Goodbye 2025: What Have Palestinians Learned from an Unprecedented Year?

As 2025 comes to a close, Palestinians stand on the threshold of a new year, burdened with experiences heavier than memory, and deeper than can be summarized by news headlines. 2025 was not an ordinary year; it was a year where pain intertwined with resilience, loss with hope, and ambiguity with will. A year that refined collective consciousness, teaching Palestinians once again that life here is lived with two faces: a harsh daily face and a humane face that resists no matter how circumstances change.

Palestinians learned that resilience is not a slogan but a daily practice.

Resilience is no longer a poetic concept or a political slogan. In 2025, it became a tangible practice seen in the details of destroyed homes being rebuilt by their owners, in youth initiatives that occur without funding, and in people's ability to find alternative ways of living despite oppression. People realized that resilience does not mean ignoring pain, but acknowledging it and turning it into the ability to continue.

They learned that justice is not granted... but seized.

The year witnessed an extension of legal and diplomatic battles concerning Palestine, from the path of the International Criminal Court to activating tools like "the Union for Peace." With each international disappointment, Palestinians' awareness grew that international justice is slow, hesitant, and delayed, but not hopeless as long as there are those pushing it forward. Palestinians became more aware of the game of international politics, better able to read the balance of power, and understand that rights are seized through continuous action, not by waiting.

They learned that civil society is the first line of defense.

Amidst the sometimes shrinking role of official institutions, the role of civil society and grassroots efforts grew. Successive crises revealed that community institutions, volunteer initiatives, and solidarity among people are what sustain daily life, from relief to education and psychological support. People learned that the real strength of society lies not only in its institutions but in its human connections.

They learned that the digital space is a double-edged sword.

In 2025, the digital space became the only available space at times for dialogue, advocacy, and telling the truth. However, it was also a battleground for digital repression and the suppression of Palestinian narratives. Palestinians recognized that digital existence requires awareness and planning, and that narrating the Palestinian story has become an individual and collective responsibility at the same time.

They learned that the economy can be rebuilt from scratch.

Despite the collapses, new economic models emerged, with small projects built on necessity and remote work opportunities despite closed borders, creating challenges for some and enabling others. People understood that the economy may decline, but it does not die; it reshapes itself with their own hands when state and market options disappear.

They learned that Palestinian women are the center of resilience.

Women, as usual, were at the forefront. They led relief efforts, rebuilt social ties, and bore the burdens of household economy, education, and care. The year presented a clear lesson: there can be no Palestinian resilience or building without acknowledging the central role of women and their right to protection, justice, and equal participation.

They learned that hope is not the opposite of pain... but its offspring.

Ultimately, 2025 was not a year for easy hope. It was a year of hope born from the rubble, from children's laughter amidst the debris, and from initiatives that begin from nothing. Palestinians realized that hope is not a temporary feeling but a life skill acquired in the face of despair.

Goodbye 2025... and welcome to what comes next.

As we bid farewell to this exceptional year, Palestinians carry one conclusion: we do not control the circumstances, but we control how we face them. 2025 was a year that revealed the fragility of the world and the justice of their cause at the same time. A year that demonstrated that strength does not lie in the ability to face easy days, but in the ability to survive impossible days.

As we close the chapter on this year, we do not carry grand celebrations, but rather a greater awareness, stronger hearts, and a deeper determination that whatever comes next will be built by the hands of Palestinians themselves.
Goodbye 2025... and let us begin a year that we want, not a year imposed on us.