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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
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href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200210-palestine-unleashed-how-to-confront-annexation-and-deal-of-the-century/">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200210-palestine-unleashed-how-to-confront-annexation-and-deal-of-the-century/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Palestine Unleashed: How to Confront
Annexation and ‘Deal of the Century’</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">Ramzy Baroud - February 10,
2020<br>
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<p>Just because the Donald Trump administration <a
href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51263815"
target="_blank">has declared</a> international law
null and void regarding the Right of Return for
Palestinian refugees, the status of occupied East
Jerusalem or the illegality of Jewish colonies in the
occupied territories, does not mean that Israel has won
and Palestinians have lost.</p>
<p>To be more specific, those who have indeed lost are
those who gave Washington and its allies the power to
shape the future of Palestine and, in fact, the whole of
the Middle East, in a way that is consistent with the
skewed US foreign policy, namely, the Palestinian
Authority (PA) and other quisling Arab leaderships.</p>
<p>Those of us who have always understood that Washington
and Tel Aviv are two sides of the same coin, are hardly
surprised by the so-called Deal of the Century. In fact,
Trump’s ‘deal’ is but a continuation of the same dismal
trajectory of blind US allegiance to Israel. Whether we
call it the ‘Deal of the Century’, ‘<a
href="https://ips-dc.org/the_us_role_in_the_breakdown_of_the_israeli-palestinian_peace_process/"
target="_blank">US-sponsored peace process</a>’, or ‘<a
href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28532866" target="_blank">shuttle
diplomacy</a>’, they are all recycled brands of the
same old product.</p>
<p>But, fingers of blame cannot only point at Trump and
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinians
deserve much of the blame as well.</p>
<p>Twenty-seven years ago, a group of Palestinian
political elites <a
href="https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/03/world/meast/oslo-accords-fast-facts/index.html"
target="_blank">broke away</a> from national
consensus, signing a unilateral deal with Israel that
either conceded or relegated most Palestinian rights,
including the status of Jerusalem, and the rights of
Palestinian refugees.</p>
<p>They argued then that Palestinian rights could be
achieved through an incremental ‘peace process’, through
tireless negotiations and ‘<a
href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/13/veiled-danger-dead-oslo-accords"
target="_blank">painful compromises</a>’. Those who
challenged the subsequent Oslo accords were shunned and
branded as terrorists and radicals; they were imprisoned
and, whenever convenient, even assassinated.</p>
<p>Since then, the fate, status and legitimacy of the PA
became intrinsically linked to the very Israeli military
occupation it was meant to eradicate. The negotiations
led to the enriching of the Israeli occupation which is
now under the threat of being fully annexed by Israel.
In the meantime, some Palestinians grew richer, and
millions of Palestinians <a
href="http://www.palestine-australia.com/assets/Uploads/Water-Inequality-under-Oslo-II-21102016.pdf"
target="_blank">became</a> even more desperate,
isolated under a growing Israeli Apartheid in the West
Bank or under a hermetic and deadly siege in Gaza.</p>
<p>Nearly three decades later, the ‘Deal of the Century’
came to completely delegitimize the PA, itself set-up
with <a
href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS22967.pdf"
target="_blank">American funds</a> and a political
mandate.</p>
<p>Under these new circumstances, there is no logical
reason why the PA should continue to exist, at least in
its current form, as it played a major part in
subjugating the Palestinian people, allowing Washington
and Tel Aviv to achieve their political ends in
Palestine without the slightest resistance.</p>
<p>A few years ago, PA President, Mahmoud Abbas, <a
href="https://nypost.com/2005/01/05/palestinians-vote-abbas-turns-nasty/"
target="_blank">referred</a> to armed resistance in
Gaza as ‘useless’ and a ‘mistake’. He purported to
champion a different form of ‘resistance’ that would
truly obtain Palestinian rights and grant the
Palestinian people an independent state with Jerusalem
as its capital. The ‘Deal of the Century’ proved that it
was Abbas, his Authority and whatever phony form of
‘resistance’ they employed, who was utterly and
completely useless.</p>
<p>It is important that we do not protest the ‘Deal of the
Century’ pretending that the PA is our partner in this
process. Assigning any importance to the PA would
indicate that we have learned nothing after decades of
betrayal and <a
href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-corruption-chief-idUSKCN0VW1M9"
target="_blank">outright theft </a>of hundreds of
millions of dollars of funds assigned to the Palestinian
people.</p>
<p>In some odd and tragic way, the PA and the Israeli
occupation are linked – the former cannot exist without
the latter, and the latter requires the services of the
former to entrench itself and expand its illegal
colonies throughout Palestine.</p>
<p>So, any post-‘Deal of the Century’ Palestinian strategy
would have to happen in complete separation from the PA
which, at this point, only represents the interests of a
class of Palestinians that succeeded in accumulating
wealth and power under the boots of Israeli soldiers.</p>
<p>Despite the PA’s unmitigated failures, the Palestinian
cause is more popular than ever. The Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which is fueled by the
sacrifices and the resistance of the Palestinian people,
has <a
href="https://bdsmovement.net/news/18-highlights-bds-impact-2018"
target="_blank">penetrated</a> numerous layers of
societies all around the world, forcing millions of
people to take a moral stance on the ongoing Israeli
apartheid and war crimes in Palestine.</p>
<p>More and more people around the world are also becoming
aware of the destructive power of Zionism – the ideology
that continues to guide Israeli politics to this day.
Israel is itself responsible for that growing awareness
because of its <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/11/ilhan-omar-israel-lobby-documentary/?comments=1"
target="_blank">direct interventions</a> in the
political affairs of many countries.</p>
<p>The fact that Israel is meddling in the <a
href="https://palestinelegal.org/news/2016/6/3/what-to-know-about-anti-bds-legislation"
target="_blank">various laws</a> and constitutions of
well-established democracies around the world to prevent
any criticism of its misconduct in Palestine, is waking
up many people who may never have been awakened had the
discussion on Palestine and Israel persisted in its
previous form. From the UK to Italy to the US, the
tentacles of Zionism is attempting, and, sadly,
succeeding, in enforcing its priorities, agendas and
self-serving <a
href="https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Italy-adopts-IHRA-definition-of-antisemitism-614655"
target="_blank">definitions</a>.</p>
<p>The challenge for Palestinians, at this point, is
knowing how to navigate beyond the collaborating PA and
to create alternative platforms that would allow them to
coordinate their actions, to widen the scope of global
solidarity, and, eventually, to harness their
achievements in the form of a centralized political
strategy.</p>
<p>This will not be easy, but is inevitable. And the
answer cannot be factional either. While some
Palestinian factions can proudly say that they have
rejected, even resisted, the path chosen by the PA,
there is not a single Palestinian faction today that
speaks for all Palestinians using a unifying language
and embracing a universal vision. The fact that
Palestinian groups continue to speak of a ‘<a
href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Palestinian-Authority-welcomes-House-resolution-backing-two-state-solution-610172"
target="_blank">Two-State solution</a>’ is a
reflection of its inability to transcend the confines
and limitations of Oslo and the ‘peace process’.</p>
<p>As Israel and the US have decided to take decisive
steps in the direction of Apartheid, Palestinians should
take equally decisive steps in the direction of
liberation by severing ties with all failed strategies
and self-seeking individuals and groups.</p>
<p>Even within Palestine’s opposition, a major rethink is
required. While the PA has failed miserably, others have
failed too, and there is no shame in admitting that
because, without taking responsibility for one’s
shortcomings, real change can never occur.</p>
<p>This is far from being a call for the complete
abolition of the entire Palestinian political
structures, but rather for the repair of an aging system
that refuses to renew itself and which is, at times,
completely oblivious to changing discourses and
political realities.</p>
<p>The fact is that many Palestinian leaders and
activists, even within the opposition, come from
long-gone political eras. While some of them have fought
an honorable fight, they must understand that allowing
for a natural transition of new leaderships is the
greatest contribution they could possibly make at this
stage because the nature of the fight is also changing.</p>
<p>Here is the truth, Palestine can no longer rely on the
support of <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-how-the-arabs-betrayed-palestine-again-1.8480107"
target="_blank">Arab countries</a> to build the needed
momentum that could eventually overpower Israel and
restore the rights of the Palestinian people.</p>
<p>Our cause is now a global cause, extending from Sweden
to Chile and from South Africa to Russia, and it
requires global emissaries who are able to transcend the
PA, the factionalism and ideological tribalism which is
destroying the very fabric of our society.</p>
<p>Let’s turn the ‘Deal of the Century’ from a crisis into
an opportunity, where we reorganize and galvanize the
very foundation of our political discourse and liberate
ourselves from the numerous confines that have limited
our work and appeal in the past.</p>
<p>As Zionism now constitutes one of the greatest threats,
not only to Palestine and the Middle East but to world’s
democracies as well, let the struggle for Palestinian
freedom become a global struggle against Zionism and all
of its benefactors.</p>
<p>The views expressed in this article belong to the
author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial
policy of Middle East Monitor.</p>
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