By Jonathan Cook
The National
"
When the Palestinian leadership won their upgrade to non-member observer
status at the United Nations in November, plenty of sceptics on both sides of
the divide questioned what practical benefits would accrue to the Palestinians.
The doubters have not been silenced yet.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has done little to capitalise
on his diplomatic success. There have been vague threats to "isolate" Israel,
hesitant talk of "not ruling out" a referral to the International Criminal
Court, and a low-key declaration by the Palestinian Authority of the new "state
of Palestine".
At a time when Palestinians hoped for a watershed moment in their struggle
for national liberation, the Fatah and Hamas leaderships look as mutually
self-absorbed as ever. Last week they were again directing their energies into a
new round of reconciliation talks, this time in Cairo, rather than keeping the
spotlight on Israeli intransigence.....
However futile the activists' efforts prove to be on this occasion, the
encampment indicates that ordinary Palestinians are better placed to find
inventive ways to embarrass Israel than the hidebound Palestinian
leadership.
Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi extolled the activists for their "highly
creative and legitimate nonviolent tool" to protect Palestinian land. But the
failure of PA officials, including Saeb Erekat, to make it to the site before it
was cordoned off by Israel only heightened the impression of a leadership too
slow and unimaginative to respond to events.
By establishing Bab Al Shams the activists visibly demonstrated the apartheid
nature of Israel's rule in the occupied territories. Although a temporary and
dismantled tent camp is unlikely by itself to change the dynamics of the
conflict, it does show Palestinians that there are ways they themselves can take
the struggle to Israel. That, of course, is also Mr Netanyahu's great fear.
The scenario his officials are reported to be most concerned about is that
this kind of popular mode of struggle becomes infectious. If Palestinians see
popular nonviolent resistance, unlike endless diplomacy, as helping to awaken
the world to their plight, there may be more Bab Al Shamses - and other
surprises for Israel - around the corner.
It was precisely such thinking that led Israel's attorney-general, Yehuda
Weinstein, to justify Mr Netanyahu's violation of the injunction on the grounds
that the camp would "bring protests and riots with national and international
implications".
What Bab Al Shams shows is that ordinary Palestinians can take the fight for
the "state of Palestine" to Israel - and even turn Israel's own methods against
it."
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