THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 224, October 12, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE OCCUPATION OF THE PALESTINIAN MIND
By Nir Boma & Asaf Romirowsky
THE PALESTINIAN CHOICE: A PALESTINIAN STATE OR A PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE -- STRUGGLE AS THE CHOICE OF MANY
PALESTINIANS -- THEIR UNWILLINGNESS TO SEE THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF THE GAZA STRIP AS HAVING COME TO AN END --
EQUATING THE END OF THE OCCUPATION WITH THE END OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL -- HIGH TIME FOR THE PALESTINIANS TO END
THEIR SELF-IMPOSED OCCUPATION OF THE PALESTINIAN MIND
FULL STORY:
In May of 2000, the Lebanese-based Hezbollah terrorist group faced an unexpected challenge. Israel's unilateral withdrawal from
Lebanon has threatened to pull the raison d'etre for its existence out from under its feet. After all, what can an organization that
dedicated its life to fighting the "Israeli occupation of Lebanon" do after the last Israeli solider shut the border gate and the
United Nations announced that Israel is in full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 425, recognizing the
Israeli-Lebanese permanent border in the north? How about fighting for Jerusalem?
Organizations have a life of their own – and certainly "vision" driven groups like Hezbollah will not falter on technicalities.
Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, was quick to announce that the group will not lay down its arms until Israel leaves the Shaba farms,
Syrian land that is located at the Golan Heights under Israeli control. Since then, Hezbollah, a group responsible for the killing of
more than 800 people in the Middle East, Europe and South America, has only increased its activities. It did so not only in
Lebanon, but also in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas and in Iraq.
Likewise, many Palestinians have found themselves baffled facing the successful completion of the Israeli disengagement from
Gaza. Although much of this move was coordinated with the Palestinian Authority (PA), the reality of Israeli-free Gaza appeared to
have taken many by surprise. The fact that the Israelis are no longer there was evident by the launch of a week of "festivities" that
included the burning of synagogues, factories, and other public buildings that could otherwise have been put to use for the
emerging Palestinian state. But again, the fact that the last Israeli solider shut the Gaza gate for the very last time is nothing but a
technicality. As in Lebanon, this should not mean that the occupation is over.
The occupation is something that many Palestinians are unwilling to see as over. Civil Affairs Minister Mohammad Dahlan stated
"Israel is deceiving itself if it believes that occupying Gaza Strip has now ended." Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas added that "the legal status of the areas slated for evacuation has not changed."
More importantly, Hamas, whose latest action was the launch of over 30 rockets toward Israeli communities surrounding Gaza, was
quick to announce that the occupation is not yet over. Hamas, which is looking to participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections,
equates the end of the occupation with the end of Israel.
As long as Palestinians cling to the notion of being "occupied," and Israel remains the "oppressor," we are destined to see more of
the dynamics of the past and less of the possibilities of the future.
U.S. President George W. Bush is considering calling for a "provisional" Palestinian state, a term that will grant official stature to the
Palestinian control over Gaza. It will also help push the Roadmap for Peace, a plan that calls for the establishment of a Palestinian
state in Gaza and the majority of Judea and Samaria. Palestinian leaders have expressed reservations that can be better understood
on the background of the above-described dynamic. Provisional state status means an added layer of responsibility – one that the
PA may still not be ready to take. On the other hand, the occupation offers a greater degree of flexibility, since if (and when) things
go wrong, there is always Israel to blame.
The "occupation" will end only when the Palestinians have more to look forward to than sending their children to become suicide
bombers. Moreover, the Palestine Liberation Organization covenant still calls for the destruction of Israel. This only underscores
how insincere the Abbas leadership is when it comes to taking serious steps towards reform.
In a moment of frustration, following a deadly terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, Shimon Peres, the former Israeli Prime Minister, once
called his co-recipient of the Nobel Prize, Yasir Arafat, in an attempt to convince him to act against the network of terror that was
growing under his control. The conversation did not go well. Then Peres asked a question that the Palestinians have not answered
until this very day. "Mr. Arafat", he asked, "what do you want more: a Palestinian state or a Palestinian struggle?" As long as the
Palestinian choice remains one of struggle, the occupation will continue forever regardless of the location of border passes. The
occupation in Gaza is over. It is now time to end the self-imposed occupation of the Palestinian mind as well.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Israeli-Arab Conflict
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Nir Boma is the Vice President of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East. Asaf Romirowsky is a research fellow at the Middle
East Forum.
The foregoing article by Nir Boma and Asaf Romirowsky was originally published in Front Page Magazine, October 12,
2005, and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
October 12, 2005
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