To end the occupation, Palestinians need the moral high ground – opinion

The Israel-UAE deal should wake up the Palestinians to the reality that no one is going to help them. Not the US, the EU, or the Arabs. Salvation will come from within, not from the outside.

By GERSHON BASKIN
Palestinians carry the body of Ahmad Jamal Manasra during his funeral ceremony in the West Bank village of Wad Fokin, near Bethlehem on March 21, 2019 (photo credit: WISAM HASHLAMOUN/FLASH90)
Palestinians carry the body of Ahmad Jamal Manasra during his funeral ceremony in the West Bank village of Wad Fokin, near Bethlehem on March 21, 2019
(photo credit: WISAM HASHLAMOUN/FLASH90)
I am writing this because I care about Israel.  Israel must be freed of its occupation of the Palestinian people. We are trapped – we, meaning Israel and Palestine. We have lost the way, and we don’t know how to get out.
We tried a peace process and it failed. We believed in compromise, but both sides now believe that they were cheated and that the other side lied and does not really want to live in peace. We have no negotiations; we don’t have a plan. All we have is empty slogans: two states, peace process, return to the table, etc.
Palestine wants independence, but only Israel can grant that independence. The Palestinians tried armed struggle but they have no real military option. They tried international diplomacy and that brought them greater support but not nearly enough. They tried international law but Israel continues to retain its impunity in the weak world of international law. They thought that the Soviet Union would help them. They relied on Europe and then on the US. They tried international conferences and secret back channels. They negotiated agreements and held elections. They relied on Arab support and now they know they cannot depend on that support.
At the time of Oslo there was hope, but then there was terrorism and there were bullets. We all know the story and we all have our own narratives. Whatever they are, whoever you blame, the reality is that we are stuck. Israel and Palestine are stuck with each other. Neither side has a strategy, a plan for leading us to a better future. We have old and tired slogans. We have all of the old tactics of control – closures, road blocks, permits, house demolitions, control of the economy, arrests and so on.
On the Palestinian side they have anti-normalization, ending security and civilian coordination, internationalization, BDS, UN Resolutions, ICC and so on. Palestinians tried popular resistance in several communities which ended up paying a very high price with a very small return. They tried terrorism – bombing buses and cafes in Israel. That brought total destruction to Palestinians, got a lot of people killed, produced the opposite political results, killing the Israeli peace camp as well and Palestinians lost the moral high ground.
Now to my proposal. I lay out this proposal with great trepidation. I am part of the occupier. I am the part of the victimizer and not the victim. I apologize to my Palestinian brothers and sisters because we in Israel failed to end the occupation. We have failed to replace our leader with one who is sincerely interested in making peace with you.  I know that the price I am suggesting here is very high and perhaps it is not my place to even suggest it. If people from both sides are angry with me and my suggestions, I fully understand.  This proposal is aimed at shocking the system.
THE ISRAEL-UAE deal should wake up the Palestinians to the reality that no one is going to help them. Not the US, the EU, or the Arabs. Salvation will come from within, not from the outside. I say this: If the Palestinians would ever adopt the kind of strategy that I propose, I will be with them because their freedom is my freedom too. I think that many other Israelis would also join. While it probably will not be accepted and advanced, perhaps it will spark a new debate and what can be achieved. 
Palestine must conquer the higher moral ground and increase the price of occupation. Israel is very strong and the occupation is very powerful. Israel is much stronger than Palestine and in a just world Israel would take the first step towards the Palestinians. That is not going to happen. So, the question is how do the Palestinians force Israel to grant them freedom and independence?
It is not through violence – that will only cause more suffering and will not end occupation. The path to liberation and independence is costly and it will not come without suffering. It requires unity. It requires determination. It requires and enormous amount of solidarity. It demands discipline that will break the will of the occupier to continue its occupation.
A political adviser once told me “success is all about timing.” Now is the right time. The corona pandemic has set the clock for action. The ending of civil coordination with Israel has meant that newborn babies are not being registered, death certificates are not issued, new ID cards are not granted and passports cannot be renewed. The number one step in controlling a population is controlling its population registry.
The first Palestinian step in the new policy of “non-cooperation with the occupation” is to burn all existing identity cards and passports and have the Palestinian Authority issue new ones, with completely different numbers. The first step towards independence and liberation is to control your own population registry. The impact of this step will be that no Palestinian will legally work in Israel.
That is a major blow to the Palestinian economy at the macro level and total decimation of the economy of a lot of families. This is why the entire Palestinian people need to be engaged and enlisted in the struggle for liberation. There are more Palestinians living in the diaspora than living in Palestine. It is time for the Palestinian diaspora to run campaigns for adoption a Palestinian village, town, or city. The role of the diaspora communities is solidarity and support.
People cannot travel during this time so they don’t need their passports now and they don’t need to cross borders outside of Palestine. It is time to stay at home in communities inside of Palestine. Time to work on community development and community solidarity. Victory gardens in public spaces should be planted to grow food for the community along with every house having its own victory garden. All roads should be opened. If Israel has closed access roads into Palestinian villages and towns, it is time to open them up. People will be arrested, which is good – this is a goal. It is essential that Israeli violence not be met by Palestinian violence.
THIS IS NOT about winning a small battle in each confrontation, but in capturing the higher moral ground. Israel must be seen in its complete weakness – when it uses violence against the Palestinian civilian population. This also means no stone throwing. Non-violence is like pregnancy – either you are or you are not.
There is no “sort-of” non-violent. When they come to arrest you, raise your hands in the air and be happy to be arrested. Since 1967, Israel has arrested one million Palestinians. Let Israel arrest 100,000 Palestinians in the next months. Fill the prisons, they won’t know what to do with them. Make sure that people are being arrested for acts of non-cooperation with the occupation and not for violence.
You need leadership to successfully disrupt the occupation. All of the current leaders from all of the factions need to support the “Non-cooperation with the Occupation” program. As soon as they support it, they need to move aside. Elections have to be held to bring in the new generation who can run the movement with new media and create and foster the buzz across Palestine and around the world in support of this liberation movement.
Documenting the brave acts of non-cooperation and the ugly acts of the occupation is a large part of the strategy. Viral videos of Israeli occupation arresting school children in front of schools that Israel has closed down, as they did during the two intifadas, is a shameful act that the world needs to see.
Palestinian children sitting in front of their schools with school books open and teachers with them is the scene – not children throwing stones at soldiers. Israeli imposed closures and curfews must not be observed. When a curfew is imposed, everyone takes to the streets. When Israel will stop the delivery of fuel, then Palestinians will carpool, walk together, go back to horse drawn wagons, whatever it takes.
Every day the Internet and Palestinian newspapers need to be full of the pictures of every person arrested. Israeli prisons need to be bursting at the seams.  They will set up prison camps in the desert as they did in the first intifada.  The role of Israeli and international supporters is to shine the light on those prison camps.
Israeli supporters of the Palestinian non-cooperation campaign must be the holders of the mirror to Israeli society to reflect back the loss of Israeli morality in continuing the occupation. The liberation of Palestine and the end of the occupation will be won through public consciousness. The real battleground is Israel and international public opinion. The campaign will be won by who’s story captures the moral high ground.
The writer is a political and social entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to the State of Israel and to peace between Israel and her neighbors. His latest book, In Pursuit of Peace in Israel and Palestine, was published by Vanderbilt University Press.