I am fully convinced that some, for various reasons, will label me reckless and hasty in naming what is happening in occupied Palestine the Fourth Intifada... This also happened at the end of 2015 when we called what happened over weeks the Third Intifada... In the past, I did not blame them and now I will not blame them, not for lack of arguments, but because I am also fully convinced that the strategic understanding of managing a conflict is not an innate skill mastered by everyone involved in politics... Terminology in politics is part of strategy and strategy is the main pillar of struggle.
It brings us back to evaluating what has been happening in recent days in occupied Palestine with clashes with occupation forces, the storming of Palestinian cities, and the genuine Palestinian youth confronting settler gangs, as well as the response of the people, factions, and leadership to the event:
Firstly , the entry of occupation army units into Palestinian cities, the occupation of some headquarters, besieging some offices, and humiliating Palestinian security apparatuses despite President Mahmoud Abbas sanctifying security coordination, proves that this sanctity has not provided any immunity to him, the Authority's headquarters, or its security apparatuses from the arrogance of the occupation and its army... The occupation government and its army do not distinguish between Palestinians... In their eyes, everyone is an enemy to be fought and humiliated regardless of whether they are an officer in a security apparatus, a central media employee, or a hunted resistance fighter... We are all equal in their eyes... So when do we start dealing with them in kind? The rapist is a rapist, the occupier is an occupier, and the oppressor is an oppressor regardless of whether they wear a military uniform, a formal suit, or religious attire... Those who do not condemn the occupation and call for its end are part of the occupation system... This must be our new equation in dealing with them...
Secondly , the emergence of our people’s sons in most cities and villages to confront occupation forces and settler gangs is proof that this mighty people may rest a little in the liberation march but does not sleep... They may slow their reaction but do not overlook or forget... The Palestinian people have proven that if needed, they offer the precious and the cheap for the dignity of the homeland’s symbols and the dignity of the homeland’s land... In the past, we heard many political amateurs from the elite harshly criticize our genuine people for paying a little attention to their personal and family matters at the expense of continuous resistance and confronting settler gangs... Some even asserted that the Palestinian people would never rise even if Ramallah were destroyed... The Palestinian people have proven in recent days how mighty and genuine they are and how miserable these shortsighted and ignorant elites are about their people and the audacity of its sons...
Thirdly When you read and hear that hundreds of families open the doors of their homes to those stranded from our people between the occupation checkpoints, and you see how these families compete with each other in providing shelter and food to our people, and you follow how garage owners rush to offer their services free of charge to car owners whose vehicles were damaged due to attacks by settler gangs on them… all this makes you proud to belong to this generous people, and at the same time makes you despise those of your own kin, who have been croaking day and night for years, calling their Palestinian people lazy and selfish…
Fourthly In these critical stages, there is no place for riding the waves and exploiting the mistakes of a party or a certain figure for narrow political gains… In these situations, partisan political competition is set aside and competition begins by uniting ranks to stand as a barrier against the occupation army and settler gangs… These conditions that have been shaking the homeland for days are not suitable ammunition for internal political maneuvers… These conditions are suitable for building bridges of trust and extending ropes of cooperation for the sake of the homeland…
Fifth We are fully certain that President Mahmoud Abbas made grave mistakes in his political work in the past, and that he was not always successful in his statements and fell into serious strategic pitfalls… but all this must be postponed now and put in the drawer until later, and the current situation that our homeland and people are going through must be exploited to support the leadership of the people, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, in standing firm against
the fierce Zionist plan and supporting the sound plan when he orders the security apparatus to defend the people against settler attacks… It is a mistake for anyone, faction or individual, to think that the current attack on security forces and the president will receive support from our people… We do not need another division nor another internal arrogance… Palestine now needs a true field unity to stand against Zionist arrogance…
Sixth And finally, we must realize that history does not repeat itself and that historical events happen and end and do not return… What comes after can resemble them, imitate them, and try to replicate them anew, but no one can turn the wheel of history backward… The first intifada occurred in a different time frame and political and geopolitical situation than what we are in now, and so did the second intifada, etc… What is happening now and the course of events is the result of the situation we live in and the space that surrounds us… The situation changes, the space changes, and the response to them also changes… This is the course of life and there is no need to weep over ruins… Change is a sign of survival and change through the method of struggle for self-determination is a sign of creativity and steadfastness…
Whoever wants to remain… must change and develop
