No to a Palestinian state...and the engineers

(1) No to the Palestinian state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement the day before yesterday that there is no Palestinian state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea brings the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis back to its roots: the refusal to recognize the Palestinian people's right to exist and the denial of their right to self-determination. This rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state is not due to security threats to the Israeli state, as Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed (and most Israeli parties, especially after the Israeli Knesset voted on July 18, 2024, by a majority of 68 votes, to consider the existence of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River "an existential threat to the State of Israel and its citizens"), but rather to deny the rights of the Palestinian people in principle.

The issue today imposes a different way of thinking for the Palestinians in light of the Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip and the assault on the West Bank, in order to rearrange the Palestinian cards; in a way that strengthens positive steadfastness and the actions it entails and restores the ability to act, i.e. developing the tools of Palestinian action within the framework of confronting the manifestations of Israeli colonization of the lands of the State of Palestine, on the one hand, and preventing the penetration of what is known as negative steadfastness among the Palestinians, on the other hand. The mere presence of Palestinians on this land is not sufficient to say that the Palestinian people are steadfast and resisting the Zionist project, on the other hand.

Indigenous peoples threatened with extinction through genocide or ethnic cleansing carried out by colonialism with the aim of ending and uprooting their existence need a collective understanding of this danger and its magnitude, an awareness of the tools for collective self-preservation, and the means and methods of confrontation that are consistent with their intrinsic strength or subjective circumstance and its preparation, and a deep understanding of the objective circumstance; with the aim of bringing about change in the objective circumstance by overthrowing the manifestations of power enjoyed by the colonizers in harmony with the collective goals of the indigenous group and its right to self-determination.

Today, Palestinians are in dire need of reconsidering their collective consciousness and the strengths and weaknesses of their own capabilities, and of deeply understanding the objective situation by identifying the goals, means, methods, and tools capable of influencing and changing it.

(2) Engineers Syndicate elections

Fatah's candidates won thirteen seats in the Engineers Syndicate elections last Wednesday, including the position of head of the syndicate. Rather, the position was restored to Fatah, as it has been in successive electoral cycles, with the exception of the previous one in 2021. At that time, I wrote to understand the implications of Dr. Nadia Habash's exceptional victory, competing with a Fatah candidate for the position of head of the syndicate.

Holding elections is a significant milestone, especially if it is accompanied by healthy preparations and implementation conditions that ensure peer competition, regardless of the winner's academic, professional, or scientific standing, or their professional history, even if it is significant. However, it is more important to understand the significance of each sectoral or professional election milestone and not overburden them or generalize them to broader political issues. Voting factors and motivations in sectoral or professional elections do not depend solely on partisanship or political support, despite its importance in the Palestinian context. They are also linked to aspects related to professional needs, the social aspirations of some professionals, the ability to achieve financial gains for union members against other parties, and the ability to help improve the conditions of professionals.