Blowin’ in the Wind?

We got to stand in the back of a meeting of Bethlehem people concerned about human rights for refugees. It was entirely in Arabic which would have left us wondering what was going on, were it not for our friend Mazin who stood next to us and translated. So we could get much of what was being said. We also read a lot of fierce body language and tones of voice. 

Some of what we heard:

• 60% of Palestinians are displaced from their homes (i.e., refugees). This includes many who are not living in refugee camps.
• It is understood that it doesn’t matter who the US president is - nothing will change the ongoing nakba.
• The Palestinian Authority (PA) is considered a shameful collaborator with Israel, most egregiously in its recent coordinated attack with the IDF in Jenin. The fact that the PA doesn’t represent Palestinians (in fact, attacks them) begs the question of who will represent the interests of refugees. 
• Everyone seemed to agree that Palestinian leadership is pitiful and that the Palestinian people need a grassroots movement, taking matters into their own hands. People need to organize themselves all over Palestine to petition the world for self-determination, the right of return, and equal human rights. The call is for a popular mobilization within Palestine. The time of the PA is over.
• Even so, there is a recognition that many Palestinians just want to live their lives and are not into active resistance. So the group asked the question - how can we mobilize them? [This sounds familiar to me as an activist in the US].
• There were comments about the 2-state solution being a farce that needed to be rejected in favor of a one democratic state solution. One person said that he believed the 2-state solution to be an international strategy meant to pacify Palestinians and reduce them to yet another form of confinement and control. Or to keep hoping for the impossible. The idea of a 2-state solution has been a charade for 30 years now since Oslo. It is a mirage.
• There is great concern and anger about the efforts to eliminate UNRWA.

After the meeting, I heard conversation about PA intelligence being seen in the room and the assumption that Israel and the US probably also had spies in the room. One person said that 9 of the 10 people facing the room from the table in front had been in Israeli prisons. This is what occupation looks like.

It felt good to hear the passionate voices of resistance in the room. At the same time, knowing how Israel and the US are so hell bent on ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, I also had a foreboding sense of dread. Could it be that these brave and dignified people were telling each other answers that were just blowin’ in the wind?

By the way, the meeting was held in the Putin Center, a Russian building near its embassy and cultural center in Bethlehem. Pretty telling.