Our Lives Far from Washington

It has become clear that there is no point in waiting for a neutral American position. The American election campaign will overshadow the issue for two years, as Democratic presidential candidate Obama and the undetermined Republican become exposed to the Israeli “core” in the Netanyahu-led Jewish lobby. Besides taking extreme positions against the Palestinian people, Netanyahu will not rely upon any change in the American position because any reasonable position is lip service, like Obama’s speech concerning a state within the 1967 borders.

The efforts on the American front are useless because it has “fallen” into the grips of the Jewish lobby and Netanyahu. We as Palestinians act on behalf of the front of the popular Arab revolutions because Washington is working hard to break up the revolutions and topple regimes that do not take a position in Israel’s favor on the Palestinian issue. Also, the burden is upon us regarding the internal Israeli front because the Israeli peace camp is not yet dead.

Nevertheless, it is possible to work on the left, center and center-right because the dialogue with the U.S. has become futile. The official attitudes of both Congress and the White House are more extreme than the positions on the streets of Israel and within the Netanyahu government. Thus, negotiating on the Israeli front is easier and more beneficial on that of the U.S. We as Palestinians are required to consolidate our political discourse after reconciliation. It is not unreasonable that Hamas’ leader, Khaled Meshaal, embarrassed Israel in the international arena regarding the acceptance of a return to the June 1967 borders. He is offering a chance for another year of peace without resorting to violence. While breaking away from low-ranking partisans, Meshaal claims his opinion is a personal choice and that this is the resistance’s only option that hasn’t failed. He secluded himself in his narrow view and spent his time with his “uncles” west of the Suez Canal, as if he was waiting for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to “energize” Egypt and include it in the Emirate of Gaza. He suggests that the reconciliation is a temporary impasse outside of Damascus and is not out of love of the community.

The Palestinian people as a whole, with all its factions, do not reject any options, but actions speak louder than words. We must address the world in such a way that it sympathizes with us, so as long as the goal is the creation of a Palestinian state. We need not do so in the suburbs of New York. Rather, we must address the Israelis in a language of peace in order to isolate the advocates of war and settlements. We are not advocates of destroying or isolating, but we are searching for a place under the sun that will not let the darkness of both sides stifle our dreams.