Soon after the joint US-British bombing campaign ‘Operation Desert Fox’ devastated parts of Iraq in Dec 1998, I was complaining to a friend in the lobby of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. I was disappointed with the fact that our busy schedule in Iraq – mostly visiting hospitals packed with injured or Depleted Uranium Victims - left me no time to purchase a few Arabic books for my little daughter back in the states.
Despite much saber-rattling by Israel and the US administration and hyped-up expectations by the Palestinian leadership, the recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state late last year is on its way to becoming yet another footnote in protracted conflict that has endured for 65 years.
The roots of a war are rarely simple. In Afghanistan what at first looked like retaliation turned out to be the first preemptive resource war of the 21st century.
To advance our understanding of what is transpiring in Arab and other countries in the region, we must let go of old definitions.
An Intifada has already been joined by thousands of Palestinian prisoners some of whom are shackled to their hospital beds. It offers little perks aside from a chance at dignity and a leap of faith towards freedom.
An authentic Palestinian narrative – one that is positioned within an original Palestinian history and articulated through Palestinian thought – is mostly absent from western media and to a lesser degree, academia.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019