Q: What is the political situation in Palestine after the massacre in Gaza?

Interview with Khaled Al Seifi, co-founder of Ibdaa Cultural Center dheisheh camp


Q: What is the political situation in Palestine after the massacre in Gaza?

A: I believe that the problem is much bigger than the massacre in Gaza. It started way before then. There is a general policy in the Sharon government that whenever there is a political solution on the horizon, or there is a possibility to find a solution to the conflict, Sharon acts stupidly to maintain the situation of ‘not war but not peace’.

We must go back and look at who is the other party involved. Is this party going to sit down at the negotiating table or hold a weapon to our chests? Historically, Sharon has committed many massacres and has publicly admitted that the Palestinians are his sworn enemy. He does not have any political future without a state of war. And to prove my point, there have been several surveys done that show that Sharon’s popularity sinks when there is a possibility of going back to the negotiating table. Only when there is political unrest does his popularity increase. But the blessed Intifada has proven Sharon wrong, for the security plans to stop it and the so-called Palestinian terrorism has completely failed.

Sharon came into power at a time of extreme unrest and a bloody conflict. This man cannot survive without a constant state of war. If the time came to sit at the negotiating table and find a political solution to the conflict, Sharon will have nothing to contribute, for he represents the Israeli right, and cannot sit down at the table because that would be political suicide. The Israeli Right are the people who demand the killing of more Palestinians, deportations, house demolitions, and collective punishment.

For example when Netanyahu and Barak ran for elections in the Knesset, the huge support for Barak was because a political solution was imminent. But when Sharon ran for elections, even with minimal support from his Likud Party, he won with a huge margin. He had strong support and invaded Barak’s world, which means that the Israeli public is greatly affected by the immediate reality that they live in.

It is in Sharon’s interest to maintain a state of instability to ensure his own survival. In the last period of Israeli oppression of the Palestinian people and economic strangulation, Sharon was able to temporarily limit military strikes within Israel. But he is dillusional, he thinks that he can completely stop it. He may have won the stage, but the continued strangulation of the Palestinian people will in the long term create a new reality and a new generation of fighters. I do not tie the phenomena of martyrs with religion or a political faction, but rather with the economic suffering in which the Palestinians live. In other words, the martyrs came from very poor commuities that had suffered greatly, although they are highly educated and most of them carried college degrees. In spite of the continued siege and curfews on the Palestinians, Sharon has not been able to benefit his people. Due to the relative quiet that the Palestinians and Israelis were experiencing, there were several peace proposals coming from the Europeans, the Arabs, and even the Americans with the official endorsement of the Palestinian Authority. And this international pressure resulted in certain compliance from different Palestinian resistance groups that practice so-called terrorism. And this produced such statements as in when Shaykh Ahmed Yassin said, Hamas is willing to stop martyr bombings. This statement shows willingness to go back to the negotiating table. And this is the complete opposite of what Sharon wants, thus he must create or re-create instability with such crimes as what happened in Gaza. In my opinion, we will witness a period of unrest and continuous attempts to respond from several Palestinian political factions to the massacre in Gaza. Just like a game of ping-pong with action and reaction. Exactly like what Sharon did when he entered Al Alqsa mosque not for religious reasons, but because he knew what the reaction would be. To return to a bloody cycle that would extend his political life. But in return, this will make him lose Israeli public support, because it will not serve their interests. But I do not mean to belittle the massacre for they are still finding children in the ruins of their homes. Sharon stated that the military attack was the most successful and that Israel must prepare itself for attacks inside Israel. Thus he knew that such reactions are natural. What happened in Gaza erases all Saudi, Jordanian, and Egyptian pressures on the different Palestinian factions in the past several months. It also gave the Palestinian political factions two sources of fuel, the ability to respond and the resources to respond because Palestinians now, more than ever are willing to be involved in lethal attacks on Israel.