"Factions" of National Disappointment

Author

Al-Mutawakkil Taha

The strange and bizarre thing is that after three years of extended and brutal extermination, and after hundreds of thousands of victims and rubble, all Palestinian factions have not been able, and perhaps do not want, to unite, to have a single program, a single rhythm, and comprehensive representation under one umbrella! Then, in the face of the question of legislative elections, they convene for a non-meeting for factional dialogue?! As if two decades of fragmentation and atrocities were not enough for dialogue! What kind of absurdity, frivolity, and superficiality is this? Is this not a cause for questioning and regret? What will unite us if what has happened does not unite us? The Palestinian "national unity" is the lost "Kafkaesque doll" that we have not found anyone to compensate us for... even with words and promises. What is happening means one thing, which is that there are no opposing or loyal factions, except in form... and that the existence of a national movement is nothing but a mere claim, a fabrication, and an illusion. The strangest thing is that these forces have suddenly realized the necessity of uniting their scattered selves, or starting a serious dialogue, as if what has passed did not push them to feed their horse until the day of the race! Is this naivety, opportunism, or feeble excuses? This reminds me of the story of the groom who did not know he was a groom until the night of the "wedding"!

These "factions" will work on reproducing themselves, with the same failed and disappointing faces, in every race and conference, and will try to seize all positions, posts, and pivotal points. In the best of cases, they will bring in domesticated faces, ready to justify and cheerlead, to cover up the transgressions and corruption they commit, with a supposed discourse that claims strength and purity!

Those who have destroyed the national movement, through the gateway of governance or opposition, in a strategically systematic manner, have merged with the opposite, and have continued their role in eliminating every idea and constant... or through neutrality, sulking, and adventures...

I ask; do those who want to postpone the elections only now realize the situation in Gaza and Jerusalem? It is something that drives one to madness and laughter. Were they not aware of the supposed alliances on the Palestinian scene? Does democracy have to be at the hands of so-and-so, or else it will not be? What does this mean? The disdain for all our capabilities, rights, future, and traditions is a confirmation of a crisis that has surpassed the circumstances and structure, reaching an existential crisis.

Are we so troubled to the point of tragedy, having lost trust in each other, in ourselves, and in our future?

We insult our symbols and belittle them, and we cannot produce new symbols. We revert to ourselves to tear ourselves apart! We go to the ultimate language, meaning we deify ourselves and demonize our national opponents, losing the ability to engage in dialogue and listen. We belong to narrow circles, whether sectarian, geographical, or political factions. Often, the defeated imitate their enemies and resemble their opposites. From political collapse, moral and value collapses emerge. Voices of frustration and calls for help and confusion rise, and it seems that belonging to salvation or the homeland is an act of absurdity and folly, while the vocabulary of despair and hopelessness increases, making it appear as if hope has died! We turn to personal salvation instead of collective salvation.

Our people have been shocked after the horrific genocide, which has produced a general state of fear, leading to personal salvation, only to discover that personal salvation will lead to nothing and will not protect them. This drives some individuals and voices to seek some form of collective salvation, which is a difficult and complex matter. I believe that our people, who have collided with all the closed walls and have seen that the factions have exhausted their roles, may sacrifice governance to restore the idea of liberation. What is happening in terms of violations, arrogance, and poverty will find no outlet except through explosion. Be careful! The ghosts are still on every road, and behind every wall and door.

Responsibility is more related to awareness than to courage, and people are allies of their days, interests, or simple needs. Politics is voluntary or violent rape. Something may happen that is like the drop that overflows the cup, or the straw that breaks the camel's back, meaning that there are invisible accumulations brewing and growing, waiting for that drop to overflow... meaning; what happened was not born of its moment, nor will what will happen occur "suddenly"! We must fear for everything that concerns us and do the impossible to preserve and protect it, if we want our land, or what remains of it, to be a land of justice and hope for generations. For he who fears nothing loves nothing, and we fear for our dream, our land, our blood, our people, our constants, our rights, and our children who have not yet been born.

What happened on the seventh of October, and the events that unfolded through this horrific massacre, is outside the box of the usual and the expected. Therefore, addressing it and reflecting on it requires a new language, and it is necessary to think about it with tools from outside the box. O you fragmented and silent factions, you did not move a muscle in the face of the bloodshed of settlement and forms of annihilation, yet you rush and become active in front of elections and the pursuit of self-affirmation!

It is not permissible for any Palestinian, from now on, to reproduce any ready-made and pre-prepared statement, as its destruction is certain. Nor should they repeat any available thought, or derive any vision from it, or utter those stammerings that have led us to the abyss.

Yes! I call for a reconsideration, reflection, and deep exploration of everything we have uttered, said, decided, believed in, and acted upon, or that has guided us. Because, simply and briefly, its invalidity and inadequacy have been proven, if I may say it conspired against us.

The Palestinians are on a date with salvation, but they are also on a near date with truths and news that will astonish them! They will strike one hand with the other, and regret what has been of disgusting conspiracies and suspicious arrangements that stood behind what has happened and is happening! The Palestinians are on a near date with the heavy repercussions inherited from blood, rubble, settlement, and poverty, which necessitates a different plan to absorb and overcome this stickiness and the colossal clouds of smoke!

Israel has proven, during its ongoing blatant aggression, with all its human mass, that it is our complete opposite, incapable of understanding or coexisting with us. We have seen decisive signals over decades that this entity is not amenable to any form of acceptance, cooperation, or agreement. The only remaining outcome is: either us or them, on this land, if they remain as they are with their positions... and one should not bet on any coming or going party.

The savage Zionist-American alliance, extending from here to there, passing through the hot ocean around us, is the scandal of the age. Therefore, it is not permissible to bet on or await hope from the American killers' allies.

No one claims to have the ability or capability to formulate the necessary strategy that must exist, based on a suitable intellectual foundation, relying on itself and depending on itself, and sufficing with what it has, without reaching out to what others have in terms of ideas, sayings, or theories... Simply put; because it is mere claims, and because it is deception, illusion, hallucination, hypocrisy, lies, and charlatanism, which has produced for us nothing but what we see as complete hell.

It is necessary to derive a phrase that returns the stones of the house to the wall, brings the farmer back to his plundered olive tree, and pushes the spring to flow between the hills, while the sun rises on a new land free of strangers and killers.