A Stance... Priority of Priorities in a Time of Declining Capabilities

The forced decline in the financial resources of the Palestinian National Authority has reopened a legitimate discussion about how to prioritize in light of limited capabilities and insufficient revenues. Some rightly believe that health should be at the top of priorities, while others assert that investing in the education of new generations is most important. A third group argues that justice, maintaining security and order, and the rule of law are guarantees for the continuation of other services. All these opinions are valid and their importance cannot be underestimated.However, I would like to draw attention to a priority that does not compete with these sectors and others, but rather precedes them in the current circumstances because it represents a condition for protecting the national cause itself. It is a cross-sectoral priority that deserves the concerted efforts of governmental, non-governmental, international institutions, and the entire Palestinian society. This is the support for Palestinian villages, rural areas, and Bedouin communities surrounding or surrounded by settlements in the occupied West Bank, so that a day does not come when we say, 'I was eaten the day the white bull was eaten.'The importance of this priority lies in the fact that the occupation seems to believe that the current moment is opportune to settle the historical conflict over land, taking advantage of regional and international circumstances, and the state of Palestinian exhaustion. This belief translates into a policy aimed at dispossessing Palestinians of their lands located outside the urban areas of villages, reminiscent of what happened in large parts of Palestine after the Nakba of 1948, when residents were gradually separated from their lands and livelihoods.The matter is not limited to land seizure, but extends to besieging these communities and isolating them from their surroundings. Military checkpoints, gates, closures, and restrictions on movement make access to schools, universities, hospitals, and health centers more difficult and costly, turning basic services into a daily burden that threatens the stability of residents and their ability to remain in their homes.The pressure increases through direct economic targeting, as farmers are often prevented from accessing their lands, cultivating them, tending to their livestock, or harvesting their crops. The cost of accessing workplaces outside the villages also rises, whether in terms of time, expenses, or risks. The result is continuous economic exhaustion that aims not only to impoverish the residents, but to gradually push them to leave their lands, thereby achieving internal or external displacement.In addition, there are daily attacks carried out by settler groups and the occupation army against villages and Bedouin communities, which include assaulting citizens, destroying crops, uprooting trees, burning vehicles, homes, and mosques, stealing livestock, and other acts of violence and intimidation that have become a daily reality in dozens of locations. The effects of these attacks are not limited to material losses, but aim to break the will of the residents and convince them that the cost of staying has become higher than their ability to endure.Through personal experience, and through communication with a large number of residents of these villages and communities, it is clear that these areas and their residents do not receive the attention required by the seriousness of the conditions they live under, whether from governmental bodies or from non-governmental and international institutions. While efforts are distributed among multiple files, this front, which represents the first line of defense for Palestinian land, remains in need of exceptional attention commensurate with its importance.What is required is not to diminish the importance of education, health, or other public services, as these are all indispensable pillars for building Palestinian society. However, preserving these sectors loses much of its value if we simultaneously lose the land they are supposed to serve, or allow it to be emptied of its inhabitants. The battle taking place today in many areas of the West Bank is not a battle of services, but a battle of existence, and its direct goal is to redraw the demographic and geographical map in favor of the Zionist settlement project.Therefore, rebuilding the hierarchy of priorities in light of resource scarcity should not be limited to distributing spending among sectors, despite its importance. Rather, it must start from a more fundamental question: where can every shekel, every project, and every governmental, non-governmental, or international effort achieve the greatest impact in protecting Palestinian existence? In my estimation, there is no more urgent answer today than supporting the steadfastness of villages, rural areas, and Bedouin communities threatened with confiscation and displacement, because they are not just population centers that need services, but rather the first lines of defense for Palestinian land and its political future. If the occupation succeeds in breaking their steadfastness, we will lose a part of the geography upon which the idea of the Palestinian state itself is based.