In a State of Waiting

While all Palestinians eagerly await Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for independence at the UN, some are skeptical that it will change anything soon.

By KSENIA SVETLOVA
Palestinian call to Ramadan 521 (photo credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
Palestinian call to Ramadan 521
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
INSIDE THE AIR-CONDITIONED offices of the Palestine Liberation Organizations, activists are working against time. On September 23, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to address the members of the UN General Assembly (GA), asking the world to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
A presidential palace, a sophisticated governmental compound, and the large “Independence Park” are to be inaugurated. Everything must be ready by the auspicious date – flags, stickers, preparations for mass rallies.
Manara Square, the central traffic circle of Ramallah, is crammed with passersby. Children are on their way home from school, dressed in their uniforms – long-sleeved shirts for boys and a dress worn over pants for girls; some young girls wear a hijab. Busy housewives search for bargains, complaining about the government employees who still haven’t received their salaries for July.
Traffic is thick. A few cars are decorated with the traditional black, green, red and white Palestinian flag, alongside a white one, emblazoned with the slogan “Palestinian State 194.”
The number 194 could be a reference to UN Security Council Resolution 194, which called for a return of refugees in the aftermath of the 1948 war. But Nidal Fuqaha, spokesperson for the “The National Campaign – Palestine: State No. 194, tells The Report, “This year Southern Sudan was recognized as an independent state and became the 193rd member of UN. Palestine will become its 194th member.”
Palestinian officials are planning huge demonstrations for Septebmer 21, to mark the opening of the GA, and September 23, when Abbas will make his speech.
And while Palestinian officials promise that the demonstrations will be peaceful, fears are mounting among Israeli politicians and military officials, who anticipate massive disturbances and violent riots.
“We are determined to stay away from violence, but are afraid of provocations,” says Fuqaha. As spokesperson for the campaign, he is responsible for explaining the current PLO strategy to local and foreign journalists. Everyone wants to know what will happen “the day after” and his telephone rings non-stop.
Like many other Palestinian officials, Fuqaha says that he is concerned that Jewish settlers in the West Bank may provoke the Palestinians into violence. “But our president has made his point very clear – we should avoid violence at any cost,” he adds.
According to its website, “The National Campaign – Palestine: State No. 194” is a “national and peaceful campaign that aims to achieve the widest possible popular participation of the Palestinian people, wherever they may be around the world, as well as friends of Palestine worldwide… We aim to organize activities and events starting at the beginning of September, peaking at the beginning of the United Nation’s 66th General Assembly Session on September 21, and lasting until the achievement of our goal in the state of Palestine joining the United Nations, to become member state 194,” the website reads.
Fuqaha says that in addition to the PLO, which houses the campaign, Palestinian businessmen, political activists and individuals have contributed funds to the campaign.
THE “MUWATINI” RADIO STATION, which belongs to the Fatah movement, nearly explodes with “September programming.” Every day, there are exclusive interviews with Palestinian officials who discuss the purpose of the UN address, discussions with listeners and nationalistic songs about Palestine as well as Fatah-related tunes. “We have a right to a state” is a slogan that repeats itself nearly everywhere.
Representatives of Hamas in the West Bank declined to be interviewed by The Report; however, the organization officially strongly opposes the UN initiative. In early September, Hamas lawmakers issued a statement saying the Palestinian leadership should avoid “unilateral steps that could harm the Palestinian cause” and concentrate instead on “consolidating efforts to reach national reconciliation and to resist the occupation.”
A supporter of Hamas from the Qalandiya refugee camp on Ramallah’s outskirts, in his 40s and the father of 8 children, speaks to The Report on condition of anonymity. He doesn’t expect much, he says. “People are indifferent to Abbas’s appeal since the world is biased toward the Israelis, and words that aren’t supported by actions do not cost much.” He explains that the majority of Palestinians understand that Abas’s address to the UN is kalam fadi, an Arabic phrase meaning “empty, worthless words.”
Abbas’s Fatah party, he continues, belongs to the past and doesn’t realize the reality of today. “Fatah has a great legacy, and I have a lot of respect for [the late PLO founder and first chairman of the Palestinian Authority] Yasser Arafat. But the corruption and close relations with Israelis and Americans destroyed this party. Their plan is not a viable one, and everybody understands that,” he says.
A group of teenagers on the streets of Al-Amari refugee camp, located close to downtown Ramallah, also say they don’t believe that Abbas’s move will make a difference. After getting out of school, which is supported by the United Nations Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) and located in the middle of the camp, they stop at the local Internet café and play computer games. American and Arabic games are wildly popular here; the café carries the most updated versions, even if the computers are decrepit and the electricity shuts down frequently.
None of the boys – there are no girls here – bothers to go online to read up about the upcoming dramatic events at the UN. “Nobody will listen to Abbas,” says Mahmoud Oudeh, 13, whose broad shoulders and the fuzz of a future mustache makes him look much older. “Abbas doesn’t stand a chance. Besides, who would want a Lilliputian state on one-third of historical Palestine anyway? There should be one state, the state of Palestine, and some day it will happen.”
Born in a camp, Oudeh is a fourth-generation refugee, but he is fast to offer to tell the story of his origins. “I’m from Ramle, and I’ll never forget it,” he says proudly, referring to the city that is now a mixed city of Jews and Arabs in central Israel.
Another boy, thin, tall and probably 13 or 14, says his name is Abu Jihad, using the common nickname for Palestinian guerilla fighters, among them Khalil al-Wazir, a close companion of Yasser Arafat and a military Fatah leader, whose real name remains unknown. His friends laugh heartily.
But Abu Jihad persists, talking fast and furiously, a belligerent look on his face. “We shouldn’t ask anybody for anything, we should take what’s rightfully ours,” he growls. “Abu Mazen [Abbas] won’t get a thing like this.”
Hammad, a vegetable vendor in his 40s and the father of six children, is worried about the young people like Odeh and Abu-Jihad. Rolling his cart on the main street of the Al- Amari camp, he tells The Report, “These fellows have participated in many violent demonstrations at the Qalandiya checkpoint. They know how to behave when soldiers shower them with tear gas and they sure do know how to throw stones. I’m afraid that the whole thing will turn into a mess and slide to violence very quickly.”
Dr. Muhammad Shtayyeh, the president of PECDAR – Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction and a close aide to Abbas, is busy nowadays not only with the upcoming trip to New York, but with creating symbols of future Palestinian independence.
US-educated, Shtayyeh speaks English fluently and is a member of the Palestinian delegation to New York.
Shtayyeh projects a rare combination of optimism and realism. In 1993, he was a member of the Palestinian Delegation to the Paris Economic Talks with Israel, supervised the elections in 1996 and is a founding member of the Palestine Development Fund. No one understands the dire economic situation in the PA better than Shtayyeh, who realizes that the PA will collapse, if Western donors, and especially the US and EU, cut off their aid. He already knows how difficult the situation has become since Arab donors have neglected to fulfill their pledges over the past few years.
Shtayyeh opens his case and extracts a few banknotes of unrecognized currency. These are future Palestinian pounds, he says smiling. He allows only a few reporters to glance at the banknotes very briefly, and he does not allow anyone to film or photograph them. The new money, he says, is already in print, but he would prefer to keep the subject quiet.
The 50-pound banknote carries the image of Arafat on one side and Abbas on the other. A portrait of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish will soon be identified with a 10- pound note, and there are also images of the Al-Aqsa mosque, a Palestinian refugee and Gaza’s Khan Yunis palm trees ready to be given numerical values.
There have been Palestinian coins before, in 1998, the last time Arafat proclaimed an independent Palestinian state. “But this time it’s very different,” he says. “Now we are ready.”
Although a report by the World Bank, published on September 12, reveals that economic growth in the West Bank has slowed and that the PA might be facing an imminent severe fiscal crisis, the new currency will soon be introduced in several Palestinian universities on the West Bank.
Shtayyeh says that the pound will be linked to the shekel, at an exchange rate of one-to-one. But will the new currency actually be economically and politically viable? Just a year ago Jihad al-Wasir, head of a Palestinian Monetary Authority, declared that the creation of a Palestinian currency first requires Palestinian control over border crossings and guaranteed freedom of movement. Furthermore, the creation of a currency requires the approval of both the president and the parliament, but the Palestinian Legislative Council has not convened for over four years and does not seem likely to convene in the near future.
Shtayyeh refuses to answer these questions, noting only that “everything will be affected by the developments on the ground following President Abbas’s address to the UN.”
In Ramallah, where the Israeli shekel has been the primary currency since the 1967 war, it seems that few have heard about Shtayyeh’s ambitious plan. “How can we have our own currency if we can’t even travel freely?” asks Abu Abbas, a grocery owner in the prestigious Masiun area in Ramallah, where many ministries are located. Others, who speak with an Israeli publication only on condition of anonymity, stress that if Israel does not recognize the currency, it will be impossible to rely on it in any way.
YET, AT LEAST SOME Palestinians are enthusiastic about the prospects for independence, hoping that the international community will force Israel to recognize the Palestinian state.
“I refuse to give up my optimism,” explains Abeer Al-Masri, a student at Bir Zeit University, situated on the outskirts of Ramallah. “Yes, the world has disappointed us many times in the past, but now it should be different. We deserve our independence and even the UN itself says so. Also the Egyptians never thought that the regime there might fall as rapidly as it did, but this is what happened. Hopefully nothing horrible will happen. We have to be extra careful and not let our enemies provoke us.”
Women, she adds, will be part of any and all future acts of solidarity with the initiative for Palestinian independence, “just like in Egypt.” The recent revolutionary events in Arab countries have had a strong influence on the Palestinians, and many, especially students, draw comparisons between their situation and the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. “My girlfriends and I will take part in solidarity demonstrations here in Ramallah next weekend. And I hope that every Palestinian will join us. Political affiliation is not important anymore since this bid for independence is bigger than our local politics,” she says, referring to the opposition on the part of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
WITH PREPARATIONS IN HIGH gear and hype at full volume, what will happen if the Palestinian strategy does, indeed, turn out to be fruitless? How will the people on the street feel when they’ll realize that nothing has changed and that the moves in New York can work no magic on their daily lives?
Do the Palestinians have a “Plan B” in case their Palestinian demand for independence and international recognition is not realized?
“We are not idealists, neither are we naïve,” Shtayyeh explains. “We know that the US will probably cast a veto on the vote, but life will go on after that, naturally. After September 30, comes October, as always. Our strategy is not a one-speech thing. It’s a long-term commitment to our goal. We have faith in the UN, which is an international institution with many levels. Even if we don’t succeed now, we won’t drop our bid. We are going to UN, we are going to the Security Council and no pressure will change our mind.
“The president has been very clear and every Palestinian has heard him,” Shtayyeh continues. “Our path is not violent. Unfortunately, the Israelis are not ready to negotiate with us, but we are still insisting on diplomacy.”
The alternatives, stagnation and the absence of hope, are much worse, he concludes. “This is the path that we decided upon and we will stick to it, hoping that in the end – even if it’s not tomorrow – it will bring us to our ultimate goal – an independent Palestinian state.”