Wilson writes: "'It's the first time in a long time that we've seen this,'
he says. 'I've seen young people, old people, females, males, protesting in
the streets together. You can see rich people alongside poor people too.'"
Female Palestinian protesters take position during clashes with Israeli
troops near the Jewish settlement of Bet El, near the West Bank city of
Ramallah. (photo: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters)
Intifada or Not, Something Powerful Is Going On in Palestine
By Nigel Wilson, Al Jazeera
17 October 15
Palestinians are coming together, regardless of age, gender and political
affiliation, in a show of solidarity.
As the student cafeteria at Birzeit University empties after the lunchtime
rush, Ehab Iwidat leans back on his chair and sips from a bottle of mineral
water. The wiry, 20-year-old business and French student is suffering from a
cold, but that has not stopped him from attending some of the recent
demonstrations in the West Bank.
"It's the first time in a long time that we've seen this," he says. "I've
seen young people, old people, females, males, protesting in the streets
together. You can see rich people alongside poor people too."
Like many in the so-called Oslo generation of Palestinians, who have little
or no memory of previous Intifadas in Palestine, Iwidat only knows life
under occupation as a second-class citizen.
He believes that Israeli restrictions on Palestinian freedom and rights in
the West Bank, harassment from Israeli settlers, and the bleak prospects for
a peace deal between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have pushed
Palestinians into the streets in recent weeks.
"It's coming from the actions of settlers, who represent Israeli government
policy. From burning people alive, humiliating people on a daily basis and
restricting Palestinians' freedom movement, to the disrespectful actions at
al-Aqsa Mosque."
The protests that have swept Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank this month
have seen tens of thousands of Palestinians take to the streets. Men and
women of all ages have joined the movement. In some cases, these massive
demonstrations have passed peacefully, as protesters massed to chant slogans
in unity, demanding solidarity to fight the Israeli military occupation.
Other gatherings have turned violent, as the Israeli military used tear gas,
rubber-coated steel bullets and live fire against Palestinian demonstrators
throwing rocks and firebombs at Israeli soldiers.
The movement has even given traction to the idea that Palestinians could be
on the verge of a new Intifada, or that one may have already begun.
Tuesday was declared a "Day of Rage" in Gaza and the West Bank, as thousands
of Palestinians protested in refugee camps and at military checkpoints,
singing anti-occupation songs and waving Palestinian flags.
Palestinian citizens of Israel simultaneously took to the streets for a
general strike, closing businesses and schools across the country, while
tens of thousands gathered for a peaceful rally in Sakhnin, chanting slogans
against the Israeli government.
On Wednesday, thousands more attended the funeral of Mutaz Zawahreh, a
27-year-old from the Duheisha refugee camp close to Bethlehem, who was
killed in the previous day's clashes with the Israeli military. The
protesters again chanted for solidarity and unity to battle Israel's
occupation of the West Bank.
'It's a symbol of our heritage'
Tension has been simmering in Jerusalem over what Palestinians say is
Israel's plan to Judaise the city. This summer, however, it centred on the
religious site which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Only Muslims are
allowed to pray at the site under the existing status quo, but a broader
campaign among religious right-wing Israelis, calling for Jewish prayer to
be allowed there followed by storming of al-Aqsa compound for several days
by Jewish extremist groups under the protection of the Israeli security
forces, has raised concerns among Palestinians that the Israeli government
is preparing to alter the access rules in the long term.
However, the idea that the recent protests are motivated by religion is
inaccurate, according to the demonstrators themselves.
"I don't look at al-Aqsa as just a religious symbol," said Hala Marshood, a
political activist who lives in Jerusalem. "It's a cultural symbol. It's a
symbol of our heritage and our Palestinian identity. It's a symbol of our
social life. It's a really important place for the Palestinians in Jerusalem
and outside of Jerusalem."
At 24, Marshood already has years of experience as an activist behind her.
She keeps in touch with other activists in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
via social media networks and helped to organise a recent protest in the
city of Nazareth, which was attended by thousands.
"Social media is a really important method to get in touch with youth
everywhere," she said. "Facebook is the big one, even though it has its
risks. And posters, flyers that we hand out in the neighbourhoods ...
Besides that, we use connections that we have with activists in the West
Bank, Jerusalem and every area, and we contact to make something united
together."
The unrest escalated after two Israeli settlers were killed on October 1.
The Israeli military launched a manhunt for the perpetrators. Those
incursions into West Bank towns and villages, marked by night raids on
Palestinian homes and widespread arrests, further fuelled the anger and
helplessness that many Palestinians feel under military occupation.
A leaderless movement
So far, the protests have been notable for the lack of obvious political
party involvement. Mainstream Palestinian parties - Fatah, Hamas and the
PFLP - have remained relatively quiet, while the Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas has urged protesters to remain peaceful.
"The unique thing about this movement is that the youth are protesting and
no one is leading them, no politicians," said Saif al-Islam Duglas, the
president of the Birzeit University student council.
"We've organised protests as the student union, but not along political
party lines, everyone is coming together."
Within the often highly factional arena of Palestinian student politics,
this kind of unity is often lacking. But political protest is nothing new
for Palestinians. Many of these young people have attended the weekly
demonstrations against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank, which are
not organised along party lines.
"Most such waves of protests, whether the short ones or the long ones, are
spontaneous and are done by young people without being organised in most of
the cases. So it's not exceptional or strange that there are no political
organisations that are masterminding this," said Ghassan Khatib, a political
analyst at Birzeit University.
Currently the protests show little sign of abating, fuelled in part by fresh
incidents of tit-for-tat violence as well as by Israel's excessive use of
force and its policy of extrajudicial killings. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon
urged Israel to "seriously review" its use of force, finding "the apparent
excessive use of force by Israeli security services" to be "troubling".
As of Thursday morning, 32 Palestinians have been killed in October, the
majority at the hands of Israeli forces, while seven Israelis have been
killed. If the death toll continues to rise, and the demonstrations grow in
numbers, Palestinian political parties will likely come under pressure to
increase their involvement.
"This movement needs political leadership," said Issa Amro, a political
activist based in the West Bank city of Hebron. "Until now, there has been
no political leadership. But it needs political leadership to go on, to
organise it . to represent the Palestinian demands."
While political leadership may be required to guide and crystallise the aims
of the current movement, it is unclear whether the established Palestinian
parties want to lead the movement. While this could create a space for a new
generation of leaders to emerge from outside the traditional parties, the
movement has been defined to date by an absence of leadership.
While Amro believes that the current generation of political leaders is
unlikely to take up the cause, he sees an opportunity for junior figures in
established parties to take it on.
"I think the first line of leadership is exhausted. But sooner or later, if
it continues like this, I believe the second and third line of leadership in
the political parties will lead and go on with it."
A third Intifada?
Some of the Palestinian demonstrators have called for an Intifada, while the
term has also been used by political and regional analysts. However, it is
probably too early to compare the movement with the sustained and widespread
Palestinian uprisings that took place in the late 1990s and the early 2000s,
according to Khatib.
"If the definition of Intifada includes sustained activities, widespread and
popular, then I don't expect that this wave will become an Intifada," he
explained. "It's happening mostly in Jerusalem and it's a reaction mainly to
Israeli attempts to change the status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque. And it's not
spreading all over."
As for the activists, talk of Intifada does not concern them for now. "I
don't like labelling it," said Marshood. "[During] the second Intifada, I
was really young, and in the first Intifada I wasn't born. What I can say is
that we are escalating our protest and there is something very powerful
going on."
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Female Palestinian protesters take position during clashes with Israeli
troops near the Jewish settlement of Bet El, near the West Bank city of
Ramallah. (photo: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters)
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/10/palestine-intifada-powerfu
l-151016094419464.htmlhttp://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/10/pale
stine-intifada-powerful-151016094419464.html
Intifada or Not, Something Powerful Is Going On in Palestine
By Nigel Wilson, Al Jazeera
17 October 15
Palestinians are coming together, regardless of age, gender and political
affiliation, in a show of solidarity.
s the student cafeteria at Birzeit University empties after the lunchtime
rush, Ehab Iwidat leans back on his chair and sips from a bottle of mineral
water. The wiry, 20-year-old business and French student is suffering from a
cold, but that has not stopped him from attending some of the recent
demonstrations in the West Bank.
"It's the first time in a long time that we've seen this," he says. "I've
seen young people, old people, females, males, protesting in the streets
together. You can see rich people alongside poor people too."
Like many in the so-called Oslo generation of Palestinians, who have little
or no memory of previous Intifadas in Palestine, Iwidat only knows life
under occupation as a second-class citizen.
He believes that Israeli restrictions on Palestinian freedom and rights in
the West Bank, harassment from Israeli settlers, and the bleak prospects for
a peace deal between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have pushed
Palestinians into the streets in recent weeks.
"It's coming from the actions of settlers, who represent Israeli government
policy. From burning people alive, humiliating people on a daily basis and
restricting Palestinians' freedom movement, to the disrespectful actions at
al-Aqsa Mosque."
The protests that have swept Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank this month
have seen tens of thousands of Palestinians take to the streets. Men and
women of all ages have joined the movement. In some cases, these massive
demonstrations have passed peacefully, as protesters massed to chant slogans
in unity, demanding solidarity to fight the Israeli military occupation.
Other gatherings have turned violent, as the Israeli military used tear gas,
rubber-coated steel bullets and live fire against Palestinian demonstrators
throwing rocks and firebombs at Israeli soldiers.
The movement has even given traction to the idea that Palestinians could be
on the verge of a new Intifada, or that one may have already begun.
Tuesday was declared a "Day of Rage" in Gaza and the West Bank, as thousands
of Palestinians protested in refugee camps and at military checkpoints,
singing anti-occupation songs and waving Palestinian flags.
Palestinian citizens of Israel simultaneously took to the streets for a
general strike, closing businesses and schools across the country, while
tens of thousands gathered for a peaceful rally in Sakhnin, chanting slogans
against the Israeli government.
On Wednesday, thousands more attended the funeral of Mutaz Zawahreh, a
27-year-old from the Duheisha refugee camp close to Bethlehem, who was
killed in the previous day's clashes with the Israeli military. The
protesters again chanted for solidarity and unity to battle Israel's
occupation of the West Bank.
'It's a symbol of our heritage'
Tension has been simmering in Jerusalem over what Palestinians say is
Israel's plan to Judaise the city. This summer, however, it centred on the
religious site which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Only Muslims are
allowed to pray at the site under the existing status quo, but a broader
campaign among religious right-wing Israelis, calling for Jewish prayer to
be allowed there followed by storming of al-Aqsa compound for several days
by Jewish extremist groups under the protection of the Israeli security
forces, has raised concerns among Palestinians that the Israeli government
is preparing to alter the access rules in the long term.
However, the idea that the recent protests are motivated by religion is
inaccurate, according to the demonstrators themselves.
"I don't look at al-Aqsa as just a religious symbol," said Hala Marshood, a
political activist who lives in Jerusalem. "It's a cultural symbol. It's a
symbol of our heritage and our Palestinian identity. It's a symbol of our
social life. It's a really important place for the Palestinians in Jerusalem
and outside of Jerusalem."
At 24, Marshood already has years of experience as an activist behind her.
She keeps in touch with other activists in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
via social media networks and helped to organise a recent protest in the
city of Nazareth, which was attended by thousands.
"Social media is a really important method to get in touch with youth
everywhere," she said. "Facebook is the big one, even though it has its
risks. And posters, flyers that we hand out in the neighbourhoods ...
Besides that, we use connections that we have with activists in the West
Bank, Jerusalem and every area, and we contact to make something united
together."
The unrest escalated after two Israeli settlers were killed on October 1.
The Israeli military launched a manhunt for the perpetrators. Those
incursions into West Bank towns and villages, marked by night raids on
Palestinian homes and widespread arrests, further fuelled the anger and
helplessness that many Palestinians feel under military occupation.
A leaderless movement
So far, the protests have been notable for the lack of obvious political
party involvement. Mainstream Palestinian parties - Fatah, Hamas and the
PFLP - have remained relatively quiet, while the Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas has urged protesters to remain peaceful.
"The unique thing about this movement is that the youth are protesting and
no one is leading them, no politicians," said Saif al-Islam Duglas, the
president of the Birzeit University student council.
"We've organised protests as the student union, but not along political
party lines, everyone is coming together."
Within the often highly factional arena of Palestinian student politics,
this kind of unity is often lacking. But political protest is nothing new
for Palestinians. Many of these young people have attended the weekly
demonstrations against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank, which are
not organised along party lines.
"Most such waves of protests, whether the short ones or the long ones, are
spontaneous and are done by young people without being organised in most of
the cases. So it's not exceptional or strange that there are no political
organisations that are masterminding this," said Ghassan Khatib, a political
analyst at Birzeit University.
Currently the protests show little sign of abating, fuelled in part by fresh
incidents of tit-for-tat violence as well as by Israel's excessive use of
force and its policy of extrajudicial killings. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon
urged Israel to "seriously review" its use of force, finding "the apparent
excessive use of force by Israeli security services" to be "troubling".
As of Thursday morning, 32 Palestinians have been killed in October, the
majority at the hands of Israeli forces, while seven Israelis have been
killed. If the death toll continues to rise, and the demonstrations grow in
numbers, Palestinian political parties will likely come under pressure to
increase their involvement.
"This movement needs political leadership," said Issa Amro, a political
activist based in the West Bank city of Hebron. "Until now, there has been
no political leadership. But it needs political leadership to go on, to
organise it . to represent the Palestinian demands."
While political leadership may be required to guide and crystallise the aims
of the current movement, it is unclear whether the established Palestinian
parties want to lead the movement. While this could create a space for a new
generation of leaders to emerge from outside the traditional parties, the
movement has been defined to date by an absence of leadership.
While Amro believes that the current generation of political leaders is
unlikely to take up the cause, he sees an opportunity for junior figures in
established parties to take it on.
"I think the first line of leadership is exhausted. But sooner or later, if
it continues like this, I believe the second and third line of leadership in
the political parties will lead and go on with it."
A third Intifada?
Some of the Palestinian demonstrators have called for an Intifada, while the
term has also been used by political and regional analysts. However, it is
probably too early to compare the movement with the sustained and widespread
Palestinian uprisings that took place in the late 1990s and the early 2000s,
according to Khatib.
"If the definition of Intifada includes sustained activities, widespread and
popular, then I don't expect that this wave will become an Intifada," he
explained. "It's happening mostly in Jerusalem and it's a reaction mainly to
Israeli attempts to change the status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque. And it's not
spreading all over."
As for the activists, talk of Intifada does not concern them for now. "I
don't like labelling it," said Marshood. "[During] the second Intifada, I
was really young, and in the first Intifada I wasn't born. What I can say is
that we are escalating our protest and there is something very powerful
going on."
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
