Baroud chose to defer judgment on the outcome and examine the Second Uprising in a historical context. He noted how "Israeli governments....mastered the technique of pushing Palestinians to the brink," punishing them collectively, seizing their land, and destroying their homes and lives. Resistance naturally followed. The First and Second Uprisings reflected the aspirations of most Palestinians - "a truly sovereign Palestinian state in all territories illegally occupied...in 1967." After decades of abuse and disappointment, they're willing to sacrifice 78% of historic Palestine and settle for the remaining (OPT) 22%.
Israel, however, rejects even these modest demands. Its notion of peace is to "drive Palestinians out of their land....expand (illegal) settlements....expropriate large (West Bank) chunks as 'security zones,' and further alienate and completely fence off Occupied East Jerusalem."
In 2000, Israel's scheme got sidetracked for a time. Arafat refused any further sacrifice, and the Second Intifada erupted. After Arafat's 2004 death, Sharm el-Sheikh followed and with it revived Israeli hopes. Palestinians were told to "overcome their violent tendencies," assure Israel gets the security it "rightfully needs and deserves." The term "occupation" was never mentioned. No Palestinian grievances were addressed. Settlements expansions would continue, the right of return was a non-starter, occupation remained, seizing all of East Jerusalem is planned, unconditional Palestinian surrender is demanded, and all that matters is what Israel wants.
Abbas is the perfect "peace partner." But Hamas in Gaza became credible after its December 2004 electoral success. Baroud called it a "dramatic shift in the way the movement was perceived nationally and internationally." The defining event was Arafat's passing. It "shifted the political momentum in (their) favor." Fatah was deeply corrupted and without its leader thrown into "structural and organizational mayhem." Hamas won control of over one-third of OPT municipal seats, including most major cities. It signaled what would soon follow.
Palestinians view Hamas as credible - for its social services and confronting Israel militarily. Its unilateral ceasefire commitment, in spite of repeated Israeli violations, also enhanced its reputation. Before its January 2006 stunner, British diplomats met with Hamas twice and EU officials did it "every 10 days to two weeks," according to a senior Hamas member. Reports were that Israel was "fuming" about it and the Foreign Ministry said "Europeans should be strengthening 'moderate' Palestinians and not appeasing the 'extremists.' " Israel applies that designation to anyone opposing its OPT agenda or who confronts its worst abuses, let alone the way Hamas does.
Post-"disengagement," Gaza remained occupied, but talks, nonetheless, proceeded on core Palestinian issues - border crossings, free movement, the airport, seaport, and Israel's stranglehold on the OPT economy. After the 1967 occupation, Israel controlled border crossings into Egypt and Jordan. The economic impact was devastating.
Both countries offered Palestinian professionals employment that could lead to better opportunities in oil-rich Arab states. In addition, income earned abroad was sent home, and needy families relied on it.
With border crossings controlled, traffic across them halted, so Palestinians had to depend on Israel for relief. Its economy is vibrant, jobs plentiful during good economic times, and Israeli employers exploited a vulnerable labor pool. With no other option available, Palestinians were easy pickings. They became part of Israel's cheap labor force, were forced to work "under harsh and even inhumane conditions," accept meager compensation, and be offered no benefits like health care, pensions, or insurance covering personal injury. It was the beginning of a "historic....economic dependency" that was all downhill from there.
It's the reason Oslo was welcomed and each successive engagement to address needs previous ones hadn't met. With Israel controlling the process and having one-sided western support, outcomes each time were predictable - hopes again dashed, talk only empty rhetoric, promises made and then broken, and no end to an occupation and all its harshness. Israel wanted PA partners for one purpose - as "prison guards" for the Territories so forget about peace and concessions.
Conflict is planned, a "high level of chaos" assured, and the idea is to show that Palestinians are "innately lawless and irresponsible" to justify continued crackdowns and occupation for a people not ready for prime time on their own.
The Second Uprising marked its fifth anniversary on September 29. The cost in bloodshed was huge, the suffering immense, and there was nothing to show for the sacrifice as the struggle entered "one of its most consequential challenges yet."
Epilogue
Baroud symbolizes the spirit of his people. It's magnificent and contagious. He reflects on "reality versus rhetoric." In spite of decades of disappointment, "peace and justice movements (everywhere see) the Palestinian people as an icon of resistence....no other struggle in the world....symbolize(s so much) to so many people." Palestinians are a "rallying point for the dispossessed and the aspiring underdog."
Their reality - repression, occupation, suffering, isolation, anger, "packed prisons, ruined lives," six decades of hopes raised and then shattered.
"Symbolic Palestine - the dream....for (the) long hijacked....reality."
On December 26, 2005, barely months after the Second Uprising ended, a historic era did as well. Sharon suffered a stoke, sunk into coma, and some believe he's dead. The "Butcher of Beirut" is a brutish war criminal, but the US media extolled him. "Replacing the Irreplaceable" read one headline, and lots of others picked up on the theme to honor a "great statesman" whose crimes went unmentioned.
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
After growing up as an admirer of plucky Israel, I am compelled to say that Israel's occupation of those terrotories it captured in 1967 has degenerated into a slow form of genocide.
It is decidely NOT pretty. Israel look at yourself in a mirror and see what you have become.
by
kwalsh (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 139 comments)
on Friday, May 9, 2008 at 12:56:01 AM
