Oh Palestinians... Expose Your Chests and Eliminate Excuses in Front of the Occupation!

Author: Ahmed Sayam

The Palestinian Arab people awoke last Friday to a new massacre in the town of Tal in Nablus Governorate, where six unarmed martyrs from one family were killed by the joint fire of occupation soldiers and extremist settlers who attempted to storm the town and set houses and agricultural lands on fire.

In a unique precedent, almost one of a kind in a Palestinian era filled with dark clouds, citizens confronted the aggression with their bare chests, and one citizen managed to disarm a settler - who would not have hesitated to kill again had he not lost his weapon - firing his gun in the air to disperse those hordes. Just as that settler was about to ambush the citizen defending himself, his family, and his land with death, the citizen swiftly fired at the settler and killed him. Moments later, however, his bare chest was met with heavy gunfire from the hordes of settlers and soldiers, leading to his soul departing to its Creator, along with five others from his relatives and cousins. This caused panic within the ranks of Israeli security and political circles, and even within official Palestinian circles, which were cornered by the courage and bravery of the people of Tal, increasing the number of martyrs due to the actions of settler mobs since the beginning of this year to 21 martyrs.
The massacre in Tal was not the first among the crimes of settler mobs against the unarmed innocents of the West Bank, and it certainly will not be the last. A number of previous crimes and blatant violations had preceded it, estimated according to statistics and data from the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Authority to be around 3,488 organized and systematic attacks, including the burning of homes, vehicles, and agricultural lands, and the uprooting of olive trees during the first half of this year, amidst support and cover from the occupation forces and the absence of legal accountability, with the majority of investigation files against the aggressors being closed without any indictments, reinforcing a policy of impunity, accompanied by military campaigns and mass arrests by Israel.

The crimes of settler mobs and the Israeli occupation forces are not surprising, as the plans of the Israeli government have been announced on multiple occasions, with clear objectives primarily aimed at tightening control over the citizens, uprooting them from their lands, forcing them into forced migration, and expanding settlements through official Israeli governmental steps to legitimize new settlement outposts and build more at the expense of West Bank lands, thus swallowing as much land as possible and blocking any negotiating path - which many of our leaders are still betting on - regarding a two-state solution.

However, what is strange, astonishing, and amazing is the reaction of some official spokespersons on the Palestinian side, who called on citizens for more steadfastness and resilience, without providing any tangible means, and they went further in an implicit condemnation, especially regarding the incident in Tal, under the slogan of "removing excuses" from the occupation authorities that support settler mobs in their attacks, in a practice that seems to be an invitation from the leadership for the people to open their bare chests and receive bullets without resistance or self-defense, to thwart the occupiers' opportunity to implement their aggressive settlement plans!! These irresponsible statements come amid widespread popular outrage at the Palestinian leadership's silent stance, which limits itself to making contacts and urging the international community to bear responsibility, implicitly relieving itself of its responsibilities toward protecting its people.

It is true that the Palestinian leadership has pursued a policy of political and security moderation for some time, based on avoiding giving the Israeli occupation any public excuses or justifications to carry out wide-reaching punitive military operations, or to seize land, or to expand settlements, keeping the West Bank from facing the same fate as the Gaza Strip. This policy relies on the premise that adhering to security agreements (security coordination) and international political legitimacy (Oslo Agreements and their aftermath) contributes to protecting the Palestinian community and fortifying it against punitive measures, which has proven ineffective after the occupation authorities reneged on their commitments and continued their oppressive settlement policies, and intensified their military operations in cities, villages, and camps in the West Bank without excuses as part of their policy of hastening the resolution of the conflict that has become clear and transparent as merely a matter of pure demographic and geographic strategic interests.

Among the Palestinian moderation policy, which emphasizes the need to remove excuses from the Israeli occupation through implementing repressive operations, cutting off any armed resistance, seizing what they call "illegal weapons," and calling for peaceful popular resistance, which President Mahmoud Abbas has emphasized on numerous occasions as the best way to continue the struggle and defend the existence and Palestinian identity in the face of the practices and assaults of the Israeli occupation soldiers and settler mobs!! However, without the president and his entourage from the leadership presenting any strategy, concept, or mechanisms for peaceful popular resistance!!

And the question remains: Is what the people of Tal did, headed by the unarmed elder Farouk Ramadan, may God have mercy on him, considered part of the peaceful popular resistance that President Abbas has repeatedly called for, or does it fall under the label of "terrorism," or is it "recklessness" that provides great excuses for the occupation authorities to implement their repressive actions? Note that Sheikh Farouk never wielded a weapon in his life and does not belong to any political or armed faction, but his human instinct and refusal to accept humiliation and degradation pushed him to confront the settler mobs while they invaded his land, facing them while unarmed and seizing a weapon from the aggressor to defend himself, his family, his land, and his honor.

Also, how long will the Palestinian leadership remain steadfast in its policy of removing excuses? And dismissing the minds of people, relying on the upcoming Israeli elections scheduled for October 27, 2026, to bring about political change in the Hebrew state, despite recognizing that opposition parties align with the right on security priorities and refuse to make radical concessions, and the proposed Israeli alternatives largely belong to the security establishment or the right, showing no substantial difference in military and security handling of the Palestinian issue, and undermining the Israeli occupation authorities with their policies, to the Palestinian moderation policy and removing excuses and its various arms, primarily "security coordination" and the illusions still lived by the Palestinian leadership!! And will the people be able to endure the fall of more martyrs just so excuses are not presented to the occupation?