<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-pg_body" style="height:auto"><div class="gmail-main_content"><h1 class="gmail-single_title">Dear world: This is what Palestinian unity looks like</h1>
<div class="gmail-article-author"><h3>By <a href="https://english.palinfo.com/?p=250012"> Ramzy Baroud </a></h3></div>
<p class="gmail-single_date">Wednesday 29-January-2025 - <font size="1"><a href="https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/dear-world-this-is-what-palestinian-unity-looks-like/">https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/dear-world-this-is-what-palestinian-unity-looks-like/</a></font></p><div class="gmail-post_content">
<p>Even those of us who have long emphasized the importance of the
Palestinian people’s voice, experience and collective action in
Palestinian history must have been shocked by the cultural revolution
resulting from the Israeli war against the people in Gaza. By cultural
revolution, I mean the defiant and rebellious narrative evolving in
Gaza, where people see themselves as active participants in the popular
resistance, not just mere victims of the Israeli war machine.</p>
<p>When the ceasefire was announced on the 471st day of the Israeli
genocide, the Palestinians in Gaza rushed onto the streets in
celebration. Media outlets reported that they were celebrating the
ceasefire, but judging by their chants, songs and symbolisms they were
celebrating their collective victory, steadfastness (sumud) and
resilience against the powerful Israeli army, which has been and remains
supported by the US and other Western countries.</p>
<p>Using basic tools, they hurried to clean their streets, clearing
debris to allow the displaced to search for homes. Although their homes
were probably destroyed by Israel – 90 per cent of Gaza’s housing units
were, according to the United Nations – they were still happy, even if
they could only sit on the rubble. Some prayed atop concrete slabs, some
sang in large, growing crowds, and others cried but insisted that no
power could ever uproot them from Palestine again.</p>
<p>Social media was flooded with Palestinians expressing a mix of
emotions, although they were mostly defiant, expressing their resolve
not just in political terms, but also in other ways, including humor.</p>
<p>Of course, the bodybuilders returned to their gyms to find them also
mostly destroyed. Rather than lament their losses, though, they salvaged
machines and resumed training amid collapsed walls and ceilings
punctured by Israeli missiles.</p>
<p>There was also a father and son who composed a song in the ahazej style, a traditional Levantine vocalization.</p>
<p>The son, overjoyed to find his father alive, was reassured by him that they would never abandon their homeland.</p>
<p>As for the children – 14,500 of whom were killed by Israel, according
to UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) – they
resumed their childhood. They laid claim to destroyed Israeli tanks in
Rafah, Beit Hanoun and elsewhere as their new playground equipment.</p>
<p>One teenager pretended to be a scrap metal salesman and yelled, “An
Israeli Merkava tank for sale,” as his friends filmed him and laughed.
“Make sure you send this video to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin]
Netanyahu,” he added before moving on, unfazed.</p>
<p>This does not mean that Gaza is free of unimaginable pain, which is
difficult for the rest of the world to fully comprehend. The emotional
and psychological scars of the war will last a lifetime, and many will
never recover fully from the trauma. But Palestinians in Gaza know that
they cannot afford to grieve in the usual way. So, they emphasize their
identity, unity and defiance as ways to overcome grief.</p>
<p>In parallel with its military assault on Gaza since 7 October, 2023,
Israel has invested heavily in dividing the Palestinian people and
trying to shatter their spirit. In Gaza, it dropped millions of flyers
from warplanes on starving refugees, urging them to rebel against
Palestinian factions by providing Israel with names of “troublemakers”.
The Israeli army offered large rewards for such information, but little
was achieved.</p>
<p>These flyers also called for tribal leaders to take control of their
areas in exchange for food and protection. To punish those who resisted,
Israel systematically killed clan representatives and councilors who
tried to distribute aid throughout Gaza, especially in the north where
famine was devastating.</p>
<p>Against overwhelming odds, though, Palestinians remained united.</p>
<p>When the ceasefire was declared, they celebrated as one nation. With
Gaza destroyed, Israel’s actions obliterated Gaza’s class, regional,
ideological and political divisions. Everyone in Gaza became a refugee:
the rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, city dwellers and refugee camp
residents; all were affected equally.</p>
<p>The unity that remains in Gaza, after one of the most horrific
genocides in modern history, should serve as a wake-up call. The
narrative that Palestinians are divided and need to “find common ground”
has proven false.</p>
<p>With the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank aiding Israel’s war
on Jenin and other refugee camps, the old notion of political unity
through a merger of the PA and various Palestinian factions is no longer
viable. The reality is that the fragmentation of the Palestinian
political landscape cannot be solved through mere political agreements
or negotiations between factions.</p>
<p>A different kind of unity has already taken root in Gaza and, by
extension, across Palestinian communities in occupied Palestine and the
rest of the world. This unity is visible in the millions of Palestinians
who have demonstrated against the war, chanted for Gaza, cried for
Gaza, and developed a new political discourse around it.</p>
<p>This unity does not rely on talking heads on Arabic satellite
channels or secret meetings in expensive hotels. It needs no diplomatic
talks. Years of endless discussions, “unity documents” and fiery
speeches only led to disappointment.</p>
<p>The true unity has already been achieved, felt in the voices of
ordinary people who no longer identify as members of factions. They are
Gazzawiyya. Palestinians from Gaza, and nothing else.</p>
<p>This is the true unity that must now form the foundation of a new discourse.</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></div></div></div><div class="gmail-search_modal">
<div class="gmail-search_modal_top">
<div class="gmail-container"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-window-close gmail-search_overlay_close"></i><input type="text" class="gmail-search_term" id="gmail-search_term"><a id="gmail-go_to_search_page" class="gmail-go_to_search_page" href="https://english.palinfo.com/opinion_articles/dear-world-this-is-what-palestinian-unity-looks-like/#"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-search gmail-search_overlay_icon"></i></a></div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-container">
<div class="gmail-search-overlay__results"></div>
</div>
</div>
<ins class="gmail-adsbygoogle gmail-adsbygoogle-noablate" style="display:block;width:100%;height:129px;clear:none;float:none;margin:0px;max-height:none;max-width:none;opacity:1;overflow:visible;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;background:rgb(250,250,250)"><div class="gmail-grippy-host"></div><div id="gmail-aswift_5_host" style="border:medium;height:124px;width:100%;margin:0px;padding:0px;background-color:transparent;display:inline-block;clear:none;float:none;max-height:none;max-width:none;opacity:1;overflow:visible;vertical-align:baseline"></div></ins>
</div>