The children of Hebron and their President Hebronite friends are reporting that during the brutal military round up in Hebron and the arrest of hundreds of alleged Hamas activists and supporters, the most interesting feature was not the behavior of the occupation army but the reaction of the local youth. One would have expected that such a massive military presence would terrorize the young men and women of Hebron, but, in fact, it was the exact opposite. During hours the young Hebronite made lough of the soldiers and cursed them, calling them, in a very non PC language, men without balls, cowards, and provocatively raising on their face the new three-fingers sign (for the 3 kidnapped Israelis). It seems that fear is over for the Palestinian new generation, certainly in Hebron, but in other places too: in Ramallah, Palestinian youth stoned a PA official building, as a protest against the collaboration of the Palestinian police with the Israeli army in the arrests of the Hamas activists. In a sharp contrast: at the same moment the police of Mahmud Abbas was taking part in an Israeli round up against alleged Hamas activists, all over the West Bank. Lets remind that in the last general as well as local elections Hamas got more votes than the party of President Abbas. President? Mahmud Abbas mandate is over since several years… Unlike the great Palestinian intellectual Edward said, I never labeled Palestinian leadership as collaborators. In my opinion, it is an extremely serious accusation, that must be used very carefully when one evaluate the fate of a national liberation movement leadership. Post factum, I think that the behavior of Yasser Arafat in his last years proved that Said was for once wrong: despite huge US and Arab pressures, the Palestinian leader refused to give up on principle matters, and was ready to pay the price – his marginalization and, ultimately, what looks as an assassination. Today, however, I am asking myself whether the political behavior of Mahmud Abbas didnt cross the line and whether his blatant cooperation with the Israeli security forces shouldnt be labeled as mere collaboration. In the last instance, it is on the Palestinian people, to evaluate the situation and draw the conclusions. One thing for sure: the courageous youth of Hebron deserves a better political representation. Published in Alternativenews, June 29, 2014
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:15:53 +0000