Another historic mistake?
Op-ed: Launching ‘Facebook Intifada’ will mark yet another missed opportunity for Palestinians
The Palestinian Authority is closer than ever to eliciting international recognition as an independent state. According to estimates by UN and EU officials cooperating with the US Administration, in September Mahmoud Abbas will be able to declare himself president of the independent state of Palestine, as long as the Palestinians “conduct themselves as expected of them.”
The PA is also close to receiving unprecedented financial grants. Many states intend to participate or contribute to the second Paris Conference, which will convene in about two months, in order to enable Abbas and his future independent administration to serve as an economic sovereign and not only as a political entity.
Current President Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad refused to adopt the longtime path of Yasser Arafat, who adhered to the notion of “first a state, then the economy.” They proved to their people that there is no contradiction between the two, unless one is a zealous revolutionary like Arafat, who schemed against the peace treaty he signed.
Abbas and Fayyad advanced the West Bank’s economy and upgraded the quality of life of some of its residents. However, their mission is far from being completed, and they’re pinning their hopes on the upcoming developments mentioned above. Indeed, the current situation inspires hope.
However, alongside this optimistic picture, some are trying to highlight the graying skies above the West Bank. Palestinian opposition groups, not necessarily from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, along with Arab and Israeli media outlets, are pointing to May 15 (“Nakba Day”) as the date of the next Intifada’s outbreak.
Unrestrained national zeal
Should such Intifada indeed erupt, it will be known as the “Facebook Intifada,” with hundreds of thousands of Facebook users endorsing a third round of uprising. But against who? On this front too, the Palestinians registered a unique patent. The “online protestors” are indeed following the example of Arab youths in the Middle East who rose up against the corrupt regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria, yet when it comes to marking the target, their objective is not Abbas, but rather…Israel. Hence, the protest will be directed at Netanyahu and Barak of all people.
Will this mark yet another missed historical opportunity, one of many that the Palestinians made sure to miss through dozens of years of conflict? Logic dictates that the outbreak of a new Intifada will constitute an unprecedented campaign of political suicide by West Bank residents, and hence they will avoid it. Yet in every similar junction in the past, the Peel Commission (1937,) the Partition Plan (1947) or the Oslo Accords (1993-1995,) it wasn’t logic that guided the actions of the Palestinian leaderships and people who followed them, but rather, unrestrained national zeal.
This outbreak of emotion gave rise to terms like Nakba (disaster) and Intifada (uprising.) The target has always been Israel, Zionism and the Jews.
The upcoming months will serve as a true test for the Palestinian leadership and public. Abbas and Fayyad will be tested on their ability to lead a historic turning point within Arab society in the West Bank. It will certainly not be easy for those two, who in recent months constantly praised and lauded Palestinian martyrs and named squares after the murderers of Israelis, to suddenly switch to preaching for peace as if they were Mother Teresa’s brothers.
However, these two figures have no choice but to present a national alternative that replaces the Palestinian Authority with a State and offers a socioeconomic alternative to Hamastan in Gaza and its social and economic ills. On our 63rd Independence Day, while watching a good show or attending a good barbecue, we’ll have to sneak a peek at what goes on with our eastern neighbors.
Moshe Elad is a national security studies lecturer at the Western Galilee Academic College. In the past, he held several senior posts in the “territories”
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