http://www.qumsiyeh.org/thelaststepinliberation/
After I finished my last book on popular resistance in Palestine over the
past 130 years, I became 100% sure that political Zionism will fail and that
Palestinian refugees will return to their homes and lands. My certainty is
based on the lessons of history in Palestine and lessons from similar
struggles like South Africa, Vietnam, and Algeria. Some of the peculiarities
that will be critical for our success are:
- The incredible and inspiring history of the local popular resistance: The
subtitle of my book is "A history of hope and empowerment". Over 200 forms
of popular resistance are practiced including a wide spectrum of what we
call in Arabic Sumud. Resistance is the main thing that stood in the way of
the Zionist project. Five and a half million Palestinians still live in the
dreamed of "Eretz Yisrael".
- The logarithmic growth of the boycotts, divestments and sanctions
movement. In five years alone (2005-2010), we achieved more than what we
were able to achieve in BDS movements in South Africa from the 1950s to the
1980s.
- The unrest in in Algeria and Tunisia tell us that the era of backward
selfish undemocratic Arab leadership will (and must) come to an end. There
are tremendous intellectual resources in the Arab world that can then be
unleashed to build a vibrant society (at levels of culture, economics,
scientific, etc.)
- Despite the heavily censored/controlled mainstream media, people of good
conscience were and are able to get the truth out and many of the myths of
Zionism were demolished. The internet only accelerated this.
- The publication of the civil society call to action in 2005 and the
Palestine Kairos document in 2009 has given tremendous push to activism
around the world including in mainstream churches.
- The growth of International solidarity was unparalleled in history.
Despite the attempts by the Israeli authorities to stop this international
support by many methods (including refusing entry to many activists), the
movement only grows stronger. We went from few hundreds to tens of
thousands and from one ship to seven; and as many as 60 ships are coming to
break the siege on Gaza later this year.
- We are very proud and persistent people. The thriving art and culture
scene in Palestine and among Palestinian community in exile are a testament
to this spirit of a people who seek life and refuse to be dehumanized. We
do not and will not resort to the tactics of those who chose to be our
enemies. From Dabka to good food to other cultural traditions, Palestine
remained not only physically in our surroundings but deep in our hearts. We
developed the most educated populace in the region.
In Palestine, these and many other reasons increase our certainty in the
inevitability of a successful end to our decades of repression, colonization
and occupation. We faced, almost alone, the best-organized, best-financed,
most western-supported colonial enterprise in history. Rational human
beings see that the spread of fundamentalism is only fostered when Israel is
made an exception and is funded and protected while it flouts human rights
and International law. Zionists act to control and manipulate and we must
continue to calmly resist and refuse to be enslaved. We tell our stories
with dignity and we explain why this racist/tribalistic system is harmful to
all of humanity. We do it without hatred to any person but with anger and
hatred at the inhuman actions of a deluded few who think they can get away
with war crimes and crimes against humanity forever. People around the
world increasingly see the reality and join our struggle. I talk and show
reality in Bethlehem area to groups of visitors almost every day in
Palestine. I get invitations to speak abroad frequently but I chose to
limit such trips abroad because there is so much to do at home.
We speak to diverse groups sometimes to the consternation of puritans on all
sides. I spoke for example at colleges and schools in the US where the
majority of students and faculty were Jewish (e.g. Brandeis,
Manhattenville), I spoke at NATO defense college, at conservative Churches,
at synagogues and Jewish community centers, at editorial board meetings of
influential papers largely owned by Zionists, and we even spoke at a US
Naval Academy. In the West Bank I spoke to visitors ranging from Church
leaders, to US congressmen, to British Parliamentarians, to the US consular
officers, and even to Israeli academics. Some people especially on the left
balk at these events and some even openly criticized us for these kinds of
engagements. But if we are willing to speak to Israeli soldiers telling
them how they are committing war crimes by obeying orders and we manage to
occasionally (though rarely) touch a cord in the heart of our direct
oppressors, why can't we talk to all other human beings regardless of their
background. It is counterproductive to imagine the worst in humanity;
misjudge the trends in history; and insist that we can only talk to those we
agree with or go with the flow. This is a losing attitude that relegates
many on the left to holding signs at street corners without creatively
thinking how do we get power. It also relegates those in power to
complacency and corruption and mistrust of people. Many develop their
diagnostic language (the corporate media is controlled, the Zionist lobby is
too strong, the politics cannot change, power structures are what they are
etc) but are not willing to seriously take action to make this world a
better place.
In this year, we will be seven billion human beings on this earth. The
distortions in many countries (including Italy and Israel/Palestine) of the
rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer cannot and will not
continue. Fear of change is what paralyzes many people. As others have
pointed out, our biggest fear is not that we will fail but that for many
human beings, the biggest fear is that we can be more successful than our
wildest dreams. I believe indeed it is fear of success that keeps most
people complacent. After all, for many if they really go seriously after
their dreams (personal or collective) and succeed then it will show that the
years they spent worrying and being afraid have indeed been only because of
their lack of courage to change themselves.
Neurobiologists tell us that we humans only use a tiny fraction of our brain
(we are told that geniuses use 1-2%). In the 1950s civil rights movement in
the US, a common saying was "free your mind and your ass will follow". I
think positive change always comes after people changed attitude in life to
a positive direction. This is not only possible but it is imperative and
inevitable. The more people realize this, the quicker we will get there.
And we should all be working on the nature of the society to follow our
inevitable win: one based on human rights and the rule of law not of
military might and repression.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org
(from Italy)
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