Who is trying to bluff the Palestinians?

Nahida Izzat
Exiled Palestinian

Alan Hart, a friend and supporter of Palestine, invited ALL Palestinians, at home and in Diaspora with all their political shades, factions and affiliations to unite and “call israel’s bluff”.

On July 27, 2010 he writes: (emphasis mine)

“They could do so with a joint Fatah-Hamas statement to something like this effect: “We cannot and will not recognise Israel’s “right” to exist because it has no such right, but we are a pragmatic people and we hereby declare that we are prepared to recognise and live in permanent peace with the reality of an Israel inside its borders as they were on the eve of the 1967 war, with Jerusalem an open, undivided city and the capital of two states… We further declare that our pragmatism extends to accepting that the right of the dispossessed Palestinians to return must and will be confined to the Palestinian state, which means that many of those who wish to return will have to settle for compensation for the loss of their homes and their land.”

Alan Hart recapitulates:

“The point of the article above is only that I believe the Palestinian leadership should now say, in the most explicit terms, that most Palestinians are still prepared to live in permanent peace with an Israel inside its pre-1967 borders."

Our friend wants the Palestinians to attest their good-intention publicly, once and for all and demonstrate to the world and to the occupiers of their lands that they are only interested in peace, they "should" reassure their rapist murderers, "in the most explicit terms" that they want to "live in permanent peace" with a Jewish state encroached over 80% of their land!!

In other words, Palestinians are strongly advised by our friend to pull their acts together, organize, unite and hurry up, sign the statement he prepared for them in which they sign off permanently their RIGHTS to their OWN historic land of Palestine. Furthermore, he wants the Palestinians to declare publicly and permanently that they are giving up their right of return!

These are precisely the demands of our enemy! Total Surrender, nothing less nothing more, and that’s at a time when the Palestinian struggle and resistance are finally gaining global support and momentum.

By doing so, Mr. Hart reflects better his domain of interest and expertise; namely zionists and “israelis”, but not Palestine or Palestinians.

Had he any real knowledge of Palestinians, he would’ve known that Palestinians do NOT surrender. More than a century of struggle, sacrifices and extreme anguish did not weaken their fortitude to resist, nor did it destroy or even abate their aim of return and of the liberation of all of Palestine.

Now, the question is:

Why Palestinians should NEVER recognize “israel”?

Furthermore

Why REAL friends of Palestine should NEVER insist or even ask that Palestinians recognize “israel”?

Amazingly enough, Alan Hart’s own articles prove that he knows perfectly well the answer to those questions; but he apparently assumes that Palestinians have a memory span of a fish!

On Oct 16th, 2009, he wrote: (emphasis mine)

“legitimacy was the only thing the Zionists could not and cannot take from the Palestinians by force.”

“The truth of the time was that the Zionist state, which came into being mainly as a consequence of pre-planned ethnic cleansing, had no right to exist and, more to the point, could have no right to exist UNLESS … Unless it was recognized and legitimized by those who were dispossessed of their land and their rights during the creation of the Zionist state. In international law only the Palestinians could give Israel the legitimacy it craved.” (Israel's right or not to exist – The facts and truth)

On one hand, Mr. Hart acknowledges that “israel” has no right to exist unless explicitly recognized and legitimized by the Palestinians -ONLY the Palestinians, and he also acknowledges that “israel” is craving for this recognition.

On the other hand, Mr. Hart now volunteers, on the bases of his good name, to obtain that recognition by temptation and persuasion, regardless of the miscarriage of justice that would cause, and the irreversible harm this would inflect on Palestinians.

To this effect, it is with condescension that he makes the misleading demand that ALL Palestinians should on his say-so show pragmatism and unite to recognize and legitimize the Jewish state on 80% of their land.

What would Palestinians lose if they accept Mr. Hart’s proposal? what is in there in his scheme for Palestinians?

What would happen if ALL Palestinians including Hamas and the Diaspora are CONNED into recognising “israel” within the 1967 borders, (under the pretext of “calling israel’s bluff”)?

There are two outcomes:

At best; the conscience of the “israeli” occupiers would suddenly be awakened and they would accept the Palestinian offer, in which case the Palestinians would’ve signed off their right of return, and signed away 80% of their historic land of Palestine, forever!

And at worst; the zionists would just continue to ignore the Palestinians and their lawful demands, and would clutch onto the ONLY document that would give them the legal power to legitimize their entity, namely the surrender of the Palestinians to their occupiers to achieve complete and final take over [of] the entire land of Palestine!

By being aware that “israel’s” legitimacy is unobtainable by force, and nevertheless suggest the Palestinians should call “israel’s” bluff, i.e. recognise it within the 1967 borders, Mr. Hart in effect volunteers to achieve for the zionists the “legitimacy” they are craving for, through a final and comprehensive declaration of recognition and legitimization of the Jewish state from those very oppressed and dispossessed, the ONLY ones who could grant that legitimacy to the criminal state.

Whether at best naïve, or at worst cunning and deceptive, Mr. Hart’s suggestion would leave all Palestinian losing everything with absolutely nothing to gain.

Furthermore, under the double pretext of realism and extreme disproportion of power, Alan Hart uses intimidation to blackmail Palestinians with his “knowledge” of the “seriousness” of the zionist threat of nuclear annihilation (Palestinians versus the Samson option blackmail):

“Always in my own mind is what Prime Minister Golda Meir said to me in a BBC Panorama interview and from which I quote in my book – in a doomsday situation Israel “would be prepared to take the region and the whole world down with it.”” (“Zionism and Peace are Incompatible”)

It appears that Mr. Hart uses the carrot and the stick to bring Palestinians to line and trap them to surrender their rights and land, once and for all.

Knowingly or unknowingly, Mr. Hart is doing a great job on behalf of our oppressors.

His proposal serves nothing but to finalize the zionist project by achieving the permanent Jewish conquest of Palestine.

Incidentally, terminating the Palestinian human right to return to their homeland, trampling over the souls of millions who raised the banner of freedom for over a century, trashing and thrashing their sacrifices is not much of a concern to Mr. Hart.

What he worries most about is to prevent the rise of anti-Semitism, and to secure the permanent presence of a Jewish state on the occupied land of Palestine, be it as it may at the cost of slaughtering justice at the alter of the 'Chosen ones', and extinguishing the candle of freedom in the service of the 'Light unto nations'.

Mr. Hart’s proposal would trap Palestinians to become an archetype of disintegration and worse, it would offer the jurisprudential grounds justifying future wars of conquest and aggression.

What a stark contrast with the pertinent, insightful and astute suggestion offered with great sincerity by Dr. Francis Boyle, expert in International Law: "The Palestinians must sign nothing and let Israel collapse!"

With all due respect, I wonder if by enticing Palestinians to “call israel’s bluff”, was Mr. Hart trying to bluff the Palestinians?
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Nahida Izzat: "I am -Jerusalem born- Palestinian refugee living in exile for over 40 years. I was forced to leave my homeland, Palestine at the age of seven during the six-day war.

I am a mathematician by profession but art is one of my favourite pastimes, I love hand-made things, so I make dolls, cards, and most of my own clothes.

I also write poetry, and participate in dialogues with known and unknown friends as I believe that communication is the first step of understanding, I believe in building bridges not walls.

My shy and extra sensitive nature hinders me from public speaking, so I try to compensate for my shortcomings by writing! I started writing about three years ago when my friends insisted I should write about my memories, experiences, and my feelings as a Palestinian. So I self published two books (I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story) [Biographical information: Growing Gardens for Palestine]
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URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2010/11/01/who-is-trying-to-bluff-the-palestinians