Palestinian presidential elections are looming, and several Palestinian groups have announced that they will boycott the elections, including Islamic Jihad and Hamas, who scored victories in the recent municipal elections. Their motives for boycotting may be complex and manifold, but there is at least one compelling argument among them: Why even consider voting for a government that will have no sovereignty?
The Palestinian Territories are completely surrounded by Israelis, and not just surrounded, they are mostly under partial or total siege: Gaza is fenced in with barbed wire. Unmanned aerial vehicles, armed with cameras and missiles, constantly patrol the territories, as do helicopter gunships and F-16 jet fighters. The illegal checkpoint at Qalandia, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, like most other Israeli checkpoints, is obviously there for no other reason than to quickly enable a total military siege of the Palestinian city. The four- to eight-metre concrete wall being completed by Israel is not only there to contain the indigenous people, but also to elicit claustrophobia.
To speak of 'limited sovereignty' under such appalling conditions will always be dangerously close to hypocrisy, and even to betraying the basic Palestinian cause, that of collective survival.
According to Akiva Eldar: 'Sharon's Bantustans Are Far from Copenhagen's Hope', Ha'aretz, May 14, 2003, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon proudly and explicitly, yet privately, proclaimed to Italy's previous prime minister, Massimo D'Alema, that the South African apartheid Bantustan model was to be imposed by him on the Palestinians. In fact, Israel came the closest ever of all countries in the world to officially recognizing a South African Bantustan, but strong US pressure made Israel leave it at a diplomatic representation - rather than an embassy - of Bophuthatswana in Tel Aviv in the 1980s. The political and military elites in Israel know from history exactly what they are doing with the Palestinians.
The Bantustans were dismantled by South Africa's first democratic government in the 1990s. They had in reality been little more than concentration camps, given 'sovereignty' by the South African government in the 1970s and -80s in order to expel unwanted millions of Blacks from their own home country, and let them perish under overcrowded conditions on bits of agriculturally nearly useless land, whilst completely surrounded by South African white settlers and troops. Nearly every Bantustan consisted of several pieces of land, separated by white-owned farms or military installations. Bophuthatswana had nineteen fragments, some hundreds of miles apart; KwaZulu comprised twenty-nine major and forty-one minor fragments.
Another parallel to the present Palestinian situation, even more depressing, is that of the 'Indian reservations', in the USA. Tens of thousands of Native Americans were intentionally killed whilst herded on to these next to useless pieces of land. These were innocent people, 'guilty' only of being indigenous. The natives were not allowed to vote or even to leave the reservations until they had been made to dwindle collectively to a single per cent of the overall US population, i.e. well into the 20th century.
Palestine today consists of four (or so) Bantustans or reservations, each one also split into numerous fragments by the invaders. Back to the Palestinian election: Shouldn't unity be the priority under such a serious threat? Perhaps so. But is the election not just playing into the hands of the occupier, providing a tool for him to divide and conquer further?
Answer: yes, it could. But it does not have to do so. And here come the two crucial differences between the Palestinian territories and the South African Bantustans:
Firstly, the Palestinians have a track record already of democracy and relatively transparent and accountable public institutions and rule. Despite what readers of the Wall Street Journal might think - they recently (November 9) learned about the late President Arafat, in a kind of editorial obituary (!), that he was a 'warlord'; he was actually elected into office with a much stronger mandate than G.W. Bush, and with a more open, competitive system of voting, as well. This in a territory under military occupation! But the Israelis are not to be thanked for this modern-day miracle. The international community, perhaps especially the United Nations, have played a pivotal role in enabling democracy in Palestine. The Palestinian democracy could in fact strengthen Palestinian unity, because the people's representative will really be the people's representative, i.e. if the elections are free and fair, and if participation is high. The South African Bantustans had neither democratic elections nor accountable governments. Instead, their ruthless dictators were hand-picked by the apartheid government or instated by means of military coups coordinated with the white government in Pretoria.
Secondly, Palestinian statehood is guaranteed under international law. It therefore has a legitimacy and formal guarantee of non-interference by the occupier, which the victims of South African apartheid lacked. This second condition must not necessarily be seen as an unmixed blessing. It has enabled Israel to deny Palestinians in the Occupied Territories citizen's rights, and even human rights, since 1967. In effect, it has enabled Israel to stall peacemaking efforts. But it is a reality, one that should guarantee Palestinians freedoms of which, for example, Kurds or Northern Irish Catholics, or Native Americans, may only dream. The international community is more likely to finally start respecting those freedoms if Palestinian statehood is buttressed by democratic, transparent, and accountable institutions.
There are some additional reasons to vote. There is a definite democracy deficit in the region, in fact in the whole world, and Palestinians could teach Israel, as well as for instance, Egypt, Jordan, and others, including (why not?) the USA, a thing or two about true democracy and its virtues. Palestinians certainly have much to teach the region and the world. And this is as good a time as any to start something new in this regard.
Believing in Jerusalem
Date posted: May 27, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.
Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.
Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.
The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.
The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.
What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.
Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.
The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.
That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Let Mohammed rest in peace
Date posted: May 20, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.
The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.
My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.
Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.
Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.
That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Recognition and justice is our demand
Date posted: May 13, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.
This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.
It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.
But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.
We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
