Comments on: Mustafa Barghouti – What We Palestinians Need http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/ Free Minds for a Free Palestine Sun, 21 Mar 2010 04:38:58 +0300 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Brett Borders http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11332 Brett Borders Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:15:43 +0000 http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11332 What Palestinian Arabs need is to and become more interested in creating a viable future for themselves and their kids. They need to become more interested in creating a better life and culture, more than hating Jews and Israel. The resistance you speak of is a low grade war, a war that backfires and imposes tremendous economic hardship on themselves. They have had dozens of chances secure a state many times, but their never seem to miss an opportunity to do something practical or constructive. A lot of innocent Paletinian Arabs are being manipulated by hostile Arab dictators that are more interested in keeping them at war and keeping them as stateless refugees for political purposes, rather than helping them build a positive and viable state of their own. What Palestinian Arabs need is to and become more interested in creating a viable future for themselves and their kids. They need to become more interested in creating a better life and culture, more than hating Jews and Israel. The resistance you speak of is a low grade war, a war that backfires and imposes tremendous economic hardship on themselves.

They have had dozens of chances secure a state many times, but their never seem to miss an opportunity to do something practical or constructive. A lot of innocent Paletinian Arabs are being manipulated by hostile Arab dictators that are more interested in keeping them at war and keeping them as stateless refugees for political purposes, rather than helping them build a positive and viable state of their own.

]]> By: BARGHOUTHI: What we Palestinians need http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11248 BARGHOUTHI: What we Palestinians need Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:18:58 +0000 http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11248 [...] http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/ If you liked this article, please consider making a donation to Australians for Palestine by [...] [...] http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/ If you liked this article, please consider making a donation to Australians for Palestine by [...]

]]> By: Mary Rizzo http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11242 Mary Rizzo Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:29:50 +0000 http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11242 I agree with you on the unfit leadership, yet I disagree with you on the point of the Palestinians not being ready to manage on their own. They are ready, have been for a long time, there are so many people able to do it, Palestinians from Palestine (all of it, including what is now Israel) and abroad. I would be able to list just off the top of my head 50 or so people I would want to see organise the "trusteeship" of their own people, and not give over any power to outsiders, because there are no good intentions there, since they are not really dedicated to achieving justice. I know there was a good attempt at it last year with the Palestinian Strategy Initiative (on the initiative funded by the Oxford study group and involving over 100 different Palestinians who drew up a possible project of the way to end the Jewish occupation of their land on their terms), which the Gaza War had of course interrupted, because the demands were going to be made precisely at the time that the Gaza War had changed the entire scenario for the worse. what is most important is the fact that they MUST manage it on their own. There is no other option that would not potentially lead to a more humane occupation or rule-setting, but control all the same. It is clear to me that what needs to be done is very simple. For Palestinians across all lines to simply accept a few basic facts: 1) united, they are much stronger and this strength can only be a threat to those who want them kept down, and so, they have to work hard on unification at all costs. 2) that international law already states what needs to be done, and it is now the task of Palestinians to simply insist that nothing less than adherence to international law can be tolerated. That people have remained silent while their leaders were signing accords and making contradicting statements as well as imprisoning other Palestinians and creating security forces NOT against Israel, but against other Palestinians is a great distress, but there must be many reasons for it, which I am unable to know what they are. The fact that many people will only make anonymous statements does say that they fear for their own safety, and we have to admit, there are more than enough directions to fear it from. However, I think that some of this is changing, and people have stopped looking at "moderation and dialogue" as tools that are fair to Palestinians and instead that they were the ones used to keep them silent, hoping and pacific against their oppressors. I truly believe only Palestinians have a right and a duty to decide their own future, in the long and short term and especially, they have no reason to trust the goodwill of anyone, it never has worked in the past and they have more than enough talent on their own to know how to demand what their rights are. There is a lack of global organisation and strategy, but it has to be this direction taken. I agree with you on the unfit leadership, yet I disagree with you on the point of the Palestinians not being ready to manage on their own. They are ready, have been for a long time, there are so many people able to do it, Palestinians from Palestine (all of it, including what is now Israel) and abroad. I would be able to list just off the top of my head 50 or so people I would want to see organise the "trusteeship" of their own people, and not give over any power to outsiders, because there are no good intentions there, since they are not really dedicated to achieving justice. I know there was a good attempt at it last year with the Palestinian Strategy Initiative (on the initiative funded by the Oxford study group and involving over 100 different Palestinians who drew up a possible project of the way to end the Jewish occupation of their land on their terms), which the Gaza War had of course interrupted, because the demands were going to be made precisely at the time that the Gaza War had changed the entire scenario for the worse.

what is most important is the fact that they MUST manage it on their own. There is no other option that would not potentially lead to a more humane occupation or rule-setting, but control all the same.

It is clear to me that what needs to be done is very simple. For Palestinians across all lines to simply accept a few basic facts: 1) united, they are much stronger and this strength can only be a threat to those who want them kept down, and so, they have to work hard on unification at all costs. 2) that international law already states what needs to be done, and it is now the task of Palestinians to simply insist that nothing less than adherence to international law can be tolerated.

That people have remained silent while their leaders were signing accords and making contradicting statements as well as imprisoning other Palestinians and creating security forces NOT against Israel, but against other Palestinians is a great distress, but there must be many reasons for it, which I am unable to know what they are. The fact that many people will only make anonymous statements does say that they fear for their own safety, and we have to admit, there are more than enough directions to fear it from. However, I think that some of this is changing, and people have stopped looking at "moderation and dialogue" as tools that are fair to Palestinians and instead that they were the ones used to keep them silent, hoping and pacific against their oppressors.

I truly believe only Palestinians have a right and a duty to decide their own future, in the long and short term and especially, they have no reason to trust the goodwill of anyone, it never has worked in the past and they have more than enough talent on their own to know how to demand what their rights are. There is a lack of global organisation and strategy, but it has to be this direction taken.

]]> By: sami jamil jadallah http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11238 sami jamil jadallah Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:30:25 +0000 http://palestinethinktank.com/2009/08/18/mustafa-barghouthi-what-we-palestinians-need/#comment-11238 One thing is for sure, the same leadership that took us from one disaster to another, one that gave us Oslo, the one that became a security contractor ( Fatah is the Israeli Blackwater) for the Jewish Occupation, the leadership that wasted, stole, misused mismanaged tens of billions of people’s money is simply unfit, unqualified to lead toward liberation. It is clear that Fatah mission and vision is not liberation or ending the Jewish Occupation it is control of the people under Occupation so that it can deliver to the Israeli State what Arafat promised. Since the people’s treasury always financed and paid for all of the business and personal expenses including paying salaries to tens of thousands of “parasites” leaders and cadres and since Fatah always relied on and hijacked international financial assistance for its own purposes to fund the expensive life style of its leadership and members, perhaps Dr. Bargouthi and others can lead the effort to seek and reclaim back the billions of dollars Fatah and its leadership owes the people. I am sure Fatah will be able to fund its own activities and keep its membership on its payroll from its contract to manage the Israeli Occupation. With all due respect to Dr. Bargouthi, I think and I am of the views that Palestinians on their own and with the kind of political and civil society leadership we have are simply unfit and not ready to manage on their own. An interim period of 5 years placing the entire Occupation Territories of Fatah Land and Hamas Land under an international trusteeship is the only solution that can save the Palestinians from Fatah, Hamas, the Israeli and Jewish Occupation. Leadership of civil societies are also beneficiaries of the continued occupation since they all remained silence while Fatah and Hamas leadership committing crimes against the people, as if the crimes committed by Israel are not enough. One thing is for sure, the same leadership that took us from one disaster to another, one that gave us Oslo, the one that became a security contractor ( Fatah is the Israeli Blackwater) for the Jewish Occupation, the leadership that wasted, stole, misused mismanaged tens of billions of people’s money is simply unfit, unqualified to lead toward liberation. It is clear that Fatah mission and vision is not liberation or ending the Jewish Occupation it is control of the people under Occupation so that it can deliver to the Israeli State what Arafat promised. Since the people’s treasury always financed and paid for all of the business and personal expenses including paying salaries to tens of thousands of “parasites” leaders and cadres and since Fatah always relied on and hijacked international financial assistance for its own purposes to fund the expensive life style of its leadership and members, perhaps Dr. Bargouthi and others can lead the effort to seek and reclaim back the billions of dollars Fatah and its leadership owes the people. I am sure Fatah will be able to fund its own activities and keep its membership on its payroll from its contract to manage the Israeli Occupation. With all due respect to Dr. Bargouthi, I think and I am of the views that Palestinians on their own and with the kind of political and civil society leadership we have are simply unfit and not ready to manage on their own. An interim period of 5 years placing the entire Occupation Territories of Fatah Land and Hamas Land under an international trusteeship is the only solution that can save the Palestinians from Fatah, Hamas, the Israeli and Jewish Occupation. Leadership of civil societies are also beneficiaries of the continued occupation since they all remained silence while Fatah and Hamas leadership committing crimes against the people, as if the crimes committed by Israel are not enough.

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