Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

It seems the Palestinian people want nothing more than statehood.

At the recent Arab economic summit at the Dead Sea, that’s all King Abdullah talked about–statehood for Palestine. The prime minister of Jordan met yesterday with U.S. congressional aides to discuss Palestinian statehood. The Jordan Times has taken to mentioning the subject somewhere in every edition. And this week’s Zogby column is on the subject of Palestinian statehood.

Why then is Palestine not a country already? What is preventing their leadership from declaring independence? It seems that the Palestinian people are being ill-served by their leaders if they truly want independence and their leaders aren’t giving it to them. Why do they continue to cry about it on the world stage but do nothing?

Reminds me of the much-quoted statement of Jordan’s first king, Abdullah I, who in 1937 wrote in a letter to the president of the Young Men’s Muslim Association in Egypt:

O Brother in Islam, the pillars of Zionism in Palestine are three: the Balfour promise; the European nations that have decided to expel the Jews from their lands and direct them to Palestine; and the extremists among the Arabs who do not accept any solution, but simply weep and howl, calling for help from those who cannot do them any good. So behold Palestine, breathing its last!

So is that it? Some sort of national trait that makes the Palestinians eternal complainers who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity? It seems that with the Hamas takeover of Gaza and the expulsion of Hamas extremists from the West Bank government, one of Abdullah’s pillars obstructing Palestine–the extremist element–has been dealt with. Surely this is another opportunity, if only Palestine’s leadership would wake up in time.

Every successful liberation movement in the world knows this fact: No one gives you your rights; you have to take them.

So what are the excuses being bandied about for not declaring Palestinian independence right now?

It has been said that Palestine could not win a war of independence against Israel. But Palestine has attacked Israel multiple times, fighting several wars and two intifadas without any well-defined objective. They are willing to fight for nothing, but not for independence?

It has been said that there are still Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas. So what? There are Palestinians in Israel, some of them even in the Knesset. Palestinians don’t like the Jewish settlers, but neither do the Israelis. The settlers are difficult. Nobody likes them.

And the Jewish Israelis find the Israeli Palestinians difficult, cooperating in private but unleashing barrages of bombastic rhetoric in public. Still Israel attempts to guarantee the rights of the Palestinian Israelis and tries to protect them. Surely the Palestinians can accept a few settlers as citizens, if the settlers would be willing to stay on those terms…

It has been said that Palestinians do not want a two state solution. That’s not what the latest Zogby International poll says, but supposing it was true? How would Palestine declaring independence have any effect whatsoever on the question of statehood for Israel? Preventing Palestine from becoming a nation does not prevent Israel from becoming a nation. It only prevents Palestine from becoming a nation.

With independence secured, Palestine could then go about its other international priority: the right of return. Many say the “right of return” is just a red herring to try to get some compensation from the international community for those who have been displaced. But I say you can have real return. controlled by the Palestinian government. They can set up a department to do nothing but study return. Not everybody all at once, of course. They could start with the businessmen who have been successful somewhere else . The Palestinians have been called the “Jews of the Arab world” for their skill with business. Just as the Jews were once the only religious group that could trade because of Christian prohibitions on charging interest, business leaders from the Palestinian diaspora have become adept at what they do. Surely some of their skills could be harnessed to build a new Palestine.

Palestine has wasted too much time and energy throwing useless stones at Israel instead of tending their own garden. Palestinian leadership needs to get a vision of what they can be. They need to communicate that vision to their people and to the world. And then they need to get off their butts and make a country.

I get so frustrated with these Palestinians. Hey, Palestine: JUST DO IT.