather they are "Occupied Palestinian Territories". The Palestinian right is the right of the return, the return to the same lands and homes they were expelled from. This right, besides being a collective right, is also an individual right. Every Palestinian expelled from his home has the right to return to his home in Palestine. Besides being a right protected by UN resolutions, this is an ethical humanitarian right. Palestinians who did not get expelled from their lands and homes in the West Bank and Gaza have the right to call for an independent entity that protect the interest of its people; thus, dropping off their shoulders the burden of the Palestinian struggle. Thus, this does not give them or anyone the right to take away from the Palestinian refugees the right of the return.

The right of a political entity could be achieved using peaceful political resistance exclusively. Nonetheless, the right of the return should be struggled using every available tool and could not and should not be limited to the political resistance.

I chose to run the track of the Palestinian right of the return, but I would not oppose the right of any Palestinian to step off that track. Palestinians, who chose the path of the Palestinian state on the lands of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, are and will always be my brothers and sisters that I love.

The Youth Should Take the Lead

2009-12-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

Throughout a prosperous history of justice revolutions, the youth has shaped the backbone of every successful revolution. The energy, creativity and ambition of the youth has ignited these revolutions.

More than 40 years ago, the new generation of youth, those who were expelled from their homes 20 years earlier, has placed the first cornerstone of the Palestinian modern revolution. This revolution, although faced by obstacles from within often, operated as a "defibrillator" that contributed to reviving the Palestinian cause. The first "baby steps" taken by these ambitious youth quickly grown up to giant steps. These giant feet has grown heavier over the next 40 years that it was incapable of stepping forward. The only stepping it took were steps to crush the justice rights of an oppressed people. "Ourself behind ourself, concealed it should startle most."

A 20 years old Palestinian revolutionist has grown to a 60 years old negotiator. The Palestinian modern revolution has failed in achieving its goals. Thus, these youth, who are now seniors, seek new goals, goals that have been oddly created to replace the crushed once. An insecurity about a failed mission played a role in the rejection of a new pure duplicated youth generation to that existed at the early stage of revolution.

Should the revolution duplicate itself over generations? Should it revise the previous strategies? Should it carry the torch from the previous generation? Or should it innovate new tactics?

Answer to above questions are not important at the point. What's important is for the seniors to step back and hand the torch to the new youth to carry on. The success of a generation does not mean necessarily the failure of another. Rather the success should be based on the lessons learned from stumbles of previous experiences. What's left for the modern Palestinian revolution is an honourable epilogue. The success of a previous revolution is depending on the success of the next. The lessons provided to next revolution is a scale of that success. This is a contribution necessary to the achieving of the justice rights.

A senior is unlikely to give a way for an enthusiastic youth seen as inexperienced. The youth should take the lead. Taking the lead does not mean marginalizing the senior, rather learning from them and engaging them. The seniors should be engaged in the aspirations of the youth and relieved of their actions. No one will give you the lead if you don't take it. No one will give you respect if you don't ask for it. No one will give you the torch if you don't set a track for your run.

The youth should take the lead.