Sirens will sound this afternoon in all major cities in the West Bank to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the "Nakba"; When on May 15, 1948, Israel forced thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes forever. Seventy-five years later, it appears that the Palestinian political system is threatened with a new defeat, and is in a general situation similar to that which prevailed before 1948.
With this introduction, the French newspaper "Le Figaro" opened an article for its correspondent in Jerusalem, Guillaume de Diolivo, in which he spoke of the new Israeli raids and Palestinian missiles that it met in the Gaza Strip over a period of 5 days, explaining that they resulted in the death of one Israeli and 34 Palestinians, bringing the number Of the Palestinians killed this year to about 95.
The writer attributed the increasing death toll to the defective conditions undermining the West Bank, as this land has been partially controlled by the Palestinian Authority since the Oslo Accords of 1993. It is headed by their credibility within areas under full Palestinian control.
Similar situation to 1948
In this space – as the writer says – the average age among Palestinians does not exceed 20 years, and most of the population was born after the end of the second intifada, and the current generation realizes the failure of the Oslo Accords and categorically rejects the Palestinian Authority and "cooperation with the Israeli occupier."
It takes up arms again within informal structures, and is waging a kind of guerrilla war against Israel, as Israeli soldiers say they act as if they were in a war zone, which explains the death toll in almost every intervention, and with every "martyr" the credibility of the Palestinian Authority weakens. Which is also financially draining, according to the writer.
Ghaith al-Omari, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who assumed various responsibilities within the Palestinian Authority, wonders: Will Mahmoud Abbas agree to leave power before his death? Pointing out that 63% of the Palestinians believe that the Palestinian Authority has become an obstacle and not in the interest of Palestine, and "they think it is good for it to collapse."
Although – according to the researcher – no one has an interest in the collapse of the regime, starting with Israel, which will force it to assume responsibility for the Palestinian population, and may force it to move towards a one-state solution, and instead of being a Jewish democracy as it wants, it will have to "choose between democracy and Judaism." .
The researcher believes that the only way out of this situation is dialogue, "to show the Palestinian people that diplomacy and non-violence can produce results." In the Jenin refugee camp, for example, desperation fuels violence, and foreigners are not welcomed unless they are relief and aid personnel, and improvised barriers prevent the passage of vehicles unless they belong to a family known here as the Jabarin family, which sacrificed 4 "martyrs" to the cause of "resistance" against Israel.
Our generation is stronger than the generation of the Nakba
In the Jenin camp, a number of refugees have lived for 75 years in adjoining houses after Israel expelled them from their homes and cities, in a situation that is inherited from generation to generation from Kaber, and today 22 thousand people live in it. Pictures of the dead family cover the back wall, and young men in paramilitary uniforms appear with an M16 rifle in their hands.
The grandfather, who has not forgotten anything from his childhood in Haifa, recounts how his father was a blacksmith, their home, the journey and the stages of wandering that led them here, and he says, "My children were born after the Oslo Accords, and what did they see? The situation is getting worse for us. There is no other way but arms."
He continues, "Before I went to prison, I believed in peace. I was with Fatah, but I changed my mind. Fatah gave up arms since the end of the second intifada. We have been negotiating for a long time and looking. No result." All of his children have become members of Islamic Jihad.
The teenager gets excited, saying, "I want to be like them; I want to be with the resistance." "No one is happy to send his child to death, but it is the only solution," the father explains, especially as the situation is getting worse, says Midal Farah, director of the People's Service Committee in the camp.
Farah adds, "When the war broke out in Ukraine, people rejoiced. They thought Putin would send nuclear bombs to the United States and that we would finally finish with Israel. This tells you how desperate they are."
The writer concludes, Muhammad Jabarin, saying, "Why do others enjoy freedom besides us? We do not want to die, we want to be free. They think that we will calm down and that we will calm down, but the matter no longer works. Our generation is stronger than the generation of the Nakba, and the generation of our children is already stronger than ours."
