Between chaos and fundamentalism is our responsibility to protect the social fabric and national destiny

Written by: Jamal Zaqout

Social manifestations have been growing in the Palestinian society for quite some time, showing the direct danger to the disintegration of the social contract, and reflecting the extent of weakness, fragility, or even the absence of the authority and its role in enforcing the law, which sometimes reaches the point that some elements and agencies charged with enforcing the law voluntarily abandon this role in the face of “power.” The claimants of the "religious authority" who work day and night to eliminate the faltering authority in most cities of the West Bank.

The failure of the official institution to carry out its duties entrusted to it constitutes the main reason for its loss of prestige, which represents the essence of just and effective authority. These two elements of the philosophy of governance are now absent in the behavior and structure of the official civil and security institution, which unfortunately in the eyes of the general public does not enjoy legitimacy and respect. Change may restore hope to people.

This situation constitutes a fertile environment for many local authorities and their social and perhaps political agendas, which are working to the best of their ability to exploit this void resulting from the absence of the law and the absence of its enforcement institutions. This explains the events that took place recently in a number of regions and universities, the most recent of which was what happened at An-Najah University, and the repeated attempts to take the law by hand, by attacking, beating and distorting the claim of "divine guardianship" over people's behavior and personal freedoms. This chaos, which has reached the level of suspicion of "collusion" or the silence of some elements of the security establishment during these events, or even its abandonment of protecting citizens when they were beaten and injured in a restaurant in Ramallah, as happened a few days ago, of course, in addition to the ongoing violations by the authority. Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the latest of which was the armed attack on the residents of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Nasr, north of Beit Lahiya, which resulted in the injury of a number of citizens.

The official institution's feeling of weakness and lack of confidence in its role is what explains its succumbing to the "dark fundamentalist" discourse on the one hand, or the participation of some elements of its security institution in a number of manifestations of chaos in which the law is taken by hand on the other hand.
The social tensions that deepen the crisis between the official institution and the people cannot be dealt with by the security grip, inasmuch as it requires a restoration of consideration for the foundations of justice, law, and the institution of the judicial authority, whose independence, impartiality, and prestige have also been and are being undermined, which seriously deepens the loss of confidence in it, and increases the manifestations of Attempts to take the law in hand.

The manifestations of chaos and dark fundamentalist rhetoric that quickly turn a legitimate popular protest against high prices into a demagogic demonstration against feminist and human rights institutions that fight for the freedom of society and women from occupation and oppression, and call for equality among all citizens, including between women and men, under pretexts and allegations that these institutions It encourages "social chaos", at a time when the national authority, which committed itself before its people first and the world second to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), stands aside in the face of all forms of incitement to which feminist activists and the entire feminist movement are subjected, and in front of an attempt The imposition of an intimidating discourse comes in the context of attempts to impose an "occult authority" that is parallel to or alternative to the authority of law.

The main danger to the official institution is represented, in addition to the fundamentalist chaos, in the chaos resulting in part from the struggle of the dominant group over power and the capabilities of society and its preoccupation with the arrangements for what could be called "the succession of the caliphate", or the completion of the coup control that has extended for fifteen years, at a time when it is accelerating Society's disengagement from the entire ruling political class that dominates the divisive scene with its two wings, without any third party stepping forward to provide practical answers to protect the social fabric and the national destiny of our people and their cause.

These and other manifestations remind us of what was happening fifteen years ago in the Gaza Strip, due to the weakness and isolation of the national authority at the time, and it cannot be dealt with by the force of the security grip or the practice of violence, as it is a reflection of the manifestations of the disintegration of the social contract, the failure of the political program, and the marginalization and replacement of public opinion. With a handful of misleading beneficiaries and the confusion that this generated on the national identity and the tearing of the university institution. What we need is an official position emanating from a deep awareness of the necessity of revision so that pride does not lead them to sin, just as the national and progressive forces and personalities, including those opposed to the authority, must shoulder their responsibilities at this pivotal moment that comes at the moment of the strategic Israeli attack on our cause with the aim of bringing it to its knees. Our people, investing in a state of weakness and containment of power, which imposes on everyone the need to hold a broad national meeting or what can be called a popular conference that defines the societal pillars required to be preserved in order to get out of the impasse around our necks, foremost of which is the protection of the social fabric and the maintenance of civil peace, and the overall progressive and democratic achievements What our people have already achieved in the course of their long struggle for freedom and independence.

It is true that the time for change has come, but chaos and selfishness are enemies who have accumulated the ability to bring about the required and gradual change, which corrects the compass and path of the national struggle to get rid of the occupation, and what that requires in terms of protecting freedoms and the national social fabric, and upholding justice, the rule of law and the constitutional rights of citizens, and in Foremost among them are their economic and social rights, their right to political participation and the election of their representatives. Otherwise, "we shall all be eaten as a white ox is eaten."

The idea of establishing the movement for the sake of homeland, justice and democracy "Wa'ad" was a promising and serious attempt that attracted serious attention at the time from various social sectors and in most regions. Public life, including from some of those who claim to be keen on democracy and change, but the need for this idea still exists. Is it possible to go back to it and draw lessons from that experience with what it has and what it has towards the possibility of contributing to a renaissance that establishes with all other sincere efforts to crystallize a broad national democratic movement whose core function is to protect society and enhance its steadfastness and national immunity? The answer, of course, is to draw all those who are zealous about preserving the diversity of society and its intellectual and political pluralism, restoring hope for future generations, and always moving away from claims of monopolizing virtue and truth.