Deutschlandradio Kultur – Interview 21.10.2015 07:36 AM
URL of this page: http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/gewalt-in-nahost-die-hoffnung-wurde-missbraucht.1008.de.html?dram:article_id=334563
Riots in Hebron in October 2015 (picture alliance / dpa / Abed Al Hashlamoun) The young generation of Palestinians is angry and desperate – here during riots in Hebron a few weeks ago. (picture alliance / dpa / Abed Al Hashlamoun)
VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
“Hope was abused”
Raif Hussein in conversation with Liane von Billerbeck
Anger and despair dominate the young Palestinian generation in the face of an endless spiral of violence. Trust in their own government is gone, the third Intifada is inevitable, says political scientist
According to the chairman of the German-Palestinian Society, Raif Hussein, the third Intifada is inevitable and efforts for a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict have failed.
Bitterness and loss of trust in their own leadership are very strong among the young Palestinian generation – the so-called “Oslo generation” – said the political scientist on Deutschlandradio Kultur. The violence and killing never stopped – even during the 22 years after the Oslo peace talks – and is everyday life in the Israeli-controlled areas. “Only now the intensity of the killings has increased. But this is not a new escalation.” However, the way people protest against the occupation has become more vehement and intense, Hussein said. Palestinians therefore speak of a third Intifada.
Lost trust in the government
The anger and despair of the young generation are a consequence of developments in recent years:
“This generation believed in peace and coexistence. They trusted their political leadership, they trusted the European world, the so-called free world. They even largely trusted Israel.”
This hope for calm and a peaceful life and trust in politics was “abused in the most atrocious way.” The young Palestinians therefore want to take their fate into their own hands with all consequences and signal to their politicians: “We are united in fighting the occupation and settlers. We do not agree with the strategy of doing nothing.”
Hussein further said: The reaction of the international community to the violence against Palestinians was “nothing more than a platitude, practically a sedative for the Palestinians, nothing more.”
The interview in full:
Liane von Billerbeck: Attacks, knife assaults in Israel, a wall that was to be built around East Jerusalem but then not after all. An accidentally lynched refugee from Eritrea mistaken for a terrorist, Israelis obtaining gun licenses – one understands how deeply unsettled people in Israel must feel. We heard this yesterday here in Tel Aviv from our correspondent. Today we want to talk about the other side and ask how Palestinians feel, whether a new Intifada is beginning or has already begun. And the questions are directed to
Raif Hussein: Good morning, Ms. von Billerbeck!
von Billerbeck: Yesterday I wrote down the numbers of how many Israelis and Palestinians have been killed. The numbers have already changed overnight. And considering that more than half of the Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli security forces or civilians during their attacks or died in other clashes, one knows that the spiral of violence is turning again. And the trigger of this violence was disputes over the Temple Mount. These led to knife attacks, then Israeli retaliation, again knife attacks, arrests of Hamas leaders, and since summer the spiral of violence has been turning again. How do you, how do the Palestinians perceive these confrontations, to sum it up?
Hussein: Let me first make a small remark. You said in your introduction that the Israeli actions are a reaction to the violence. I would put it the other way around: the Palestinian actions are a reaction to the occupation. That is the first thing I want to say. The second is that the violence, the killing, the shootings, have never stopped in Palestine in the last 22 years, during the time we all called a time of peace, peace talks. There were always shooting squads, arrests, settlers murdering Palestinians. What we see now is just a continuation of what we have experienced in the last 22 years and what the people in Palestine have experienced. It was practically part of their everyday life. Only now the intensity of the killings has increased somewhat, but this is not a new escalation in that sense. The way people protest against the occupation, against their disenfranchisement, is different. It is more vehement, more intense, and indeed, as we say, the Palestinians say, this is a third Intifada.
von Billerbeck: You say this so clearly. We have not lost sight of the fact that it is an occupation and what acts of violence have also been committed by Israel, you can surely believe me. Still, one has the impression that the perpetrators who now carry out these attacks, these knife attacks, are extremely young and act spontaneously. And that seems to us as if it really has a new quality. And if you say this is the beginning of a third Intifada, what should we expect?
Hussein: Indeed, this is the beginning of a new Intifada. We are in the middle of it, I would say. If you look at the ages of the Palestinians killed, you will find that the majority belong to the Oslo generation, as we call it, meaning at most 22, 23 years old.
von Billerbeck: Mostly much younger.
Hussein: Mostly much younger as well. The last ones killed yesterday in El-Halil, in Hebron, were 15 and 17 years old. So these are practically children of the Oslo era. The people act out of anger, despair about their situation, out of hopelessness. The people in Palestine, even this generation, really believed in peace, believed in coexistence. They trusted their political leadership. They trusted the European world, the Western world, the so-called free world. They even largely trusted Israel. Their trust to achieve something, peace, calm, perspective, was disappointed and was in part abused in the most atrocious way. The people are deceived and disappointed about what they have experienced in the last 20 years. From this position, people simply react.
von Billerbeck: Are they also disappointed in their own leadership? You mentioned several things that the very young people, this Oslo generation, are disappointed about. Are they also disappointed in their own leadership, the Palestinian leadership?
Hussein: Absolutely. In my opinion, the youth sends three messages, if you will, three messages. First, they send a message to the Israelis that we do not accept the disenfranchisement, the occupation, the apartheid that exists in occupied Palestine. And enough is enough – we will not accept being oppressed. That is the first message practically, the occupation must end. The second message to the free world, which has accompanied this process for 22 years and watched how Israel trampled international law, international resolutions, international conventions underfoot, the only thing the international community reacted with was regret, talk, words – it was nothing more than a platitude, practically a sedative for the Palestinians, nothing more. The youth simply says, look, you have disappointed us, you have done nothing, except talk you have achieved nothing. Now we take our fate into our own hands. To their own leadership, the Palestinian youth sends a message and says, we are united in fighting the occupation and settlers. We take to the streets. We do not agree with the policy, with the strategy of doing nothing, first sitting and talking. We say your process, which lasted 22 years, has finally failed.
von Billerbeck: Raif Hussein gave very depressing assessments from the German-Palestinian Society. And he speaks of a third Intifada. Thank you for the conversation!
Hussein: Thank you very much!
Statements by our interview partners reflect their own views. Deutschlandradio Kultur does not adopt the statements of its interview partners in interviews and discussions.
