In Commemoration of the Al-Aqsa Flood: Towards a Deep and Bold Review

In commemoration of the Al-Aqsa flood, the Palestinian situation requires a deep and bold review of it and of the experiences that preceded it since the launch of the Palestinian revolution until today: Where did we go wrong and where did we succeed? Why has the Palestinian people not triumphed despite decades of resistance, sacrifices, immense suffering, and heroic valor? What are the requirements for a new start capable of victory? It is not sufficient to summarize the situation by saying that the flood caused a catastrophe and human extermination, nor to say that the Oslo option and negotiations caused a catastrophe and political extermination. What happened is that all strategies have reached a dead end, as evidenced by the fact that the state of the issue on the ground of conflict is worse than it was before Oslo. It is not useful to hold negotiations solely responsible, even though they bear a large share of the blame, nor to hold resistance solely responsible, as resistance is a means and not an end, and treating it and negotiations as an end is one of the major mistakes. It is true that the resistance has made significant mistakes and has not triumphed, but without it, the issue would not have remained alive, half of the people would not have remained on their homeland, and the issue would not have been carried by its children inside and outside. Without it, it would have remained a humanitarian issue concerning individuals, not a cause for a people with rights, foremost among them the right to self-determination. This is precisely what is sought today: to return it to a humanitarian issue concerning individuals and an authority managing them under occupation, until the Zionist colonial project, which is still open, can complete its major goals. This project has not yet achieved them: it has not gathered all or most of the Jews in the 'Promised Land,' nor has it displaced all or most of the Palestinians. However, it seeks to expel as many of them as possible so that its entity can be a pure Jewish state, practicing apartheid against those Palestinians who remain under its sovereignty, and not posing a threat of turning into a bi-national state or a state for all its citizens. After the deep and bold review, it is essential to formulate a comprehensive vision that includes a new formulation of the national project, defining the political program, and deriving from it a unified leadership and institutions, along with appropriate strategies. Lessons Learned The foundational principle: The unity of the issue, land, people, and historical narrative is the cornerstone. Dimensions of the issue: The issue is Palestinian in face, Arab in heart, and global in its dimensions and aspects. It is not permissible to obscure its Palestinian character, nor to exaggerate its 'Palestinization' to the extent that its Arab, liberation, and humanitarian dimensions are neglected. Immediate goals: Major goals do not negate the importance of defining achievable immediate goals, the accumulation of which leads to the major goals. This should not be based on the principle of 'something is better than nothing,' nor on the principle of 'everything or nothing.' Forms of struggle: They are not idols to be worshiped but means to achieve goals. Those that are adopted must be mixed between right and feasibility, and according to their ability to achieve the goals. Resistance and negotiations: Resistance plants and negotiations harvest; those who do not plant do not harvest. National unity: Unity based on common denominators, within a single national framework that is pluralistic, participatory, and democratic, is neither impossible nor a luxury nor an unnecessary matter; rather, it is the law of victory for any national liberation movement. The national character of the issue: Its fundamental nature is national, and it is capable of uniting the national liberal, national Islamic, national Arab, and national international currents, without being an appendage to any of them. Interconnection of tasks: Achieving national liberation tasks takes a long time due to the nature of the conflict, the size of the enemy, and the imbalance of power. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the national from the democratic and social, nor to meet the tasks of national liberation while neglecting the tasks of democratic building. Justice of the issue and non-alignment: The issue is just and morally superior, gathering support from diverse parties. Therefore, it should not be aligned with one axis against another, but rather serve as a basis for rallying support from different axes. International transformations: The old unipolar world is collapsing, and a multipolar world is advancing, even if it is not always a straight path forward at the desired speed. It is a continuous path that will end in a better world than the old one. Care must be taken to ensure that Palestine is on its new map, which is not guaranteed if the Palestinians do not act wisely. Democracy: Democracy is a necessity, foremost among which is elections. However, what suits liberation movements facing existential challenges and dangers is consensus democracy based on the rules of front work, not the principle of 'the majority rules and the minority opposes,' which suits independent sovereign states.