Ronit Marzan A new stage in the Palestinian struggle for liberation
The Marches for the Palestinian Right of Return, which will begin on March 30 and continue at least until mid-May (in the hope that by then a discussion of the right of return
will begin), are beginning a new stage in the Palestinian struggle for
liberation, a stage of nonviolent popular resistance. The marches were
decided on through cooperation between an international coordinating
committee and civil society organizations, dignitaries and heads of
hamulot (extended families) in the Gaza Strip
The
initiative is being supported by the political groups (such as Hamas
and Palestinian Islamic Jihad) in light of the stagnation in the efforts
at national reconciliation and the failure of both the armed struggle
and the diplomatic strategy. In addition to the marches, the chairman of
the Palestinian Club in Great Britain and the chairman of the
International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza have announced
their intention of sending ships to Gaza.
The organizers of the marches believe that the
Israeli army will not be able to withstand a nation armed with a strong
desire to shake off the dust of the refugee camps and restore its honor
and natural rights. They hope the presence of international media
outlets and the official responsibility of UN institutions for the
Palestinian refugees will ensure that Israel won’t harm them.
A
manifesto disseminated by the Coordinating Committee of the Right of
Return states that the marches are based on Paragraph 11 of UN
Resolution 194 (which refers to the right of return). In order to
prevent any Israeli claim that the marches are the initiative of terror
organizations, the manifesto also states that they are popular marches
of families rather than of political parties or military factions.
Participants
will include Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, the diaspora and
the areas taken over by Israel in 1948. According to the organizers, the
marches will continue on a regular basis and won’t end until the right
of return is implemented. They are not violent and there is no intention
of clashing with Israeli soldiers or throwing stones at them. The first
stage of the marches will begin with a sit-down strike and building of
tents at a distance of 700 meters from the barbed wire fences.
Among the visual presentations on the campaign’s
Facebook page, one can find the caricature of Hanzala, the Palestinian
refugee who became an activist who cuts barbed wire fences. Or a tent
and a dove and an olive branch above the UN symbol, which symbolize
freedom and a return to the land. They use the Arab word “a’ad”
(returnee) and not “laga” (refugee), and in the end there is also a sign
warning against crossing the fence against orders.
The Palestinian national liberation movement is
undergoing a profound crisis, which requires it to decide whether to
reconstruct the awareness of armed resistance, inspired by Iranian films
that have recently been seen in Gazan movie theaters, and bring ruin to
the Palestinian people; or to prefer to build an awareness of
nonviolent civil resistance, inspired by cultural heroes such as Mahatma
Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
The latter understood that the greatest obstacle
facing the black man is not the Ku Klux Klan but the moderate and
arrogant white man, who believes in public order more than in justice,
and thinks that he can determine a timetable for another person’s
freedom and demand that he wait for a more convenient time.
The
organizers of the March of Return are unwilling to wait for a more
convenient time. After trying violence and entreaties and the diplomatic
approach, they have decided to violate the public order and arouse the
masses to a civil rebellion. This is therefore the best time for Israel
and the international community to turn their gaze to the nonviolent
Palestinian outcry a moment before it crosses the separation barriers.
The
writer has a doctorate in Middle East history and is a researcher of
Palestinian society and politics at the University of Haifa.
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