I’ve talked about what I think Israel should, or at least shouldn’t, do with respect to Hamas rockets being fired across their borders from Gaza. But I haven’t really spoken about what I think the Palestinians should do.
The Power of Protesting
I was reading articles about the various protests that have taken place all over the world, and I think protesting may be the strongest weapon the Palestinians may use in this case. Nonviolent protests against Israel’s use of violence while simultaneously protesting Hamas’ insistence on bringing the violence to the Palestinian people. The latter will of course be much harder to pull off because of a perception that it will mean “siding with the enemy”. But really, who is “siding with the enemy” more than Hamas? Who else plays in to the behavior of right-wing militant Israelis?
Pens Mightier than Homemade Explosives
Unfortunately, such explanations can’t be summed up in chants or slogans to put on signs. But those Palestinians in the territories and elsewhere who are able to write and circulate their writings have a duty to put their condemnation of Israel’s actions and Hamas’ hardline positions onto paper. We, the international community, also have a duty to recognize and continue to disseminate such information. We have most definitely been lacking in that department.
Opinionize: What Would You Do In This Situation?
So now I open the forum to other suggestions of what nonviolent actions either side could make to bring an end to the attacks on Gaza and Hamas’ insistence that attacks on Israel must continue. And if anyone has examples of such suggestions already being carried out, please go ahead and post those too.
PS- I don’t want to come across as a Westerner/Gentile who thinks all of her ideas are better than that of those “petty natives” or those “pesky Jews”. I’m simply building off of actions that I am already aware of and exploiting my role as an uninvolved third party, hoping that my detachment may in some way help rather than harm. As such, I am open to being told that my ideas suck, as long as someone can rationally explain why they suck and offer alternatives.
Filed under: Arab-Israeli Conflict, Peace and Conflict Resolution | Tagged: gaza, hamas, israel, israeli defense force, nonviolence, nonviolent protest, palestine
Surrealist, transitioning environmentalist, faux-liberal, wanna be artsy indie hipster, occasional self-hating Neo-Luddite, post-Orientalism constructivist, pro-theist agnostic(ish) Christian and Miami native gone rogue in DC.
I don’t think there are any non-violent solutions to this problem. Protests and pamphlets are fine and dandy in western societies where the rule of law has already been established. They may have some effect on Israel, but will be pretty ineffective on Hamas. And as good as protesting and pamphleteering may make some people feel, it still conveniently leaves the actual work to be done by someone else.
Someone needs to step up and do the actual work. They will probably be killed. Then someone else needs to pick up where they left off. They will probably be killed too. It’s something of a thankless job, but if the Palestinians actually want to have a state of their own, they need to make it themselves. The internationaly community is not going to drop a fully functional state in the Palestinian’s lap. The international community causes far more problems than they solve and expecting them to do the bulk of the work in creating a Palestinian state is like expecting to get rich off of welfare.
I think the best way to become an independant country is to start acting like one. They need to stop waiting for some great UN ex machina and start making something of what they have. They need to establish the rule of law and ween themselves off toxic foreign aid. Yes, it’s easier said than done and the Palestinians have a hard row to hoe. There are a lot of obstacles for them to overcome and many of them aren’t particularly fair, but you have to work with what you have, not with what you wish you had. This would have been hard if they’d started it 60 years ago. It seems nigh impossible now, after generations squandered in dependance and hatred and death. They’ll probably have to do a fair amount of killing of their own people to have any chance at success and that’s if their own people don’t kill them first. Hamas isn’t exactly going to roll over and play dead, and as long as they’re a significant factor in the region, Palestine will always be a pipe dream.
Definitely you’re right about having the courage to do the right thing and possibly getting killed for it. Its definitely already happened, and perhaps there haven’t been too many people to carry on where that person left off.
But I think the international community does have a big role to play just in terms of paying attention. There is no way people anywhere in any significant numbers would have their courageous deeds heard or heeded without international recognition and support. Its all very well to do those things, but if the rest of the world doesn’t hear about it then it becomes harder for those brave people on the ground to find the resources or capital to carry on.
Following that same vein, when Palestinians take a stand against Hamas change in policies or behavior MUST follow or what’s the point?
The international community is a false hope. They are good at talking and spending other people’s money, but if you want to change your country for the better, it’s on you, and the international community is as likely to hurt as help in that endeavor. People need to need to support themselves, and the IC rarely is any good at encouraging that.
If you’re always looking externally for the resources and capital to carry on, you’re probably not going to make it. And maybe you shouldn’t. If the Palestinians start taking care of their own house, changes in policy probably will follow. But maybe they won’t, things don’t always go the way they should and you have to deal with that too. There are a lot of countries in the region for whom the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a very useful outlet for their people’s discontent. There is nothing you can do in that region without making someone hate you and want to stop/kill you. The point of taking a stand anyway, is because it’s the right thing to do and maybe that spark will ignite something that will change your country for the better. But maybe it won’t, nothing is certain. It’s a hard thing, that’s why such leaders are so rare.
If we look to the international community as the only hope, then absolutely you are 100% correct it is a false hope. You are also correct in saying the IC can do as much harm as hurt, but I think complete inaction is not a proper course of action. Furthermore, it is a myth.
Its a little too late for the US to say, “Nope, sorry we’re not getting involved here”. We are already heavily involved through the military aid we give Israel and the humanitarian assistance we give Palestine. If we want to take ourselves out of the conflict completely, which I don’t think is possible under any circumstance, the time to do it is after the end of Israeli occupation.
Governments, resistance groups, dictators, democratic leaders have all existed or fallen because the US has wanted it to. This is not the case for all countries, but for more than just a handful. The requirements for continued existence has depended on how they affect American interests abroad. Those interests may be interpreted any way you like, but my point is the US is not and has not been an isolationist state from the 20th century onward. To suddenly operate as one is impossible.
[...] final word I think is funny in light of the recent comments to a previous post about the international community not getting involved in the Israel-Palestine conflict. I [...]
The US is not the International Community. It is funny how if the US does intervene, it will be roundly condemned as colonialist or imperialistic or what have you by one set of people, and then if it doesn’t intervene it will be condemned by others as shirking its duty as the apparent guarantor of world peace. Even more amusing is membership in the two groups is not mutually exclusive. Put whatever face you want on it, people are either happy or not happy with US action or inaction depending on their own priorities and agendas. So the US has to do the best it can to protect and advance it’s own interests and let the cards fall where they may.
In any case, I’m not calling for complete disengagement by the US or the International Community. What I am saying is, whether we can topple governments and factions at will or not, I don’t think this is a problem we can solve (not without turning the whole region inot a glass parking lot, anyway, and that would be a pyrrhic victory, at best). I don’t think there’s much more anyone else can do, and a fair bit of what has been done has been counterproductive. It’s up to the Palestinians whether they ever end up with a viable country or not. Frankly, I’m not optimistic about their chances.
While the accusation of being an imperialist is definitely heard in the US dealings with Iraq and Afghanistan and so on, its not heard so much with regards to the involvement in Israel-Palestine. The kind of criticism you’re talking about takes the form of, “Americans support their Zionist allies no matter what because the evangelicals have a stake in the state of Israel” or “The Jews in America secretly run the whole country and want to oppress the Arabs blah blah blah”.
You’re absolutely right that allowing American interests to be tied into particular governments or factions, or even having our interests there in the first place, becomes dangerous for everyone involved.
However, I reject the idea that the Palestinians and only the Palestinians are the obstacle in the way of a Palestinian state. There is a Palestinian government, nearly the whole world believes in the two state solution. All that remains is the occupation. We may debate on why the occupation is there and whether or not it serves a purpose, but the end of the occupation cannot be achieved by Israel alone or Palestine alone. Conflict resolution happens through the cooperation of all parties involved.
When it comes to deciding the character of that state, then yes, that debate is something no one but the Palestinians should have. We may, and should, make our own suggestions as neighbors or individuals who are sympathetic to all the victims. But no, you are correct in saying that in the end it is not our fight to fight.
I’m a recent college graduate, I’m in my 20’s, I have to be optimistic. Its in my contract.
[...] 4, 2009 A very dedicated reader of my blog responded to a post, appropriately urging me to answer my own original question: I just noticed the original question [...]
There was a Palestinian governement. My understanding is that the Palestinians elected Hamas to a majority of seats in the legislature, vaulting them into power. However, Abbas dissolved the government after Hamas refused to sign off on the two-state solution. Now you have two warring factions, Hamas and Fatah. I don’t think Abbas has much influence in Gaza. It seems to me there is more to worry about than just the occupation, when it comes to establishing a Palestinian state.
In fact, I think the worrying about the occupation is a distraction from what really needs to be done. It’s easy to complain about the occupation, it’s hard to do the things required to become a viable state. As I’ve said before, I think the only way to become a state is to start acting like one, and that means being able to effectively govern the territory you already have. It means purging factions like Hamas, policing your own citizens and establishing the rule of law, preventing attackes you didn’t authorize from being lauched on your soil, providing for your people with as little foreign aid as possible, and striving to need no foreign aid at all. It means acting like a responsible, competent state. Others can help or hinder them in this goal, but the lion’s share of the work belongs to the Palestinians.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. I would add that it is at least my duty as a concerned global citizen to provide those Palestinians with the resources to destroy not just the physical capabilities of Hamas but their ideas. The form of that support is for another discussion. But I also believe that security in the region can only be achieved when Israelis and Palestinians effectively cooperate.