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<h1 class="single_title">United for Gaza: Time now for Palestinians
to protect their collective sumud</h1>
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<h3>By <a href="https://english.palinfo.com/?p=250012"> Ramzy
Baroud</a> -<span style="font-weight: normal;"><font size="1">
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/united-for-gaza-time-now-for-palestinians-to-protect-their-collective-sumud/">https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/united-for-gaza-time-now-for-palestinians-to-protect-their-collective-sumud/</a></font></span><br>
</h3>
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<p class="single_date">Wednesday 29-November-2023</p>
<div class="post_content">
<p>Shortly after the start of a four-day ceasefire in the war on
Gaza, the prime ministers of Spain and Belgium, Pedro Sanchez
and Alexander De Croo, appeared in a joint press conference at
the Rafah Crossing.</p>
<p>While Sanchez described “what is happening (as) a disaster,” De
Croo called for a “permanent cessation of hostilities” and for
an end to the killing of children.</p>
<p>Equally significant, the two European leaders declared that “we
may decide to recognise the State of Palestine, if the European
Union does not.”</p>
<p>Coupled with the strong position of Ireland, some in Europe
seem to be waking up to the fact that the Israeli occupation is
the primary cause of the recent Gaza ‘hostilities’.</p>
<p>Israel was not pleased by the evolving European position. It
immediately summoned the ambassadors of both countries and
sharply ‘rebuked’ them. This exaggerated response comes to show
that Israel is not willing to give Europe even the narrowest of
margins – as in condemning the killing of children or, expecting
some kind of a peaceful settlement centered round Palestinian
sovereignty.</p>
<p>Spain and Belgium’s phrase of “we may decide” to recognize
Palestine even without EU consensus is indicative of an actual
foreign policy schism within Europe itself. It turned out that
not all EU governments have the same tolerance towards the
genocide in Gaza as, for example, Germany and Britain.</p>
<p>Interestingly, other EU officials, too, are calling for a
Palestinian State, though their intention is neither to ensure
Palestinian freedom nor to safeguard Palestinian rights.</p>
<p>EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, for example, argued on 20
November that “the creation of a Palestinian state would be the
best way of ensuring Israel’s security”.</p>
<p>Even the former British prime minister, now secretary of state
for foreign affairs, used similar logic. Israel will not have
security unless it guarantees “long-term safety, security and
stability” for the Palestinian people, David Cameron said.</p>
<p>Regardless of the reasoning behind the growing emphasis on a
‘solution’ and rights for the Palestinians, this language was
almost entirely absent from the Western political discourse
prior to 7 October.</p>
<p>The truth is that Palestinians have succeeded, through their
resistance and sumud, to reassert Palestine on the global
agenda. But how did Palestinians succeed in doing so, despite
the utter marginalisation of their cause before the war?</p>
<p>First, unlike previous wars, especially those that preceded the
Unity Intifada of May 2021, this time around Palestinians spoke
in unison.</p>
<p>Without rehearsing or even coordinating, it felt as if the
Palestinian message flew seamlessly, when all Palestinians,
regardless of their ideological backgrounds, placed the focus on
the Israeli atrocities, without falling into the trap of the
typical factional blame game.</p>
<p>Even children who have lost members of their families in Gaza
would stand bravely in front of cameras reiterating that they
will never weaken and that nothing would remove them from their
homeland. Young and old repeated the same logic, used similar
language, even from their hospital beds.</p>
<p>This led Israel to do everything in its power to excommunicate
the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza from the rest of the world,
shutting down the internet, electricity and any form of
communications, even among Palestinians themselves.</p>
<p>Yet, somehow, a clear, united Palestinian message continued,
amplified countless times by an army of social media activists
who impressively helped balance out mainstream media bias,
eventually overpowering corporate media’s control over the war
narrative altogether.</p>
<p>The Palestinians have done this, and more, without powerful
lobby groups, media consultants or a hasbara machine, like that
which attempted, to no avail, to sway the public opinion in
favour of Israel.</p>
<p>Secondly, the factional Palestinian suddenly disappeared.</p>
<p>For years, factional narratives, dividing Palestinians into
conflicting interest groups, have thwarted the Palestinian
people’s attempt to unify behind a single leadership – one that
is capable of conveying, representing and defending Palestinian
political aspirations.</p>
<p>Yet, all the Fatah-Hamas talks and agreements have failed,
leaving the people with no other alternative but to explore
different manifestations of unity that go beyond the interests
of politicians.</p>
<p>This unity is now on full display, compelling everyone,
including those affiliated with the Palestinian Authority
itself, to adhere to the line of the people. While Gazans fought
to free prisoners in the West Bank, West Bankers rose, and died
in large numbers, in defence of Gaza.</p>
<p>This popular unity must continue, so that it would eventually
be harnessed in the form of political unity, which will bring
all Palestinian groups together under a single leadership. This
is the only way to ensure the tremendous Palestinian sacrifices
and the precious blood that spilled in Gaza, eventually
translate into the freedom that all Palestinians covet.</p>
<p>Thirdly, unity beyond Palestine also proved critical.</p>
<p>Arabs and Muslims served as the core of Palestinian solidarity
throughout the Israeli war on Gaza. They protested, boycotted,
fought and mobilised. Moreover, tens of millions of people,
beyond the confines of the Arab and Muslim worlds, also marched
around Palestinian rights and priorities.</p>
<p>Indeed, whole new conversations on Palestine are now occupying
many public spheres around the globe. The Global South is once
more embracing the struggle for Palestine, while the Global
North is challenging governments, big corporations and
mainstream media for justifying, supporting and financing the
Israeli genocide.</p>
<p>The Palestinian people will now have to lead and direct this
momentum of solidarity so that it may serve their righteous
objectives, those of equality, justice and freedom – all
enshrined in international law.</p>
<p>No public space should be left without engagement, no audience
should be overlooked or neglected, and no stone should be left
unturned in the search of that critical mass needed to hold
Israel accountable for its crimes.</p>
<p>Western leaders and officials are speaking out now because they
understand that the Palestinian cause has become a global one,
and that the prolonging of Israeli occupation and apartheid will
not bode well, neither for Tel Aviv nor for the collective West.</p>
<p>It is time for Palestinians to utilise this significant moment.
It is time for them to lead the process of their own liberation.
In fact, in Gaza, Jenin and elsewhere, this process has already
begun.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of the
Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His
latest is ‘These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of
Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons’. Baroud is a
Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam
and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East
Center (AMEC).</em></p>
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Freedom Archives
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