Do you know how to weave a thob? Do you know the distinct sewing patters in each village? Do you know even one? Have you listened to any Palestinian folk songs? Or do you prefer Bano? Do you know how to plant olive trees? Do you know how to climb them to get at the olives? Do you know how to press the olives? Do you know a single Palestinian painter? Have you ever seen a single Palestinian painting? Have you read any traditional Palestinian folklore? Do you know what a jin is? Did you know Palestinians believe in magic, spirits, demons, sorcery, all those things that Islam prohibits? Have you ever slaughtered a chicken with your bare hands? Have you ever made bread outside on an oven powered by goat droppings? Have you been bitten by scorpions at night? Do wild animals crawl into your home to die? Do you know not to go out at night outside the village because of the wild dogs? Have you ever slept under an olive tree because often you’re too far from home during harvest? Do you know how to build an outhouse and dig the hole? Do you know the path to take by donkey to get to Jerusalem?

What do you really KNOW about Palestinians? Not the westernized, modernized, Muslim Arabs who live in Ramallah and drink coffee at starbucks, but about Palestinians. Real Palestinians. Keffiye? Hummus?

Do you want to learn? I’m sure you do. Do you want to live that way? You probably don’t. And that means Palestinian culture will be extinct.

That Palestinians are clinging to any desperate acts of violence (and suffering exponentially greater when Israel responds) is more indication of how utterly defeated and helpless they are as a people.

Let’s face it, the Palestinian cause is finished. The Palestinian cause was never about “human rights” or “a 2 state solution”. It was about reversing the nakhba, and every day the prospects for this grow dimmer. It’s not clear if the Palestinians can even survive as an intact people, or if regional political divisions (Fatah/Hamas) and the forces of modernity and Islam will rip apart the Palestinian traditions and leave behind just another group of Muslim Arabs that live in Judea or Gaza.

That was never the plan, Arayus. The Palestinians had a beautiful culture, but the youngest generation that knows are now in their 40s and 50s. Their children in the 20s and 30s remember, but don’t know. And their children won’t know, and won’t remember. They’ll visit museums.

We’re watching the destruction of a people, accelerated by factors they do not control. Israel bears a great deal of responsibility for this, much out of malice, most out of apathy and ignorance. In the end, however, Israel is just one force among many, the match that lit the powderkeg.

The Palestinians are not the first culture to lose their identity when removed from their agricultural felahe roots. They may be the last.

The Palestinians did not even get recognized as a people by the Israelis until the first intifada. It seems as though Israel only budges when the Palestinians respond violently.

At least Hamas is negotiating after the violence. This is what most people see, and this is why most people will continue to support resistance rather than some peace deal that only buys Israel more time to put even more “facts on the ground.”

Furthermore, these are secret negotiations so we don’t even know what is really be said there until after all is said and done. =P

The prisoner issue is irrelevant anyway. Once there is peace everyone in administrative detention will be released. Only those who have been convicted in a court of murder will stay in jail. These people are not martyrs, they are murderers, and they’ll stay where convicted murderers should stay – prison.

In fact, Palestinian terrorism eliminates the urgency or necessity for negotiation, and encourages punitive military and political actions by Israel. This is why many Arabs speculate that Hamas is really composed of Israeli collaborators who provide Israel with an excuse to continue responding aggressively.

Anyway, it looks like you didn’t even read the article you posted.

“[Hamas] called for a complete lifting of the blockade and an opening of all the crossings,” Taha said.”

“Hamas listened to the Israeli proposal presented by [Defense Ministry official] Amos Gilad, and with it a proposal for a ceasefire for a year and a half, but Hamas presented a counterproposal of one year only,” Ayman Taha told reporters in Cairo after talks with Egyptian intelligence officials.”

You know what this sounds like? It sounds like negotiations. People make proposals, and then make counter proposals. Lets see what happens when this is all said and done.

Furthermore, Palestinians have every right to resist Israeli occupation to the very end. By insisting that Palestinians remain quiet while the occupation intensifies in the West Bank is ludicrous, particularly when you consider that resistance is the only leverage that Palestinians have in these negotiations.

In any case if Hamas does end up rejecting a decent proposal to open up the borders, it will lead the people of Gaza to choose others to represent them or force those in charge to become more moderate.

Lets see how these negotiations play out.

Haaretz.

Also Monday, the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat reported that Israel has offered Hamas a cease-fire for an unlimited amount of time and the opening of Gaza’s borders in return for abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

According to the report, Hamas rejected the offer on the grounds that it linked the opening of the border crossings to Shalit’s release.

Controlling the fate of one Jewish soldier is more important to Hamas than the opening of all borders and the end of “occupation” of Gaza. The big trophy – a single Jewish soldier – holds the key to the future of Palestinians in Gaza. Will they have a job, or not? Can they leave Gaza, or not? Will they receive their UN rations today, or not? This is your heroic resistance? These are self-serving criminals and thugs who would happily starve and murder their people if it fit their narrative, and have done so.

Anyway….

Israel can keep saying it has “no partner for peace” or it can move forward and negotiate with whoever represents the Palestinian people.

On top of that Hamas has stated several times that they are willing to negotiate on any peace deal that involves a viable Palestinian state based on the 67 borders.

Furthermore, as Kalash pointed out several posts ago, Hamas has removed the clause calling for the destruction of the state of Israel from its government manifesto.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/12/israel

On top of this they are willing to negotiate based on the 67 borders, just like everyone in the Quartet insists be done.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html

Hamas spokesmen have also consistently said they would support the Arab Peace Initiative.

Simple description of the Arab Peace Initiative:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Peace_Initiative

As the spokesmen of Hamas said: “That would be satisfactory for all Palestinian military groups to stop and build our state, to be busy in our own affairs, and have good neighborhood with Israelis.” (In reference to the Arab Peace initiative of 2002).

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/28/MN222422.DTL

Even according to the top leadership of Hamas, the conflict is not about driving the Jews into the sea.

As Haniyeh the top Hamas official in Gaza states:” Does a besieged people that is waiting breathlessly for a ship to come from the sea want to throw the Jews into the ocean? Our conflict is not with the Jews, our problem is with the occupation.”

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035414.html

These are statements from Hamas. Hamas is probably one of the most radical mainstream Palestinian groups. Yet they sound like doves compared to Israeli ministers and Rabbi’s who threaten “holocausts” on the Palestinian people.

You can continue to apologize for Israeli war crimes or face the facts. The occupation is the sole grievance of the Palestinian people, end the occupation end the problem.