Democratic partnership is the gateway to national unity

It is no exaggeration to say that the Palestinian people are facing the most serious challenge in their history since the occurrence of the Nakba in 1948. The rulers of Israel, through their behavior and statements, leave no room for doubt about their intentions, to liquidate the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people, to annex and Judaize what remains of Palestine, and to try to subject the Palestinians, as Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, to one of three options: “either departure, or complete submission to Israeli fascism, or death.” The Israeli fascist ministers also crossed the lines of calling for colonial expansion. Comprehensive settlement, annexation and Judaization to demand gradual ethnic cleansing, and the use of settler terrorism as a means to achieve this.

The government of Israel went beyond its imposition of restoring its military and security control over the so-called Areas (A) to imposing its civil control as well, and this is the significance of Smotrich's statements before the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee in the Israeli Knesset, that he wants to restrict Palestinian construction not only in Areas (C), but in the entire West Bank.

These statements confirm, what we have said repeatedly, the death of the Oslo Accords and Israel's intention to annex the entire West Bank.

It is important here to point out that the Israeli opposition, which opposes the judicial changes, supports the behavior and actions of the Israeli government in everything related to the Palestinians, settler colonialism, and the killing and abuse attacks against the residents of the West Bank, the latest of which was the brutal attack on the Jenin camp, as well as against the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian national movement will not be able to face this historic challenge and the fierce attacks of the Zionist movement, without unifying its ranks and energies. No force, regardless of its capabilities and sacrifices, can face this challenge alone.

Likewise, no force, whatever its history, has the right to claim the exclusive right to lead the Palestinian people and their just struggle.

It is no secret to anyone that the Palestinian internal division is the greatest factor of Palestinian weakness exploited by Israel and all the enemies of the Palestinian people, and the most reason behind which all those who fail to support the rights of the Palestinian people, and those who normalize with the fascist occupation government, hide behind it.

There are internal Palestinian differences in visions and convictions, and in interests as well. There are cases that adhere to visions that events and life have proven to be a complete failure, out of concern for individual interests, and sometimes factionalism.

But what is definitely proven, after all that happened, and what we have seen of successive brutal invasions of West Bank cities, repeated wars on the Gaza Strip, and dangerous expansion of settlement terrorism, is that the Zionist movement targets everyone without exception, including the interests of those who still cling to the illusion of the possibility of reaching a compromise with the Zionist movement.

In light of the existing political pluralism in the Palestinian arena, and pluralism is a healthy phenomenon, diversity and difference can be a source of weakness through division, or a source of strength through unity.
In order to get out of the circle of division, and by that I mean not only the division that took place in 2007, but the deeper division that crystallized after the signing of the Oslo Accords, there is no solution other than accepting the principle of democratic partnership, partnership in making political and militant decisions, and partnership in formulating a national strategy of struggle and joint resistance.

All of this is achievable if the collective national interest takes precedence over all factional, partisan, and individual interests, and if the sense of common danger is translated into action, a joint program of action and struggle, and a unified national leadership, to thwart the Zionist attack on the Palestinian people and their future.

There is great doubt among the masses of the Palestinian people about the meeting of the Palestinian forces scheduled to be held at the end of this month of July in Cairo. These masses cannot be blamed for their feelings of doubt and anxiety, after witnessing repeated meetings of the same forces, which end in failure, or in agreements that are not implemented so that everyone returns to the circle of division and exchange of accusations.

And if, God forbid, the next Cairo meeting ends in another failure, the anger of the Palestinian masses, after all that happened in Jenin and elsewhere, will be great and sweeping.

For all of this, and based on the interest of the Palestinian people in blocking the road to Israeli fascism, it is the duty of everyone to make every possible effort to make this last opportunity a success and an entry point for a new approach and path, and a unified national strategy of resistance, that adopts the principle of democratic partnership within a unified national framework, and a unified national leadership, and paves the way for giving the Palestinian people their usurped right in democratic elections for their leaders.

There are four indicators, prior to the Cairo meeting, that can suggest seriousness and keenness for the success of that meeting. The first of these is the immediate release of political detainees and an end to the phenomenon of political arrests.

The second is to stop the mutual media campaigns, which have crossed all limits.

The third is the willingness to give enough time to the national dialogue, so that it reaches tangible and specific results, which people see in implementation and not in statements and agreements that are not implemented.

The fourth is a clear declaration by all the participating forces to agree to the principle of democratic partnership and put it into practice, within the framework of a unified national leadership, whose work continues to take and implement collective decisions, and to lead the joint national struggle. This does not detract from the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization, but rather restores its dignity.

Once again, we repeat, no one will benefit us unless we benefit ourselves, and what scratch your skin is like your fingernail, and the lesson is in implementation and application, not in constructive words that are blown away by the wind.