On February 20, 2013, the Brookings Doha Center (BDC) hosted a policy discussion on the future of the Palestinian national project. Speakers assessed national efforts to end the Israeli occupation and achieve political reconciliation between opposing factions. Key national challenges were addressed against the backdrop of regional and international developments, such as the ongoing Arab Awakening and President Obama\u2019s upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank. The panel featured Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary-general of Fatah\u2019s Revolutionary Council, Ahmed Yousef, secretary-general of the House of Wisdom and former advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and Khaled Elgindy, fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. The discussion was moderated by BDC Director Salman Shaikh and attended by members of Qatar\u2019s diplomatic, academic, business and media communities.<\/p>\n
The debate opened with a discussion of Palestinian efforts, both past and present, to end the Israeli occupation. Barghouthi and Saidam agreed on the failure of peace negotiations and the role of popular non-violent resistance as a successful means of resisting the occupation, citing the protests at Bab al-Shams and recent hunger strikes as laudable examples. Barghouthi argued that the peace process had become a \u201csubstitute\u201d for peace and a \u201ccover\u201d for Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, which, he said, was giving way to a \u201cnew system of Apartheid.\u201d In order to end the occupation, he explained, Palestinians will need a new strategy that focuses on popular non-violent resistance, Palestinian unity, and a strong international solidarity campaign, as well as new economic policies to tackle high unemployment. Elgindy said there was growing consensus amongst the Palestinian people and leadership that \u201cold ways\u201d \u2013 namely, only negotiations or only armed struggle \u2013 had failed and that Palestinians \u201cneed to be much more creative on tactics to end the occupation.\u201d He pointed out that popular resistance is consonant to what is happening around the region. Yousef, however, argued that Palestinians could not surrender the \u201cmilitary option\u201d entirely and would therefore need to pursue a combination of violent and non-violent struggle in order to counter Israeli aggressions.<\/p>\n
When challenged about the two-state solution, participants proved highly skeptical regarding its future prospects. Saidam argued that Israel was rendering this formula impossible \u201cby etching a way through Palestinian geography.\u201d Barghouthi warned that if Israelis intended to \u201ckill\u201d the two-state solution, Palestinians would fight for a pre-Oslo single democratic state. Yousef, meanwhile, expressed a personal preference for a \u201cbi-national\u201d state, but also blamed \u201cZionists\u201d for the collapse of this project. When asked to reflect Hamas\u2019s stance, he said the party recognized Palestinian unity, pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as capital, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n
As the conversation turned to the issue of national reconciliation, the general consensus was that Palestinian unity was a vital driving force of the Palestinian national agenda. Saidam, for instance, said he was \u201cproud\u201d to reach out to Hamas and \u201cheal the wound\u201d of the last six to seven years. He stressed the importance of \u201cputting the Palestinian house in order\u201d and accomplishing national reconciliation \u201cin deeds, not words,\u201d stressing the need to revive and reform the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Barghouthi added that, in order to succeed, national reconciliation would require the establishment of a unity government headed by Mahmoud Abbas, followed by elections. Yousef agreed that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian National Initiative, and others should join the PLO in order for the organization to become a representative structure for Palestinian people \u201cinside and outside.\u201d He stressed the importance of ending divisions between factions; otherwise, he warned, \u201cthe street will revolt against the leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discussing President Obama\u2019s forthcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank, participants expressed disillusionment with U.S. policy on the Palestinian issue. Elgindy argued that, throughout recent history, Americans have sought to \u201cdepoliticize\u201d Palestinian politics. He said Obama and his administration should recognize Palestinian politics as a reality that should be accommodated \u201con some level,\u201d including recognition of the outcome of elections. He emphasized, however, that the United States would never \u201cdeliver\u201d Israel and that Palestinians should not await any major American initiative to end the conflict. Barghouthi said that President Obama should stop ignoring the Palestinian issue while supporting Israel \u201cunconditionally.\u201d Saidam stressed that the \u201crules of the game had changed\u201d and that America must come to terms with the fact that Hamas is now \u201cpart and parcel of the Palestinian political fabric.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked to assess the impact of the Arab Awakening on the Palestinian issue, Barghouthi expressed great optimism. He described it as a positive development for democracy and freedom of expression that worked in favor of the Palestinian cause, rather than overshadowing it. Saidam also expressed admiration for the changes across the Arab world, describing them as a source of inspiration for the Palestinian people. \u201cWe want to see democracy on the Arab streets,\u201d he added, \u201cbut don\u2019t forget us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaborating on Hamas\u2019s response to the uprisings, Yousef said the party was learning to benefit from the examples set by Islamists across the region. As newly-formed governments across the region struggle, he said, Hamas understands that the \u201conly option to succeed and survive is to form coalitions with liberals and seculars.\u201d Power-sharing with Fatah and other factions is the only way forward, he said, adding that Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt were supporting this choice and pushing Hamas to embrace reconciliation. When challenged on Hamas\u2019s relationship with Iran, Yousef explained that \u2013 though the party prefers to be independent \u2013 Iran had been the only country to provide them with support and funds for survival. Other Arab countries, he said, had isolated and abandoned them.<\/p>\n
The debate concluded with a discussion focusing on Israeli security in light of the changing regional environment. Elgindy stressed that only America had the power to reassure Israel, allowing it to make the kind of political concessions needed for a two-state solution without having to compromise Israel\u2019s security needs. Barghouthi retorted that threats to Israeli security were a \u201cmyth.\u201d With 400 nuclear warheads and the fifth largest army in the world, Israel is not a victim in the conflict, he said. He added that suicide, not combat, was the leading cause of death in the Israeli military. Saidam said Israel had to understand \u201cthat trouble in their backyard is trouble at home\u201d and that \u201csecurity without justice is nonsense.\u201d Barghouthi, finally, concluded that \u201cthe best guarantee for security is peace\u201d and that \u201cpeace can only be achieved if the Palestinians are free.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the floor was opened for questions, a member of the audience raised the issue of how to garner support from the Palestinian Diaspora for a two-state solution that \u201cclearly isn\u2019t working.\u201d Elgindy agreed on the need to invest in a new effort to create a Palestinian body that is fully representative \u2013 this will involve reincorporating the Palestinian Diaspora in the process, he said. Presenting the Palestinian people with a fait accompli would not be constructive, he argued, saying that \u201cyou need to have buy-in from all Palestinian constituencies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":72997,"template":"","class_list":["post-72996","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/72996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}