A slice of Palestinian politics over Christmas dinner

Omar H. Rahman By Omar H. Rahman December 25, 2011 | Edit

What’s happening and where are we going in the new year? An excerpt from Christmas dinner.

A snippet of conversation from Christmas dinner at my family home near Washington DC: someone asked me what the situation is currently like on the ground in Palestine.

I answered that (in my slightly jaded opinion) we are dealing with a situation in which all the political parties are ideologically bankrupt, having nothing new to offer the people as their own ideas (negotiations, armed resistance, leftist ideologies, respectively) have all proven ineffective. At the same time, those in power in the West Bank and Gaza are unwilling to concede an inch of space to those Palestinians entering the fray with fresh ideas. The situation in the near future, in my opinion, will be an internal struggle among Palestinians for the future direction of Palestinian resistance.

Someone else piped in that yesterday (now the day before yesterday) Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas’ politburo in Damascus, said publicly that the organization is looking into civil disobedience as the way forward. Having proved itself an effective tool in the Arab Spring, with successes in the occupied territories, it appears that unarmed resistance and civil disobedience may be the best strategy for ridding ourselves of military occupation.

And so we see that the process of reformulation is already beginning. I believe that over the next few months we will see a greater effort at reconciliation, bringing Hamas into the PLO, elections, and the slow redevelopment of the Palestinian body-politic and strategic processes in 2012. It is either that or stagnation. I hope for the former.

Omar H. Rahman

Omar H. Rahman is a journalist based in Palestine, covering the socio-political issues of the Middle East. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, the Guardian, Rolling Stone (ME), Al Jazeera English, and The National among many other publications. Before arriving in the Middle East, Omar was a television correspondent on contract with the Associated Press in Washington DC, where he covered American politics and society. He began his career in journalism as an intern for Al Jazeera television in Washington DC. Omar continues to explore the field of journalism by engaging in all media platforms, including a growing interest in photography and new media.

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