The cultural and political identity of the Palestinians

People in their fifties have witnessed this same cycle – of Israeli brutality, Arab disunity, recklessness of armed Palestinian groups, and allegations of Western conspiracies  – countless times.

And yet there are more scenes of death, bereavement and grief. They become more grotesque each time, as discussions about the "collusion of regimes" goes on around them.

Once again, the politics of all this suffering leaves us on the brink of the abyss, with around 2.5mn tormented individuals trapped in the ever-more prison-like confines of the Gaza Strip.

It comes after wasted decades of missed opportunities that can seem to diminish the enormity of the Palestinian tragedy. Amid these new and horrific signs of the sheer scale of the human sorrow this creates, we should take a moment to reflect on how this has happened.

Arab disunity

The considerable diversity in how the Palestinian cause is perceived and positioned within the framework of Arab interests and issues makes achieving any unity very challenging.

Rather than a source of strength, the notion of Arab unity over the cause has become a liability. Daily, there are articles and television programmes which ask a question that reveals the depths of the lack of understanding – why don't the inhabitants of Gaza and the West Bank simply relocate to vast Arab nations and cede their territories to tiny Israel. Call it the "Palestinian Question".  

It is easy to ask and deeply simplistic. Meaningful explanations of the complexities of modern Arab history – which might provide proper understanding along with an answer – would take much more time.

All lives are equal

The people who ask the Palestinian Question, which resurfaces periodically, have questions of their own to answer: Do they recognise that we are a diverse people with distinct customs, traditions, histories, interests, orientations, and religions? Do they understand that the distinctions among us are comparable to those between the rest of the countries and peoples of the world?

It seems that some writers and intellectuals of the West simply disregard the right of Palestinians to establish their own state on their own territory and a full political identity to match their cultural characteristics. It is the lack of that status that sets the Palestinians apart from the other populations in the region.

The frequent reappearance of the Palestinian Question does not stem from ignorance of the region's realities. It comes from a troubling trend that is gaining prominence worldwide: a diminishing recognition of the equal worth of every human life.

This trend is revealed when people advocate the bombing of hospitals and then when there is a global silence on the atrocities that follow. It is on show when the elimination of hundreds of terrorists is prioritised over safeguarding thousands and thousands of civilian lives. It can be seen when there is a willingness to allow open-ended, urban warfare in one of the world's most densely populated places if it guarantees Israeli security.

These developments signify a departure from universal values and a preference for power-driven standards that draw deadly distinctions between various groups of people.

A lurch to the right

The rise of extreme right-wing and populist movements on a global scale – alongside the widespread dissemination of a culture that endorses violence – has led to a disturbing acceptance of the killing of Palestinians under the pretext of targeting their leadership tied to a terrorist organisation.

Amid this shift, even groups with a historical record of anti-Semitism are now fervently supporting Israel's violent actions, invoking its right to self-defence.

This journey – from anti-Semitism to hostility toward at Arabs, Muslims, and their current most prominent representative, the Palestinians – has been remarkably short.

It is marked by malice, cruelty, a disdain for the "other," the prioritisation of base instincts, and a level of selfishness not witnessed since the eras of forced slavery and direct colonization.

Unfortunately, any proposed or enforced solution within our Arab communities is met with the same patterns of rhetoric, minimal tangible action, and a heavy toll in the form of the suffering of children, violated hospitals, and external manipulation of destiny.

And all the while, ominous clouds loom on the horizon, as the thunderous bombardment in the sky intensifies.