Signs of a Popular Tsunami on the Horizon

Author: عوض عبد الفتاح

The recent days have witnessed a noticeable escalation in the Palestinian popular movement, specifically in the areas of 48 and the West Bank, in an attempt to join the renewed global wave of solidarity that has regained its breath despite the campaigns of repression and persecution in the United States and most European countries. Indicators suggest that this momentum is likely to escalate, signaling a transformation into a widespread popular tsunami that holds broad hopes of curbing the frenzy of Zionist brutality and systematic starvation.

Dismantling Israel's Image and Dominance of Terror

The specter of starvation and extermination has recently resurfaced, in a scene that can no longer be concealed even from the allied Western regimes, which are increasingly facing embarrassment and shame due to their complicity and silence. Under global popular pressure, some of these countries have begun to issue critical statements regarding Israel, implicitly acknowledging its obstruction of aid delivery and its acceleration of the pace of killings.

Notably, the recognition by several Western countries of the State of Palestine, in this context, has constituted a symbolic yet significant support that has contributed to energizing the popular movement and opened the door to a new phase of thinking and action.

Protesters are accurately reading the transformations in the regional and international scene: Israel has begun to violate the territories of the 'Resistance Axis' without restraint, fully supported by the United States. Despite the painful strikes endured by Iran, as the main supporter of this axis, it has not been defeated but is rather preparing for upcoming rounds of confrontation in an arms race that threatens a more bloody and destructive future. Both Iran and Israel are engaged in a rapidly accelerating arms race in preparation for potential developments in this conflict.

Popular Movement as an Alternative to Military Deterrence

In light of the significant disparity in power balances, a renewed awareness among many activists in the movement is crystallizing about the necessity of developing popular struggle as a transitional alternative due to the loss or retreat of military deterrence. The Israeli military dominance appears to be temporary, as Israel's international standing, even among world Jewry, has become more fragile than ever. It can no longer polish its image, and its media campaigns can no longer cover up its atrocities. Some believe that Israel is unaware it is currently facing a different kind of tsunami, a tsunami of damage to its reputation and status, which represents strategic damages that are irreparable.

Thus, pushing towards a strategy of ongoing popular resistance, globally intertwined with progressive movements, has become a realistic option, and indeed a historical necessity.

Previous Experiences and Lessons Learned

In recent years, we have witnessed multiple initiatives to develop this path, the most prominent of which was the "Marches of Return" in Gaza in 2018, which were met with bloody repression from the very start, in an attempt to halt its deep repercussions in global public opinion. However, the failure of this experience to extend into the West Bank is partly due to the fragility of the political environment there, and the lack of a clear struggle vision by the security coordination authority, which opposes any independent popular movement through its close cooperation with the colonizer.

In May 2021, a broad civil popular uprising that swept across all of Palestine from the sea to the river nearly transformed into a comprehensive long-term intifada, but the military dimension introduced by Hamas's rockets interrupted this civil path's momentum and possibilities. The opportunity existed despite the Israeli repression, but it was not completed.

From here, many are increasingly convinced that civil and popular resistance – legal, cultural, and artistic – has become the most disturbing tool for Israel, perhaps even more than military power. Israeli analysts have acknowledged that the events of October 7 and the current war have undermined the "prestige" of the Israeli army, despite its criminal ferocity, and have left wounds in Israel, both as a system and as a society, that will not heal in the near future, or perhaps never.

Abroad, the confrontation continues in international courts, in culture and art, in the fields, and in university squares. As the crimes of Israel become more exposed, movements of anger and solidarity are renewed, widening their media and political impacts. These are the future battlefields, where violations of international law will become a burden on those who violate it, leading to the end of the apartheid and extermination system.

Palestinians of 48 Inspire the West Bank

What seems to be a qualitative shift in the movement among the Palestinians inside appears to be new in this context, where a massive demonstration was witnessed in Sakhnin, and several leading figures, within the framework of the Higher Follow-up Committee, decided to initiate a hunger strike. This coincided with demonstrations in other Palestinian towns in the Galilee, Triangle, Negev, and coastal regions, and the echoes of this began to reverberate in the West Bank, despite the dual repression faced by the Palestinians there.

Activists and national figures in the West Bank have launched a hunger strike, not only in solidarity with Gaza, but to mobilize people and bring them back to politics, in response to a decision from the Arab Follow-up Committee to launch a similar strike from Jaffa. Will we soon witness the beginnings of a true popular state, or is it too early to say so?

However, what can be said is that the stagnation and weakness of the Palestinian effectiveness can no longer be tolerated. How things will develop depends on the subjective factor, on the ability of initiators to think and generate a driver, organizer, and framework for this important transformation.