Conditions for next uprising here

By Carolin Smith
December 2, 2013
Alternative Information Center (AIC).
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/politics/politico/7515-the-conditions-for-the-next-uprising-are-there

This December marks the 26th anniversary of the start of the First Intifada in 1987. Decades later, peace remains elusive and the struggle continues. Author, political activist and professor Mazin Qumsiyeh spoke with us about the phenomenon of uprisings and the meaning of Popular Resistance today.
Mazin, your book is called: “Popular Resistance in Palestine – a history of hope”. Why hope? Isn’t it rather a history of despair after over 60 years of occupation?
 
Mazin Qumsiyeh: Because, like all countries under colonization, Palestinians don’t give up. We Palestinians have had 14 or 15 uprisings up until today. All of these uprisings achieved results, but we can only see their significance in retrospect. For example, the first uprising in the late 19th century convinced the Ottoman Empire to stop supporting Zionists and cease transferring land ownership from Palestinians to European Zionists. It is actually because of this that the Zionist movement had to move its headquarter from Vienna to London in 1904. So resistance does accomplish something. Of course, if we measure it in terms of the final outcome, it is still pending. But I am 100 per cent confident that the final outcome of Popular Resistance will be a success and bring freedom to the people of Palestine.
 
The term ‘Popular Resistance’ is very broad. What types of actions are involved in popular resistance?
First we must realize that resistance is as natural as breathing or eating because it is a survival skill. And there are hundreds of forms. Any colonized people try to use the means they have access to - their minds, culture, religion or whatever their background compels them to use. Actions can be things such as boycotts, sanctions, petitions, civil disobedience and so on. Resistance even includes what we call “Sumud” [“steadfastness”], which means staying on our lands, living our lives and marrying and having children. Zionism, as a form of colonialism, does not want us to stay but seeks to separate the Palestinian people from their lands to create a new reality. That is why staying our lands is in itself an act of resistance. And of course we should not forget armed resistance, but this is usually a minor component of struggle, simply because the majority of people chose nonviolent strategies. We instinctively resist, it’s a biological, natural process. But how we resist and react to stress and these abnormal conditions is very individualistic and depends on our backgrounds and circumstances. Some use violence, some not. It’s hard to make generalizations.
 
Isn’t it controversial to suggest that circumstances can be used to justify any form of violence?
I do not want to argue what is right and what is wrong. Most people are in the middle. And what means non-violence? When I throw a stone at a military tank, is that violence or not? Some people consider how big the stone is, some consider whether my intention was to harm somebody or not. Non-violent and violent resistance are not antitheses; the distinctions are fuzzy, and under international law, oppressed people have a right and even an obligation to resist.
 
One of the symbols of the First Intifada is the stone-throwing boy, whereas in the Second Intifada more arms were used. How did these forms of resistance change through the time?
I wouldn’t say that the uprising in 1987 was non-violent and the one from 2000 to 2005 was violent. You can’t generalize them. I wouldn’t say there was no armed resistance in the 1987 uprising, I think there was as much non-violent resistance in 2000 to 2005 as in 1987. I think the major form of resistance has always been our persistent presence on the land, our stubbornness and refusal to leave our land. This major form of resistance has remained the same over the past 130 years.
 
This month it is the 26th anniversary of the beginning of the First Intifada. What was the atmosphere within Palestinian society in the pre-uprising period like?
In my studies I found that there are some common characteristics before any uprising, no matter where. By the way, I also think that there is no specific date of beginning. The most common characteristic of pre-uprising phases is that there is a maximum amount of frustration among the people on the street. The second is that there is a general freeze of so-called peace processes. This freeze gives people the feeling that there is no hope. A third feature is that the Palestinian leadership is disconnected from reality - they don’t understand the fears of the people.  These three points are crucial components of a pre-uprising phase. Furthermore, the occupiers usually become very arrogant, they oppress more and more until it reaches a point where people cannot take anymore. If you put a dog in a corner and beat him with a stick one or two times, maybe he won’t have a reaction, but after a while the dog will at least bark at you or bite you.
 
Do you think there are predictable periodic intervals between uprisings?
It’s natural to have uprisings every ten years, more or less. The reason for this interval is a generational thing. Young people are inclined to be more idealistic and are often too young to remember the former uprisings. When they feel the need to change their conditions, they may rebel. Nearly all of the uprisings were led by students, youth between 16 and 25 years.
 
In the past few months two Israeli soldiers have been killed in the West Bank. Some people now warn of increasing violence and predict a third Intifada is imminent. What do you think about these assertions? Is it likely that another uprising will happen soon?
The conditions for the next uprising are there. Israel is not stupid, they have studied these cycles and think they can manage them. But they won’t because the Palestinians learn how to resist better. I am very optimistic that Zionism will be defeated, maybe not after the next uprising, but possibly the uprising after. In my view, colonialism and Zionism can’t succeed in the 21st century, because if you look at the history of the outcomes of anti-colonial struggles in other countries, you see they are defeated. I think what happened in South Africa with the end of Apartheid will eventually happen in Palestine: we will have one secular democratic state. And we can achieve that only through resistance.
 
Are a lot of people tired of the struggle?
Yes, we are in a depressed mood. But this is normal in periods between uprisings. The problem is that people always exaggerate their own feelings. I am sure that in two years, when we are riding the high of an uprising, people will have more enthusiasm. Currently there are very few resistance actions, quantitatively. There are some in Nilin, Beilin or Al Ma’sara, but compared to an uprising, the number is rather small.
 
Do the Popular Resistance Committees have a national strategy right now?
No. But I will qualify that by saying that there never was a national liberation strategy in any anti-colonial struggle. There was no national strategy against Apartheid in South Africa for example. And people who expect us to have a national strategy misunderstand human behaviour. We are millions of people and we behave in millions of ways. A collective strategy is the sum of all individual strategies.
 
Might it be possible to unify one million Palestinians in one single demonstration? Is there such a feeling of coherence within the society to make this possible?
There are three groups that claim to coordinate between local communities. One is from Fatah, one is the Left, and the third was established by the Prime Minister. These groups are disconnected from each other, but they claim they are connected.  For my book, I asked these people: Can you do that? And the answer is: No, not yet.
 
“Not yet” means that during an uprising it would be possible?
When an uprising is at its peak, there erupts a new generation of leadership. They won’t be the people who were active two uprisings before. They will be people that you have never heard of before, that are young and energetic. And these leaders are of course smart enough to realize that it helps to start networking with other similarly minded people. This is very different than leadership between uprisings. Uprisings usually change the whole political landscape.