Gaza is not a different country than Palestine; its plight is not isolated from that of the West Bank, Palestinian-Israelis, or Palestinian refugees in the Diaspora. So stop changing your banners and placards from “Free Palestine” and “End Apartheid” to “Free Gaza.”
Palestinians and their supporters alike have fallen in a simple trap set in the sideshow of Israel’s Attack on Gaza earlier this year. Israel has consistently tried to separate segments of the Palestinian society and find ways to foster distrust among them.
Along with hindering ways for different Palestinian communities to communicate with each other, Israel forced discrepancies and unevenness in living standards, economic opportunity, and levels of personal and collective freedoms under its control so that the different communities view each other with suspicion and distrust. Groups under more suffering look to those relatively wealthier with envy and a feeling of abandonment and neglect, as if they sold out on their collective cause in exchange for paved roads and continuous electricity. This group views a third similarly, with the price being cars and stable jobs.
Other tricks Israel often employs include rewarding certain Palestinian communities in exchange for silently witnessing the assault on another. At the same time West bank Palestinians had to see their brethren massacred in Gaza, they were rewarded with the removal of several Israel roadblocks that have paralyzed their movement for eight years; an invitation to visit long-lost relatives and return to farms and jobs—to celebrate.
The political rivalries in Palestine provided Israel with a golden opportunity to take this separation strategy to another level, the outside world. It envisioned a separated, polarized Palestinian society when it encouraged the US to demand Palestinian elections knowing full well that its nemeses, Hamas, is about o take a landslide win. Immediately asking for embargo against Hamas led government is only a confirmation of this strategy.
Now Palestine has two leaderships, Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, and none of them represent any of the following: Palestinian Israelis, Refugees in neighboring countries, or the Palestinian Diaspora in the West.
So, next time you carry a “Free Gaza” sign, think. Are you taking the side of one of the segments Israel forced? Has the rest of Palestine been freed? How much of the story are new solidarity recruits learning from you pushing this new branding campaign? What are you going to do next time Israel commits a massacre in different city? Are you going to print new placards? What if the city name is hard to pronounce?
Talk about Gaza as only the latest example of Israel’s atrocities, not as if it’s a separate conflict. Soon it will be a year (seemingly eternity) without Israel attacking Gaza, the border with Egypt get’s opened and food flows, What will be your slogan for the cause du jour?
Unless we keep our eyes on Israel’s apartheid, Israel’s racism, and colonialism, we will not be able to drive a successful strategy. Israel will keep playing and toying with us with its distraction tactics, and we will happily follow without realizing the impact our emotional and myopic acts have on the larger picture.
Related posts:
- Free Gaza Movement Openly “Smuggles” Palestinians
- Free Gaza Boats to break Siege
- Free Gaza Boat Leaves Cyprus for Gaza
- Eyewitness in Gaza: 2
- Cynthia McKinney and Sami al-Hajj to sail on Free Gaza boat
Excellent observation.
Posted by Arayus | July 27, 2009, 4:16 pmExcellent, timely post. It really is classic divide and conquer and under the conditions Israel imposes even the most vigilante amongst us can fall victim to suspicion and resentment of the 'other' Palestinian.
Posted by MohammadKF | July 27, 2009, 9:02 pmGreat post, Fayyad. It must always go hand in hand with any Gaza-related action that the assault on Gaza and the blockade are part of a campaign perpetrated against all of Palestine for the better part of a century. It must be explained that the severity of violence against the Palestinians in the physically disconnected occupied territories (excluding the Golan, Sheba'a Farms & al Ghajar) follows a cyclical pattern, jumping from one region to the next, but the entire Palestinian people is being oppressed simultaneously at all times by Israel, through intricate, sophisticated and methodically-designed means.
I too worry what the next generation of activists are learning and what they're not learning, and that's why we try to recruit and take those recruits "under our wing", so to speak, and disseminate literature and quality reading lists, along with having discussions at organizers' meetings, social functions, and over e-mail. One can't control how everyone thinks though. As long as we each do our part, I think we'll facilitate the next generation to educate themselves properly on the truth facing Palestine today as well as a factual account of its history, and train them to be effective and passionate activists.
As far as pronunciations go, well, barely anyone in the U.S. pronounces "Gaza/3'aza" correctly even now, and that hasn't stopped anyone from getting out to demonstrations
Posted by Nth Republic | July 27, 2009, 9:25 pmExcellent point.
I probably will keep saying free gaza, tho. It seems to be suffering the worst, even if no less free than the rest of Palestine.
Posted by lyn11 | July 28, 2009, 6:08 amFayyad this is great. It's as if the last 60 years of atrocities before Gaza 2008-09 never took place!
Posted by Uda | July 28, 2009, 3:59 amThe Palestinians and the Arab world have chosen to maintain a war with Israel since 1948. Rather than recognize the country and work out as settlement there is the persistent cry to eliminate 'the Zionist entity', and from some the call to exterminate Jews. There may be an effort to destroy Israel, and it might even succeed, but at what harm to the Arab world?
The Palestinians and the Arab world have chosen to keep the Palestinians in their present situation and use Israel as an excuse to maintain their dictatorships while preventing the people in the 'west bank' & Gaza from education and the development of which they are VERY capable.
Posted by cynic8 | July 28, 2009, 7:05 pmHear, hear. Unity is the way forward.
Posted by Layla | August 4, 2009, 1:48 pmCan we say "Boycott Israel" on campuses now? I hope so. Will Kabob-ers help?
Posted by Boycott on Campus | August 4, 2009, 5:56 pmSo true! Another similarly disturbing thing has happened is that recently many Arabs have started referring to the Palestinians living in Gaza as Gazans. I've actually seen this term used in many official statements from Arab governments, NGO's, etc…and also among the Arab peoples. Israel has been unsuccessfully trying to erase the name of Palestine for over 50 years now, but I guess it doesn't need to worry about it anymore cause it seems Arabs are willing to help it do that.
Posted by Salam | August 5, 2009, 2:54 am