From time to time, the Palestine Center distributes articles it believes will enhance understanding of the Palestinian political reality. The following article by Nadia Hijab was published by Al-Shabaka on February 15, 2017.
“The poet Dylan Thomas urged his father – and all those approaching death – ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ but ‘rage, rage against the dying of the light.’ The death of the two-state solution has been foretold for nearly 20 years, after it became clear that Israel had signed on to the Oslo peace process in 1993 with no intention of allowing a sovereign Palestinian state.
And yet the light has refused to die. It has been in every country’s interest, including Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization/Palestine (PLO/Palestine), to maintain flickers of life in the two-state possibility despite Israel’s relentless colonization of the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) that has so far planted some 200 settlements and 600,000 settlers there, acts that constitute war crimes under international law.
For Palestinians living in the gray area of occupation the most basic freedoms of life, liberty, movement, health, and access to water, among others, are violated daily. Palestinian refugees and exiles are largely left to their fate, and the Palestinian citizens of Israel are expected to deal with the Israeli state’s discrimination and dispossession as best they can. Overall, the stagnation of the Palestinian body politic prevents effective, collective Palestinian action.“
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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Jerusalem Fund.
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