The most overwhelming emotion filled the session of the Palestinian Parliament in exile held in Algiers, which I attended in 1988, when Yasir Arafat proclaimed the independence of the Palestinian State, far from the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. It was a cry that was captivating, although the words proclaimed by the rais were patriotic longing, because it was a theoretical independence, without territories, without population or effective government.
Once again Gaza, always Gaza, pulsed in the background of his words, because in its narrow Mediterranean strip the first intifada had broken out, that of stones, which so moved the world.
Arafat wanted to recover the popular force of its impact, the result of the popular initiative of Hamas, which was not integrated and has never wanted to be integrated into the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) because Hamas does not recognize the existence of Israel.
Later, in 1991, the defeat of Iraq, and Saddam Hussein, after the invasion of Kuwait forced Arafat to bow to the pax Americana and attend the Madrid conference, and later sign the controversial Oslo agreements, which favored more to Israel by achieving its recognition and the Palestinian renunciation of the weapon of terrorism.
Years later I witnessed Arafat’s arrival in Gaza in his armored black Mercedes from Egypt, which had decided to make the capital strip of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Since then the Israelis have strengthened their expansion, and the settlement colonies, often inhabited by more radical Jews, the enclaves, the wall and the usual abuses suffered by the population have further torn apart what could still survive from the roots of the ancient Palestine.
Israeli policy has always been founded, against all odds, on fait accompli. The sugar-coated proclamation of organizing a viable Palestinian State avoids, in essence, facing reality and the continued occupation. Instead of a Palestinian State, an Israeli territory is emerging with Palestinian enclaves, various regions with diverse security regimes, a wall that also divides the Palestinian population between Gaza and the West Bank, increasingly separated.
Arab, Israeli and, above all, American leaders – this region is a closed preserve of Washington –, whether they like it or not, are aware of this reality, but they do not want to reveal it publicly: the independent Palestinian State will not be able to be established.
Hannah Arendt proposed a State made up of Arabs and Jews. Edward Said, a binational State. The Israeli population is obsessed with its security. It is illusory to think that this situation can be modified with European and international political pressure, with global sanctions and sentences.
he Jewish State has never complied with the United Nations resolutions of 1948, 1967… Arafat was aware that only the rulers of Washington could influence the State of Israel. Let no one forget it.