Ashrawi: Palestinians will not surrender to permanent dispossession and subjugation
Fifty-two years after Israel occupied the Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, the Palestinian people continue to resist this colonial occupation with dignity and inspiring steadfastness.
The occupation that began in 1967 is part of a continuum of injustice, dispossession, and disenfranchisement that was penned in the hallways of the United Nations in 1947 then formalized with the Nakba of 1948.
Yet, the Palestinian people continues to pursue justice and freedom, demand accountability for egregious violations of international law and Palestinian human rights, and work with peace and justice advocates to end the indignity of occupation and dispossession.
This military colonial occupation has been maintained and entrenched by illegality criminality, and impunity; emboldened by international inaction and lack of accountability. For over half a century, the Palestinian people have resisted dehumanization and institutional injustice that inform crimes, forced transfer, illegal settlement construction, restrictions of movement, theft of resources, and denial of our people’s potential.
These policies and illegal practices have all been in a futile attempt to rob the Palestinian people of hope in realizing their independent state and living in freedom of prosperity.
Today, our people also remember that over seven decades of false and broken international promises have also passed. The Question of Palestine continues to highlight the international community’s grave failure to realize peace and justice for a people who were uprooted, plunged into crisis, and denied their inalienable right to self-determination because of international inaction and/or collusion. This failure has resulted in a culture of impunity, with Israel committing crimes knowing it will be shielded from accountability or even reproach.
Today, the Palestinian people face the serious threat of a life of permanent conflict, exile, or occupation due to the racist and hostile policies of the US-Israeli alliance against our fundamental rights. These rightwing allies seek Palestinian surrender and capitulation. In the same manner, their supremacist attitude towards the Palestinian people, disdain for international law and principles of human rights, and assault on Palestinian rights are an integral part of the hostility harbored by the Trump administration and the rightwing in Israel towards the international rules-based order. In this context, Palestine presents yet another test to the credibility and standing of the international system; a test responsible actors must not fail.
Yet, the Palestinian people continue to stand tall, persevering in their struggle for freedom with dignity and in the company of all committed advocates of peace and universal human rights. Despite setbacks and disappointments, the Palestinian people’s determination to realize their freedom and enjoy a life of prosperity is unwavering. Political and financial extortion will not dissuade us. Equally, farcical attempts at bribing the Palestinian people with a fistful of dollars in exchange for their freedom will fail.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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