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Following the event ‘Give, So Gaza Can Live’ at the Greenfield Manor here, former candidate for the presidency of the Palestinian National Authority and keynote speaker Mustafa Barghouthi sat down for an interview with The Arab American News.
Wearing a pin with the Palestinian flag and another with a key symbolizing the Right to Return for the country’s refugees, Barghouthi, who finished in second place behind current president Mahmoud Abbas in 2005 and founded the Palestinian National Initiative movement along with several medical care organizations in the West Bank and Gaza, spoke about the future of the peace process, his political aspirations and more:
TAAN: Lets start with the recent visit to the region by President Barack Obama. Was there any hope in Palestine when he came?
MB: Actually, not much. We were hopeful when he came to power and when he made his speech in Cairo because then he promised to pressure Israel to stop settlement activities and he also asked Palestinians to stick to non-violence, which we did, but this time retreated from his previous statement about settlements and he failed even to mention the popular non-violent resistance movement in Palestine.
TAAN: And like you were saying earlier, he had said to start a mass movement like that, and then the U.S. would start paying attention.
MB: Yeah, he never did, his whole speech was about Israel, the great Israel; supporting Israel. I think he failed in a way in being balanced in his visit. And then instead of pressuring Israel to stop settlement activities which are killing the possibility of a two-state solution even according to the American description, he’s pressuring Palestinians to go back to negotiations without freezing settlements, which would be like asking Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to commit political suicide; so I believe that unfortunately the United States continues to monopolize the “peace process,” but it’s failing to be a fair mediator, you know, or a fair sponsor of the process.
TAAN: Is there any shred of hope left that the United States might show some sort of spine, some sort of backbone on the settlement issue again?
MB: I don’t think so, I think hope is coming from this popular non-violence resistance movement within Palestine, hope is coming from the young people who are working very hard to change the balance of power. Hope is coming from the great solidarity movement that is growing inside the United States and many other places including the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign. Hope is coming even from some Jewish activists who are joining the solidarity movement with Palestine. This is where hope comes from. I don’t think it comes from the official level which unfortunately instead of pressuring the strong side here, (America) is trying to pressure the weak side, the Palestinian Authority.
TAAN: And the movement on the ground, is it still pretty energetic and inspired?
MB: It’s not only that energetic, it’s growing, and this model is the example that is influencing so many people which is very promising.
TAAN: Because I think if you heard the organizer and speaker for this event, Mohammed Qazzaz, he said that he and others had been going around to some of the local Palestine organizations for support and it was harder to get this time around. And I’ve been in this community since early 2008 and I hate to admit it but I kind of sense that people are losing hope here (in regards to the Palestinian cause). What would you say to the activists who have tried so hard in the past but are losing hope because of the continued settlements and home demolitions?
MB: I would say that the last thing we need now is to be depressed and lose hope; on the contrary now is the time to have hope and for an older person who has tried very hard and has yet to see the roots of his or her work, my answer to them would be to say that’s exactly why you should look and sound optimistic, because it’s your duty to encourage the younger generation to continue the path even if you couldn’t achieve it, so that somebody one day will achieve it. That’s what I tried to do in my speech is to encourage people to have enthusiasm and to have hope.
TAAN: A lot of attention has shifted to Syria, Egypt, and other places in the Arab World. Do you think this has caused people to forget about the Palestine issue?
MB: Yes, I think this is short term, though. In the long term, the more you remove dictators, the more there will be democracy, and the more there will be solidarity with Palestine, because already the people of the Arab World are in support of Palestine. The hope is that when there’s more democracy there will be more solidarity. I think also, we don’t want any Arab country to be destroyed in this process, we hope to see a peaceful solution and the end to the terrible civil war taking place (in Syria).
TAAN: What has been the reaction of the people of Palestine to these events especially with the war in Syria dragging on?
MB: The Palestinians, we feel sad, but we are not a part of this fight and we should not be a part of internal fights within other countries. We want Syria to remain strong, it has always been a country that has been self-sufficient with a great amount of integrity.
TAAN: What about the recent news about the reelection of Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal; he’s apparently been in Qatar for a while now, what does that signal to people in your camp?
MB: We believe his election was good news because he represents a cooperative and moderate side of Hamas, and I hope with his elections the possibility for internal Palestinian reconciliation will hopefully be greater.
TAAN: And how have the relations been between the two sides?
MB: Of course, our organization is unified and works in the West Bank and Gaza as well, and we insist on keeping unity between us, that is very important for us.
TAAN: What about the United Nations situation with Palestine being granted Non-Member Observer State status this past fall, any new developments?
MB: Not new, but this achievement was very important from a symbolic standpoint, it also eliminated any Israeli claim that the West Bank and Jerusalem are disputed territory. Now they are part of an occupied Palestinian state, but we need to proceed and the Palestinian Authority has to stop hesitating and continue with the UN issue. We need to sign many agreements to join UN agencies to translate that into real action especially the possibility of going to the International Criminal Court to discuss crimes that have been committed against the Palestinian people.
TAAN : In terms of the two-state solution and the settlements making it so difficult, is there a breaking point in the future, like “this many settlements” or “this many settlements,” that will signal that time has run out?
MB: Now that’s really difficult, I don’t know, maybe we’ve already crossed it, that’s difficult to measure. But one thing is for sure, the settlements will lead to the death of the two-state solution. If that happens I know some Israelis will think that we will accept to live in an apartheid state but (we won’t). If it’s killed, we will hold Israel responsible for killing it and we’ll have no choice but to struggle for one state with full democratic rights. In reality we are struggling for freedom; whether it’s two states or one state will be decided by Israel because they have the power and are killing the two-state solution as we speak, unless the U.S. will somehow have a miracle.
They asked me if Obama has any chance of stopping the settlements before his visit and I said I don’t know, except if he goes to the Church of the Nativity and God talks to him, and a miracle happens and he comes out the church condemning the apartheid system.
TAAN: Considering that the biggest solution for Palestine is to spread the message of the injustices committed against it to the rest of the world, are its people starting to embrace the English language and social media?
MB: Yes, Palestine has one of the highest rates of using Facebook in the whole region and the younger generation is very much aware of what we are talking about. One of our goals is to present our narrative. We have developed DVDs with documentaries like the one I showed you. We need to bring our story to more people but the biggest problem is the Israeli dominance of the narrative in the Western media, especially in the U.S. I believe people in the U.S. have the right to know what’s really going on, and it is the duty of the media to bring everyone the news, not to be on our side but to be objective.
TAAN: Have you followed developments in the U.S. media such as when CBS actually broadcast footage of the wall and people struggling under apartheid in Bethlehem, and the backlash from pro-Israeli groups afterward?
MB: Yes, we are aware. I remember when I was on the John Stewart (Daily) show and someone stood up and (verbally) attacked me, he accused me of lying after I said Israel is occupying Palestine and he said there is no occupation.
TAAN: But it is of course internationally agreed upon that there is.
MB: Yes.
TAAN: So what are your political aspirations and what are your goals in Palestine?
MB: I have one aspiration, to see Palestine free, nothing else. I professionally did a lot of work and I’m satisfied with what I’ve done. We have a great voluntary health movement helping people in Palestine and an alternative moment going well with the National Initiative.
When I ran against Abbas I wanted to prove one point, that one can compete with an establishment, that one can be courageous enough and fight back. We’ll see what happens, but I don’t know what we’ll be running for if there is no state. It depends on what are we talking about? I have no intention whatsoever to be mired in a ghetto. If we have a possibility of a real state that will be a definite story.
The most important thing for me is to find the fastest way possible for Palestine to be a free country and Palestinians to be a free people.
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