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- Written by Laila El-Haddad Laila El-Haddad
- Published: 15 March 2011 15 March 2011
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Protest in Ramallah's Manara Square, March 15 (Photo: Viva Palestine)
Over the past few weeks, I was asked a lot of questions, but perhaps none more than -what about Palestine? Why aren’t the youth rising up there?
Besides the fact that Palestine is a different paradigm altogether-what with an Israeli occupying regime on one hand-and two pseudo non-sovereign governments on the other, we also have the precedent of Palestinians already having risen up-twice (first and second Intifadas) against the Israeli Occupation-and setting the example for the first truly democratic elections in the Arab Middle East in 2006, which in and of itself a monumental act of change by the people.
Still, Palestinians are rising up-again. This time it is to demand the end of Palestinian disunity whose effects are felt deep within Palestinians society and families everywhere. Of course how we got there is important-it was the result of the CIA and regional sabotage of the Palestinian unity government brokered in Saudi Arabia and elections that took place years earlier. Which goes to show, change isn’t easy, and its not always what you expect; but “power concedes nothing without a struggle”…
(read more on MondoWeiss . . .)