ABOUT AL-MUNADI

This newspaper was established in 1912 in Jerusalem. It focused on cultural issues, but had a very clear, and prophetic view, on the disastrous impact Zionism would have on Palestine. The editors were two Jerusalemite Palestinians, Muhammad al-Mughrabi and Sa‘id Jarallah. It was one of the first Muslim newspapers, the early ones were Christians, it was a precursor of the local newspapers in the mandatory period, asserting the Palestinians rights for liberation and self-determination in their homeland. At the same time, it called for the modernization of Palestine and thus visualized a Palestine that could have been, had it not been for the Zionist colonization.

FROM THE EDITOR IN CHIEF

As 2022 comes to a close Palestinians face the harsh reali

ty of increased oppression from the most extreme right-wing government ever to be installed in the apartheid state of Israel.

Former right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is back as Prime Minister and this time he is joined by the blatant racist Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Jewish settler once convicted of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization, as Minister of National Security and Bezalel Smotrich who, as well as finance has been given extensive powers over Israeli settlements and Palestinian construction in the West Bank – an appointment which has been described as tantamount to annexing areas of the West Bank.

Most commen

tators politely describe the leadership of the new regime as far-right or ultra-nationalist but a more accurate description would be fascist In this newsletter we look forward to the analysis of the new regime by two Israeli human rights heavyweights, Ilan Pappe and Gideon Levy, in our upcoming webinar on 17 December – details later in this newsletter.

We also review our previous webinar which put young Palestinians at the centre of their struggle discussing aspects of the way forward.

In the meantime find time to rest and celebrate the good things in life over the next few weeks. The struggle will only intensify in the New Year.

On Behalf of Al- Munadi,
John Minto
Editor in Chief

A LETTER FROM PALESTINE

By Ilan Pappe

A mini-intifada is taking place this 2022 autumn in Palestine, spreading over Jenin, Nablus and Jerusalem. What is incredible is not that these uprisings occur, but rather the way the Israeli media is trying to explain their occurrence. One ex general after the other, on ex secret service expert after the other, provide an analysis that is familiar for anyone studying the history of colonialism in Asia and Africa. European colonialist policy makers always attributed resistance to the colonisation as the outcome of “incitement” and never attributed the revolts against them to their own callous oppression.

The daily humiliation in the checkpoints, the collective punishments that include closure and endless curfews, the mass arrests without trial including of children, tortures in the interrogations, confiscation of land, ethnic cleansing operations and settlers’ attacks are all not sufficient causes, in the view of this narrative, for an ongoing uprising. Unemployment among the youth, the absence of any vision for a different future and the international indifference also do not factor into the analysis not just of the securitization sector but also in that provided by very respected doyens of the Israeli academy. They appear constantly in TV studios and explain how the violent nature of “Arabs” and “Muslims” are the sole causes for this and previous uprisings.

Who are the inciters is never totally clear from the analysis. Usually, the “culprits” is the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. However, the fingers are pointed to all kinds of organizations such as the Islamic Jihad, the Fatah and a new group called “the Lions’ Den” situated in Nablus. The contradictions have never bothered the analysts with their clear narrative which needed to have inciters and an easily incited crowd.

The depiction of the Palestinian liberation struggle as a series of senseless assaults by an incited mob is very familiar for those us exposed to the Israeli educational textbooks and public discourse. The Israeli academia provided scholarly scaffolding for this narrative and articulated it in a more sophisticated discourse.

This analysis had been put forward already after the first significant Palestine uprising during the Mandatory period in 1929 (thawrat al-Buraq). While the British inquiry commission that was set up after the uprising, did attribute that particular uprising to the Zionist policy of land purchasing that pauperised rural Palestine, the Zionist assessment was that pro-Arab British officers and “fanatic” religious leaders incited the uprising which was carried out by “criminal gangs”. In 2022, the same Zionist discourse is employed for depicting the present Palestinian resistance (that already cost the life of more than 100 young Palestinians) as a mixture of criminal gangs and incited youth.

It is important to acknowledge the explanation official Israel, and by extension its civil society, provides for the present and past Palestinian uprisings. This discourse analysing Palestinian violence as the product of an “Arab culture” and “Islamic primitivism” is widely shared within Israel.

These images and prejudices are deeply rooted, and are planted and replanted in every new generation of young Israelis passing through the educational system, the media, the political discourse and the socialisation processes, the most important taking place during the compulsory military,

Realising that this is the state of affairs, one can understand the failure of the so-called peace process that began in earnest in 1967. The process was initiated and managed by cynical politicians, but also by some genuine peace makers, mostly Americans. One of its basic assumptions was that there was a “peace camp” in Israel that would be willing to compromise with the Palestinians. Their optimism stemmed from the success of brining about two bilateral peace agreements between Israel and Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

Two agreements between governments but without any genuine new relationship between the societies involved. More importantly, the nature of the conflict between Israel and these two Arab states was very different from the Palestine question. It is not a war between two states, it is an anti-colonial struggle for decolonisation.

The total dehumanisation of the Palestinians, the total denial of their rights and of their attachment to their homeland, and the willingness to go to any extreme to turn Palestine into a de-Arabized space, lead to two undeniable conclusions. The first is that there is no peace camp in Israel and therefore any anticipation of a change within Israeli Jewish society and its consensual attitudes towards the Palestine issue is unrealistic. The second and interconnected conclusion is that the only way official Israel would stop its criminal policies towards the Palestinians, is by strong external pressure on it, the kind of pressure that was directed against Apartheid South Africa. This pressure is required today more than ever before as so many Palestinians are under an existential danger. This year alone, more than 150 Palestinians were killed by the Israelis and the casualties are growing exponentially in the last few weeks.

There is another manifestation to this dehumanisation which is hardly noticed outside Israel. And these are the daily murders committed by criminal gangs within the Palestinian minority inside Israel, the 48 Arabs. Every day, someone is murdered among this community, sometimes more than one person a day is assassinated. Among those caught in the crossfire are also children. Allowing criminal gangs, a free hand in oppressed society as means of depoliticising them was done elsewhere. In the USA, this method was employed to kill in its bud the political resistance of African Americans, by allowing the drug deals to take over neighbourhoods and slums.

In Israel, such policies were already enacted in the early 1950s as mentioned but they have reached unprecedented levels in the last few years. The situation was aggravated after the Oslo accord, when Israel extracted a large number of its Palestinian collaborators and forced them on the 48 Arabs community. Some of them are armed, have good connections to the security services and thus enjoy some sort of immunity. Some of them are part of this new gangland within the Palestinian villages and neighbourhood inside Israel.

This immunity coupled with an obvious lack of any attempt by the Israeli police to interfere significantly in the gang wars and crimes is an intentional policy of neglect that is substantiated by the narratives spanned by the Israel academia and media about this situation. There are two features in this narrative. The first is that high levels of murderous crime like this are inevitable in an Arab society and there is not much Israel can do. The second is that it is the responsibility of the leaders of the Arab community themselves to put a stop to the killings. Both assertions are racist and stem from the same ideology and mentality that dehumanises the Palestinians living in the Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

This attitude became part of the DNA of Zionism and Israel as is typical to settler colonial movements and apartheid states. However, it petered out and is less significant in many other places where settler colonialism reigned. The reason that this DNA is still there in Israel has also to do with the international reaction to Zionism and later Israel. The total silence in the West in the face of the 1948 ethnic cleansing encouraged the new state of Israel to continue such polices in the future. Thus, ethnic cleansing policies are still enacted today, and they can only be perpetrated if the victims are dehumanised, as were the hundred and fifty Palestinians who have been killed by Israel since the beginning of this year. The killing will continue to be justified on the basis of this dehumanisation, and the question is will the international community continue to provide immunity to policies that it condemns and reject categorically when they are enacted in places such as the Ukraine or Iran?

FOR FREEDOM FROM NAKBA

By Hassanal Noor Rashid

The 1948 Nakba resonates deeply with those who are familiar with the Palestinian Struggle and those who share a history of what it was like living under oppression.

Historically it symbolizes a great catastrophe endured by the Palestinian people, with the destruction of their homeland, and the displacement of many of their people.

It symbolizes the slow erosion of Palestine, territorially, historically, and culturally. The illegal settlements, the cruel and oppressive measures that were used to chase away Palestinian families from their homes, and the narrative manipulation to rewrite the history of Palestine itself. All of these were also part of the Nakba, and its effects continue to be felt for generations to come.

But through this catastrophe, the most shining example of what the human spirit is capable of in the face of injustice and overwhelming suffering.

The Nakba happened in 1948. And yet the Palestinian people remain, strong and resilient as ever.

Not only have they not given in to the subjugations of their occupiers, but they also fought back against the might of the Israelis oppressors, coordinating their efforts internally and externally to support each other, survive and push back against the Apartheid state and system in various social-political spheres.

Throughout the history of their struggle, and its ever-changing dynamics, the goals still remain the same ultimately, and that is to liberate themselves from the catastrophe that was placed unto them, and have their voices heard. This voice is shared by many now, especially those who share an understanding of the history of colonialism, and its’ many ills that continue to plague the world till this day.

We all share this voice, as we all want to see a world liberated from that which is an afront to the human conscience.

Watch our latest webinar on Palestinian Youth Speak: Perspectives on struggle and liberation

PALESTINIAN YOUTH SPEAK OUT

Report of the Webinar held on 10th September 2022

By John Minto

The future of the Palestinian struggle is assured in the hands of emerging generations of young Palestinians.

This was the main takeaway from the MLN webinar on 10th September which featured younger Palestinians speaking out about their struggle for liberation.

It will be a deeply depressing message for the leaders of Israel’s apartheid state who have been relying on cynical, racist views of Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion who thought the “Palestinian problem” would resolve itself because “the old will die and the young will forget”.

Think again. Seventy-four years on from the Nakba Palestinians are as determined as ever to achieve the return of their land and homes and the young generation are leading the way despite their lack of representation in the traditional leadership structures of the Palestinian people.

Areej Jafari, the moderator of the webinar, was born in a Lebanese refuge

e camp as part of the third generation after the Palestinian Nakba. She has been undertaking a quantitative and qualitative analysis of Palestinian views of the future and her initial findings are very interesting.

Overall 87% of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza strip say they want to return to the land they were expelled from in 1948. A higher percentage of men than women want to return (possible due to ownership of assets in traditional Palestinian society) but there is no difference with age – ie young Palestinians are as determined as their parents and grandparents to return.

When she surveyed people on the various options for the future such as two-state solution, one bi-national state, a confederal state or a secular democratic state the clear majority response was for a single democratic state.

Palestinians remained realistic however about the short-term likelihood of achieving this goal. 58% for example through the current apartheid system would continue and get worse over the next five years. 25% however thought a single democratic state from the river to the sea could be achieved over the next five years.

And in terms of achieving their rights, the single most important strategy identified by young Palestinians was armed struggle and resistence.

In general most Palestinian refugees reject the current leadership options involving the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and even United Nations bodies. Young Palestinians do not see traditional Palestinian leadership as reflecting their aspirations.

Rami Rmeileh spoke about the 200,000 Palestinian refugees living in refugee camps in Lebanon. These are places of dire poverty and extremely high unemployment. These camps have been the scenes of many Israel-orchestrated massacres such as the Sabra and Shatila massacres in 1982.

Young people here feel they are left out in the sense they have no access to resources and when these are available they come with “strings attached” which they reject. They also feel they have no representation in traditional Palestinian structures – they are denied representation on the Palestinian National Council or the Palestinian Authority.

However youth here are engaged in many different modes of struggle focused on the politics of resistance. They are translating news and writing tweets – small acts of liberation.

More widely Rami spoke about the leadership of youth in the ongoing battle to save Sheik Jarrah, a Palestinian neighbourhood in Occupied East Jerusalem. Their actions have been an inspiration to Palestinian youth generally in resisting the ongoing theft of Palestinian land

In terms of liberation Rami felt that talk of one-state or two-state solutions focused too much on the land when the human situation as need needs to be prioritised.

Ahmed Abu Artema spoke from Gaza and despite being 38 years old has never been to the Occupied West Bank or had the opportunity to pray in Al Aqsa mosque.

Ahmed was a key organiser of the 2018 Great March of Return protests at the Gaza border fence. The majority of people in Gaza are refugees and the descendants of refugees expelled from their land in the 1948 Nakba. These refugees can often see their villages they were expelled from 74 years ago but Israel refuses to allow them to return to their land and homes.

Like other sites for Palestinian refugees, there is dire poverty and high unemployment.

The aim of the GMR protests was to have their voices heard around the world and this certainly happened (but at huge cost to life and limb as Israeli soldiers delighted in shooting unarmed Palestinian civilians through the Gaza security fence)

Over 100,000 took part in these protests to demand the right of return. Ahmed says they absolutely believe the right of return is realistic – in fact it’s the only possibility. It is unacceptable to stay in an open air prison – a common description of Gaza. Ahmed say “we can see our stolen land beyond the fence and can see our land being used – we have no choice but to continue the struggle”

Young people in Gaza took heart from the protests in Sheikh Jarrah in Occupied East Jerusalem in 2021 from where it spread to the Occupied West Bank and Gaza. It showed new hope and reflected the Palestinian people’s “deep desire for liberation and freedom”

Like young Palestinians elsewhere, those in Gaza feel marginalised and want to see new leadership. They want to take part in political life and are searching for opportunities to do so.

Aalya Zoabi is PhD student at the University of Exeter who has the vision of a decolonised Palestine. She is in the third generation from the Nakba. She sees an upsurge in activism among Palestinian youth who led the struggle at Sheikh Jarrah. She says the new generation are talking freely about a decolonised Palestine. They are unafraid and unapologetic in expressing their Palestinian identity.

Protests, marches, information, education, local social issues, “volunteerism” and helping local NGOs are all part of the resistance and gave the example of the Haifa Youth movement.

Aalya says the two-state solution is a joke when more than half a million Israelis live in the area set aside for a Palestinian state and when the US gives $4 billion per year to keep the colonial state of Israel viable.

There are more than 12 million Palestinians around the world, 8 million of whom are refugees. However only Palestinians living in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza are able to take part in Palestinian elections.

If the current leadership allowed youth to take their place the struggle would be re-energised.

MOVEMENT FOR LIBERATION FROM NAKBA

By Hassanal Noor Rashid

With this spirit in mind, this became the premise and principle upon which the Movement for Liberation from Nakba (MLN) was founded upon.

Beginning as a small coalition of individuals and organizational representatives, our founding members spanned many nationalities such as Australia, India, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palestine, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom.

We each have spoken out in our own capacities, against the insidious, and racist foundations of Zionism, against Oppressive Apartheid, and against the unjust cruelty of the Israeli regime. It is through this shared moral consciousness, that we had formed this group.

MLN is a platform which at its’ heart, is dedicated to education of the realities of Palestine, and our commitment to countering narrative fallacies brought by oppressors in the seats of power. We must confront the many prevailing questions, seeking practical solutions based on realities.

What are their struggles like now as compared to the ones face by the previous generations? What are the new challenges that need to be addressed in this political-social climate? What are their views of the One-State Solution and the approach to interfaith harmony? Is sustainable peace achievable? What will it look like?

This is especially important in this contemporary period of disinformation we find ourselves in. If lies and false narratives are allowed to prevail without a response, the truth becomes buried and the ramifications can be disastrous with little to no remedy. International societies and action groups now more than ever need to support each other when facing this struggle together, and a platform such as MLN can empower this shared solidarity.

We also seek to inform and highlight contemporary issues across generations, of what Palestinian youth have to say, as the struggle has now become a generational one, with those being born into the realities of facing the Apartheid regime.

We also aim to discuss and highlight about the contemporary political realities of Palestine itself, for a discussion about the Palestinian condition cannot be done without considering the internal dynamics of Palestinian society.

While we are ultimately premised around the Palestinian Struggle, we also seek to be a platform for those who would speak out on wider issues such as Islamophobia, and its manifestation across different societies.

Why?

These issues are not distinct from the Palestinian struggle.

In fact, it can be said that challenging this discourse is equally important if we are to legitimately pursue greater social justice.

Many of these issues are not just intrinsically tied to the narrative discourse that is used to delegitimize the Palestinian issues and those that speak out, it is actively weaponized.

At their root, many social ills such as these stem from the foundations of our post-colonial inheritance. Israel continues to perpetuate the narrative to its’ own benefit, and its ramifications on society are equally perpetuated, and in various instances, even encouraged. The Israeli Apartheid state’s reckless pursuit for total control and subjugation has been a source of pollution for the moral spirit of humanity.

MLN represents our stand against this, and our goal is to unravel the false narratives.

MLN: THE JOURNEY THUS FAR AND GOING FORWARD

Since our initial inception, MLN has hosted a series of Webinars with the main premise to promote and archive discussions about contemporary issues related to the Palestinian Struggle

From topics such as the practicalities of the Right of Return, Freedom of Speech, co-existence, and many more, MLN has featured an array of discussions, and we have plans to do many more in the future, engaging on contemporary issues, while drawing lessons from history, in the hope of finding a way forward.

We seek to confront all aspects of the Zionist movement and the hegemonic engine that drives it.

Our efforts have been humble, but it is a struggle that resonates with many so far and it is clear that we are reaching many, and we, and the Palestinians, are not alone in this struggle.Our principled commitment to the virtues of justice, is what gives strength to our struggle, and we welcome those who would join their strength with ours in meeting one of the greatest injustices of our time.

We welcome everyone who shares our vision to join us in our movement.

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We are a coalition of organizations and individuals from Australia, India, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palestine, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and which aims to disseminate knowledge about Palestine in the areas and spaces termed as the Global South. Our member organizations include: Alternative Information Centre, Palestine; Afro-Middle East Centre (AMEC), South Africa; Asia Pacific Centre for Integral Study of Life (Zoesophia), Republic of Korea; Badil- Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Palestine; Centre for the Study of Islam and Decoloniality, Pakistan; the European Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter, the United Kingdom; Global Kairos for Justice, Palestine; Global Kairos Asia-Pacific Solidarity with Palestine (GKAPS), Republic of Korea; Indo-Palestine Solidarity Network, India; International Movement for Just World (JUST), Malaysia; and Presentation Sisters, India.

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