When Thinking Becomes Resistance... "On the Meaning of Thinking Politically in Palestine Today"

Social science researcher Khaled Odeh Allah urges thinking from scratch.

We are busy with life and the spinning of events and the acceleration of their pace has deprived people of the opportunity to think

What happened on October 7 and what followed is a temporal break in Palestinian history and a turning point that should not be easily overlooked.

"Political realism" is a concept that has been used to suppress radical alternatives, and everyone with power tries to define what is real according to their own standards.

Our crisis lies in the disconnect between politics and society. Politics does not begin with slogans, but with the people.

Thinking about the time of disappointment

In a time teeming with events, where the world presses on your nerves like one breath after another, one call seems difficult, heavy, but necessary: to think. To really think. Not to respond, not to comment, not to curse or cheer, but to think about what is happening and what is not happening. Here, in this narrow corner of the world, where death is collective and betrayal is also collective, thinking becomes resistance.

This is what Khaled Odeh Allah, a researcher in social sciences and their philosophy, sought to capture in a symposium titled "On the Meaning of Thinking Politically in Palestine Today." The symposium, organized by the Suleiman al-Halabi Department for Colonial Studies in collaboration with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, was held the evening before yesterday at the center's headquarters in Ramallah.

But don't expect to find a polished roadmap or a ready-made recipe for God's return. Rather, what you will find is "a dose of awareness carefully arranged, charged with the pain of history and its heavy questions," as he himself described it. A discourse that doesn't reassure, but rather disturbs; it doesn't entertain, but rather encourages a rethinking of the situation from scratch.

The painful scarcity of thinking

God's return begins with a shocking fact: that thinking, especially political thinking, is a rare and difficult act, and one that is not always possible. He says, "Thinking is a very difficult task, and if a person reflects on himself over a long period of time, he will discover that he does not think all the time. Indeed, thinking, in its deepest sense—that is, examining one's premises and measuring their logic—is not an everyday occurrence, but a rare occurrence."

We live in a consumerist age, not just in food and clothing, but also in attitudes and emotions. The return of God describes this reality by saying, "We are preoccupied with life and the fast pace of this age. Something is happening all the time, but not every event is important. In fact, the recycled nature of events and their accelerating pace have deprived people of the opportunity to reflect."

Genocide as a research file

But the moment of October 7th broke this rhythm. It was not a passing event, but a moment of rupture. He said, "What happened on October 7th and what followed is a temporal rupture in Palestinian history, a turning point that should not be easily overlooked." It was a moment that exploded everything we considered constant, and brought us face to face with the weakness of our tools and the limited understanding of our enemy and ourselves.

What's more difficult, according to Awdatallah, is that the genocide in Gaza, despite its horror, has not been sufficiently invested in reconstructing a genuine political action. On the contrary, "genocide has become a subject of research, emptied of its moral and existential dimensions, and treated as an academic field, rather than as a crime requiring accountability and radical political action."

Realism as a tool of oppression

Awdat Allah warns against the repetitive talk of massacres becoming a means of perpetuating helplessness: “The constant focus on genocide can be used to reinforce a collective sense of helplessness, as if it were a major crime that no human effort could counter, thus justifying inaction and inaction.”

Awdatallah did not neglect to question the concept of "political realism," which has long been used to suppress radical alternatives. He said, "There is no such thing as realism in its absolute sense. Realism is not what exists, but rather what is established through struggle. Everyone who possesses power tries to define what is real according to their own standards."

He then turns to the question of will, saying, "One of the biggest questions we must face is: Why did we fail? Why couldn't we stop the massacre? This is a question that concerns not only elites, but all of society." He added, "Political failure at an institutional moment like this must be dismantled, not hushed up, and must be confronted, not postponed."

Politics starts with the people

Politics, in his view, is not merely an institutional or organizational project, but rather "a collective practice linked to society, beginning with its foundations, its daily relationships, and the rebuilding of broken ties." Hence his sharp criticism of the idea of reducing the crisis of the Palestinian national project to a crisis of political representation. He says, "Our crisis is not only in who represents whom, but in the severing of the relationship between politics and society, and in the disruption of the foundation upon which the elites are based."

Therefore, he calls for a return to "politics as a life practice, beginning at the university, the neighborhood, the small gathering, the cultural encounter, and building new solidarity relationships." Politics, he asserts, "does not begin with slogans, but with the people."

He then arrives at a crucial point when he says, "If consciousness is not translated into a change in human existence, then consciousness turns into schizophrenia." By this, he means that a person may possess a revolutionary consciousness, but live a life unrelated to it, resulting in a distortion of self and a formal sense of belonging.

Thinking on the brink of extinction

Awda Allah concluded with a subtle reference to our current situation: “We have reached a moment where preserving what remains of Palestinian society itself, not the state project, is the essence of political action,” emphasizing that “rebuilding politics does not begin with grand solutions, but rather with a new foundation, with encounter, with recognition of a threatening reality, and with a long-term commitment that does not demand immediate results, but rather requires seriousness, honesty, and clarity.”

So, what does it mean to think politically about Palestine today?

Perhaps, as God's return said, it is to "rethink from scratch." To re-deconstruct what we take for granted and refuse to accept what we are told is "realistic." To practice politics not as a profession, but as a moral responsibility before death, before history, and before those who remain.

To think, not because thinking is a luxury, but because it is the last thing left before extinction.