The "National Rescue Document".. Will it be the beginning of a new path or will it recycle failure?

Author: اسماعيل جمعه الريماوي

In one of the darkest moments in Palestinian history, amidst a continuous Israeli genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, a group of national, political, union, and academic figures from both the interior and the diaspora announced the launch of the "Palestinian National Rescue Document," as a step aimed at breaking the state of division and opening a new path towards true national unity and comprehensive partnership. The document, formulated under the title "People and Homeland First," declares a comprehensive national vision that focuses on saving the Palestinian national project from the dangers of liquidation and collapse, calling everyone to unite behind one goal: freedom and independence based on partnership and national legitimacy.

However, as with every Palestinian initiative over the decades, a question of skepticism arises: Will this document mark the beginning of a new national path, or will it join the heap of previous agreements that remained trapped in drawers, due to factional contradictions, internal divisions, the absence of political will, and some political forces' reliance on the settlement path and the illusion of a two-state solution in light of the existence war on the entire Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank?
Palestinians have witnessed dozens of agreements from the Cairo Agreement in 2005 to the Algiers Statement in 2022, all carrying nearly the same promises: national unity, political partnership, activating the PLO, ending the division, rebuilding institutions… but they have all collapsed at the doorstep of partisan interests and regional calculations, turning into meaningless papers in the absence of a clear implementation mechanism or real national accountability.

The new document is relatively different in terms of context and the initiating entity. It is not issued by a faction or under the auspices of a regional or international party, but rather comes from relatively independent figures representing a wide spectrum of national and popular elites, carrying a clear popular spirit. Additionally, its issuance comes at the peak of Gaza's tragedy, where there is no room for maneuvering or political luxury, but rather a decisive moment that requires historical decisions. This document emanates from the heart of the wound, it screams from the midst of the rubble, and it demands everyone to place the interest of the people above factional calculations and partisan squabbles.

But despite this relative positivity, the biggest challenge remains: Will the document transform into a true national work program? Will the factions, particularly the two main parties to the division, be willing to concede some of their dominance in power in exchange for a comprehensive national project? Are we facing the birth of a civic path that pressures the leadership, or will these latter succeed in containing the document and draining it of its substance as happened before?

There is something more dangerous than self-failure, which is external intervention. It is no secret that many regional and international parties are monitoring this initiative and may seek to intervene in directing or containing it to serve their agendas:

Some Arab regimes may push for "humanitarian solutions" that close the Gaza file at the expense of the national project.

The United States and Europe will not hesitate to support any path conditioned on "renouncing resistance" and entrenching the logic of "economic peace."

The Israeli occupation itself will work to distort or fragment any framework that unites the Palestinians outside its control.

And here the core dilemma reveals itself: What kind of national project can surpass factions, resist external interventions, and genuinely express the Palestinian people in action, not just in rhetoric? Can the document be the nucleus for something like a "Transitional National Rescue Council" that reorganizes the Palestinian scene on new bases, free from the constraints of division and quota politics? Or will the field remain hostage to armed centers of power and external calculations?

The PLO… From Marginalization to Reform

And it is impossible to talk about a "National Rescue Document" without addressing the core issue that encapsulates the crisis of Palestinian representation, which is the reality of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has been – and still is – the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, but in recent decades it has turned into a marginalized framework, lacking dynamism, and a political tool in the hands of the ruling authority, monopolized by one faction, and excluding many influential forces and factions in the Palestinian arena, in addition to the absence of real representation for the diaspora, civil society, and youth energies.

It has become essential for the document to serve as a real entry point for rebuilding the PLO on democratic, inclusive, and participatory bases, ensuring the representation of all Palestinians in a collectively agreed-upon political program, and restoring the organization's status as a home for all Palestinians in the interior and the diaspora, not just a political title used in times of need or for negotiation purposes.

This goal cannot be achieved without conducting free and fair democratic elections for the Palestinian National Council, alongside parliamentary and presidential elections, which would serve as a gateway to renewing legitimacy and leadership rotation, and putting an end to the stagnation that has burdened the Palestinian people and weakened the national project. Fundamental reform cannot be achieved by recycling the same elites but by opening the door for the popular will to express itself and choose who represents it in this most critical phase of our history.

Reinstating the PLO and linking it to a real democratic process is not just a political demand; it is a condition for the survival of the Palestinian national project itself. If the organization remains merely an empty shell, the occupation and the international community will exploit this void to impose alternatives and alternative projects, from liquidating the cause to humanitarian solutions, to self-governance that has nothing to do with liberation or return.

Conclusion: No Time for Political Luxury

What the document needs now is a precise and practical roadmap, including:

A clear timeline for launching an inclusive national dialogue
Mechanisms for popular oversight on the application of the document's provisions

Real representation of various community, youth, and women forces, not just factions
A prior commitment from all parties to stop incitement and political media division
Clarity in vision: Is the goal to reactivate the status quo? Or to rebuild it from its roots?
The document, with all its hopes, alone is not enough; Palestinian history teaches us that paper does not change reality, and that good intentions collapse in front of interest systems. However, conversely, the abortion or neglect of the document will deepen the division and facilitate the occupation's projects, from dividing the West Bank, to exterminating Gaza, to Judaizing Jerusalem, to fragmenting the diaspora.

We are at a real crossroads, and everyone must choose: either a comprehensive national rescue project that saves what remains of the Palestinian dream, or remaining as we are until the last bullet and the last martyr. There is no longer room for waiting, and political luxury is no longer acceptable, for the blood that flows in Gaza, Jerusalem, Nablus, and Rafah calls everyone: "People and Homeland First"… Will there be a responder?