Unity is not a political document. Neither is international solidarity. It is a process that is shaped by a language which should be spoken collectively, relentlessly and boldly
However, for a reformed UN to serve a noble mission and to live up to its lofty promises, the new power distribution should allocate places for all, regardless of military power or economic might.
Will the UN’s current power paradigm allow it to finally correct this historic ‘misstep’ by providing Palestinians with the long-delayed justice and freedom?
While politicians are often ready to exploit any event to rise or remain in power, Europe must tread carefully by reflecting on its past, namely the fact that extreme nationalism and populism are likely to lead to something truly sinister and potentially destructive.
What truly requires urgent investigation and condemnation is Israel’s continued exploitation and denigration of the memory of the Holocaust to score cheap political points against Palestinians, to silence critics and to hide the true extent of its numerous massacres, criminal military occupation and racist apartheid regime.
The launch of the widely-acclaimed book ‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out’ by Dr. Ramzy Baroud and Professor Ilan Pappe was held on June 10 in London’s Wellcome Centre, commemorating another milestone in the struggle for Palestine’s freedom from occupation.
History has taught us that Muslims, Christians and Jews can peacefully coexist and collectively thrive, as they have done throughout the Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula for millennia. Indeed, this is a prediction, even a prophecy, that is worth striving for.
And since the Nakba and the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Palestinian refugees are the common denominator behind all Palestinian suffering, the term and its underpinnings are back at center stage of any meaningful conversation on Palestine, as should have always been the case.
The ‘fascinating book’, which has received raving reviews from iconic intellectuals around the world, provides a rare view of the future of Palestine.
‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out’ is a fascinating book, a beautiful book, a real treasure.
A succession of events in recent weeks all points to the inescapable fact that nearly 75 years of Israel’s painstaking efforts aimed at hiding the truth about its origins and its current racially-driven apartheid regime are miserably failing.
It is time that those who have paid far more attention to the Israeli narrative abandon such illusions and, for once, listen to Palestinian voices, because the truth of the victim is a wholly different story than that of the aggressor.
Without that genuine and engaged Palestinian intellectual, the world’s priorities will continue to gravitate towards Israeli priorities, towards US interests and their subsequent fraudulent language about ‘peace,’ security’ and such.
It is not the awards that matter but what has been researched and written, and its impact on making the world a more equitable place.
In the Middle East, in particular, we have already witnessed this phenomenon of the west-based ‘legitimate’ democratic representations. Ultimately, these ‘governments-in-exile’ wrought nothing but further political deception, division, corruption, and continued war.
Currently working together on a new publication, “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out”, this will be a timely discussion illuminating the process of producing this compilation of perspectives which aims to provide a new Palestinian discourse fit for today’s challenges to achieving Palestinian freedom.
Finally, it can unequivocally be asserted that the Palestinian resistance scored a major victory, arguably unprecedented in its proud history. This is the first time that Israel is forced to accept that the rules of the game have changed, likely foreverhttps://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210525-despite-massive-losses-the-palestinians-have-altered-the-course-of-history/
Palestinian journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Dr. Ramzy Baroud, delivers the keynote speech at the Palestine Book Awards in London in 2018.
Millions of Palestinians continue to live in exile, generation after generation, painstakingly negotiating their individual and collective identities, neither able to return, nor feeling truly whole. These millions deserve to exercise their Right of Return, for their voices to be heard and to be included.
Renowned historian, Professor Ilan Pappe and respected political analyst and leader Awad Abdelfattah speak to Palestine Chronicle TV about the One Democratic State Campaign and their shared vision for a just peace and coexistence in Israel and Palestine.