Imperfect revolution: Palestine’s 15 March movement one year on

What was the 15 March movement really about?(Issam Rimawi / APA images)

As published on Electronic Intifada

On 17 February 2011, a group of young activists gathered in one of Ramallah’s nondescript cafés to plan for a revolution. Some already knew each other, others didn’t. They Skyped with four activists from Gaza in a meeting that initially focused on translating efforts on social media to action the ground, with the aim of reigniting the Palestinian street into demanding its rights from the oppressors once again.

This was the overture to the short-lived “15 March” movement, as it was dubbed by the local media after the event that took place on that day last year. The movement called for national reconciliation and used the rallying cry of ending the Hamas-Fatah division. Large protests took place in Gaza City and in Ramallah, where they were subsequently hijacked by Hamas and Fatah supporters and security forces, respectively. Many of the 15 March protesters were beaten up.

The movement petered out relatively quickly, and on the surface it seemed like that was that, just another unsuccessful minor chapter in Palestine’s history of factions, youth groups and political blocs. But who were the activists who called for the protest, and what was 15 March really about?

Breaking the mold

Before the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, different activists had contemplated arranging a big event on a particular day. Hamas’ stronghold on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority’s control over the West Bank severely stifled freedom of expression and curtailed individual rights, creating a tense atmosphere not unlike that of a police state. Speaking out — however casually — against the wrong political faction would result in an arrest, a beating and threats. Youth activists were determined to break through the mold of autocratic rule by their own leadership, which they saw as an arm of the Israeli occupation.

As the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt played out, a few solidarity protests were organized by the activists in Ramallah. Demonstrators were beaten up and harassed by the Palestinian Authority’s preventive security forces. A protest or demonstration couldn’t take place in the West Bank without getting an approval or a license of some sorts from the PA. At the same time, many Facebook groups and pages against the Fatah-Hamas division and Israeli occupation began to appear, boasting tens of thousands of followers.

Ebaa Rezeq, an activist from Gaza, found out about the initiative from blogs and Facebook, before friends asked her to be a part of the group. “They were only starting work by talking to drivers, salesmen, families at home, schools and universities, trade unions and associations,” she recalled. “It wasn’t about getting youth groups and activists recruited; it was about getting the public involved and this was one of the reasons why I believed in this movement.”

Somehow, the date decided on for the protest was 15 March. The two main organizing groups with assertive roles were in Gaza City and Ramallah. Activists in Gaza decided to base the event around ending the division between Fatah and Hamas, which harmed them more than it did to the Palestinians in the West Bank.

A shallow slogan?

However, not everyone agreed that ending the division was the priority. Murad Jadallah, a member of the youth group Hirak Shababi al-Mustaqil (Independent Youth Movement) stated that there was no doubt the slogan “The people want an end to the division” was shallow to say the least. “It does not offer any implication as to what caused the division — which was the result of the absence of a unified national resistance strategy, not because there was one government in Gaza and another government in the West Bank — but at the same time it was a unifying slogan that that was easy for people to repeat.”

Activist Fadi Quran concurs that the slogan, modeled after the famous Egyptian chant of “The people want the fall of the regime,” was a soundbite that the local media could carry more effectively. The group in Ramallah wanted something that addressed and unified all Palestinians, because, as Jadallah put it, the last twenty years of the “peace process” had solidified the reality into geographical splits and concessions, in addition to disenfranchising refugees from the political process. Therefore, the demand for Palestinian National Council elections was introduced, with every Palestinian regardless of where he or she is based having the right to vote.

“Calling for PNC elections was not something new,” Jadallah pointed out. “The Hirak Shababi or other youth groups didn’t invent this call. It is merely a translation of the political concept introduced at the beginning of the 1990s, ‘Reorganizing the Palestinian house.’ That time period demonstrated that the Palestinian house, the Palestine Liberation Organization, had no democratic foundations as the mechanisms of decision-making were undertaken by an executive body within the PLO based on dictatorial ones.”

Hunger strike dynamics

Two days before 15 March, a hunger strike and sit-in by the youth began at Manara Square in Ramallah’s city center. Activists got wind of news that Fatah, along with other political parties, was planning to co-opt the event. Therefore, a pre-emptive action was necessary in order to convey the message of PNC elections louder than the parties’ mantra.

Maath Musleh spent 21 days on hunger strike. There were initially nine hunger strikers, but dozens more slept at Manara Square. Some were politically affiliated, others were not. They were attacked on more than one occasion by PA security thugs, and had their tent burned down. Musleh achieved seniority in the tent set-up because of his commitment to the hunger strike, and was determined not to impose any kind of structural leadership in the tent. The hunger strikers began to form their own dynamics, and pushed forward two more demands: the release of all political prisoners held by Fatah and Hamas, and an end to the propaganda wars implemented by both factions against each other.

“There were some people in 15 March who were against our hunger strike,” Musleh said. “They were convinced we were in over our heads.”

Tents were set up in the centers of Nablus, Bethlehem, Jenin and Gaza City. The coordination between the activists was poor and fragmented. Fadi Quran attributes that to what he calls the “tyranny of completely horizontal groups.”

“We didn’t have a clear process for decision-making, which largely fell on those who were capable of pushing their ideas forward. In many cases that fell upon me, but I wouldn’t say it was leadership as much as tyranny, unfortunately — something I’m learning from.”

There were three different driving forces involved in 15 March: the hunger strikers, the other groups in the different cities, and the Ramallah-based group that numbered around thirty activists. As a result, there were a lot of demands coming from three dynamics without consulting each other first which contributed to obscuring the main message they had all set out to achieve, unity of all Palestinians through PNC elections.

“We learned that we couldn’t mobilize people by calling them to stand with us,” Quran said. “We have to introduce ourselves, make our plans known, what we stand for, what we were working on and towards. This much wasn’t even clear to the people within the group, so how were we supposed to let youth be part of something we still weren’t clear on?”

Media circus

The reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah was signed on 11 May, an empty gesture that changed nothing. Before that, five activists from 15 March met with PA president Mahmoud Abbas. As they entered the office, a media circus was waiting for them. The activists asserted that they would not speak in front of the cameras, thus blocking the media stunt, but which the PA still later used to create divisions by telling the protesters at Manara Square that the activists who met with Abbas saw themselves as leaders of the movement.

None of the activists expected the meeting with Abbas to change anything. They presented him with their demands: PNC elections, an end to media incitement and the release of political prisoners, which they had a list of. Abbas was flippant in his reply, blithely telling them that the PA holds no political prisoners. Needless to say, the meeting was unproductive.

The lack of strategy was telling, and that reflected in the disintegration of relations within the movement and between other groups. Mistrust, frustration, breakdown of communications, certain activists making decisions on behalf of the group without informing them beforehand were evident as a result of the absence of principles and values that were not firmly set at the beginning.

Maintaining momentum

“We were lucky that Land Day [30 March] came,” reflected Musleh. “Then we had a protest for Prisoners’ Day on 17 April, which kept the momentum going. Every Friday we’d hike through the mountains to protest in Nabi Saleh, but mobilization was nonexistent.”

The Hirak Shababi activists knew that Manara Square wouldn’t transform into Tahrir Square overnight. Palestinians are exhausted after more than six decades of suffering and sacrifice. Tensions between 15 March and Hirak Shababi accumulated, with the former accusing the latter of being politically affiliated and doubting its motives.

“Hirak Shababi has two features that explain why a year later, we’re still a movement whereas 15 March fell apart,” explained Jadallah. “Historically, Palestinian political parties derive their legitimacy and credibility from affiliation to a party or faction, and the experience of getting arrested by Israel. There was a fear on 15 March’s part of being swallowed up by Hirak Shababi, thus eliminating their qualities of leadership which were based on their English language proficiency, and their reliance on social media.”

One year later, the situation in Gaza remains dire. And freedom of expression is still repressed, according to Ebaa Rezeq: “In addition to receiving regular summons for interrogations, activists like Asmaa el Ghoul got a lot of death threats for writing critical articles about the situation. Mahmoud Abu Rahma [of the human rights group Al-Mezan] was stabbed by masked men for criticizing the resistance. It’s extremely dangerous to write while in Gaza.”

Breaking the fear barrier

Over in the West Bank, the mood is more optimistic. The number of activists has grown, and 15 March broke the fear barrier that made people think twice before protesting in the street. Jadallah stressed how the need for continued coordination gave birth to other initiatives, such as Palestinians for Dignity (against Israeli-PA negotiations).

The groundswell is not just in the West Bank. The 15 May (Nakba Day) protest commemorating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine was coordinated with Palestinian refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, with some of the protesters succeeding in crossing the borders to Palestine. Later on in the year, in Haifa, a group with a large followers’ base called Hungry for Freedom originated from the September-October general prisoners’ strike.

“The right message should be directed to the appropriate place,” Jadallah said. “We need to regain the situation of directly confronting the occupation because that will cost Israel dearly, as well as uniting all Palestinians.”

“There is a collective identity we’ve developed,” Quran said. “This identity may look very disintegrated on the surface but at its core is a collective entity of youth who disagree on many things but agree on much more essential values.” The question is how to preserve that. Following his recent arrest while taking part the third annual Global Open Shuhada Street protest in Hebron, Israeli soldiers interrogated him about how the major protests were coordinated. “I know something is right when the Israelis are panicking about it,” he said.

Regardless of all the accusations of being a failure, 15 March managed to bring the cause back to the rest of the Palestinians. The past year involved an ongoing process of experimentation, always subject to adaptation and evolution. The street has become a place of expression of people’s interests, and community organizing has built awareness and injected Palestinian society with the spirit of volunteerism and resistance that Salam Fayyad’s state-building policy managed to corrode. For all of the revolution’s imperfections and trials, Palestinian youth are putting us back on the course to liberation.

Watered Down Version

So world domination doesn't look that far away now, as my account of that revolutionary March 15th day was published by Al Jazeera English.

The Hunger Strikers

Yes, we were pretty bitter in the last post. And God loves us for not putting us there at the moment some Fateh thugs showcased their manliness toward the demonstrators. We would have flipped shit.



 We were also not present when scuffles broke out between those Fateh goons and the demonstrators as the goons tried to hijack the protest, succeeding in putting out a couple of Fateh songs on the loudspeakers.

One thing we just touched upon briefly was the non-presence of the youths who had organized March 15th, at least during the time we went (from 1 to almost 3 pm). We realize that just because we didn't see or hear them, that doesn't mean they weren't there. One of the main organizers, Fadi Qur'an was attacked by plainclothes police. In the video below, he is crying out "Oh Palestinians, the mukhabarat/intelligence are beating me up!"

 As of now, the protesters have been hunger striking for three days now. They have camped out for as many days.

Sawt al Manara

In Bethlehem also, young men are are acting similarly, setting up tents for their indefinite sit-ins and hunger strikes around the Nativity Church. This article (in Arabic) gives a portrayal of the atmosphere. Here are some translated excerpts:

They are a group of youth that share not only a consensus of ideas, but the slogan "The People Want an End to Division". They chose the Church of Nativity square as their point of protest, and as the day ended, gathered around for a meeting to discuss the day's happenings, and to plan events for the days coming. Here, everyone is a president and a citizen and an artist, and everyone speaks freely, listening to the more younger ones before the older, all to declare their agreement for a new youth movement.

After the meeting which has become a routine affair, the protesters disperse quietly...some to assuage their hunger with what the owners of nearby shops offered them or from what other supporters brought to them. They assemble around a simple table that does not contain more than bread, falafel, and humus.

Others relax to the sound of a oud  playing and traditional Palestinian songs, as well as songs of Marcel Khalifa and Sheikh Imam. Another group discuss the Palestinian situation, the center of the protest against the continuation of the division. One young man is sweeping the place with a broom.

Back to Ramallah. Tonight at 6pm, there was a musical protest. It reminds us of this absolutely great video...but it doesn't quite fit. Foreigners will love and fawn over any form of creative protest but again this feels a little copied. Or maybe we're just reading too much into this. The poor souls need some festive cheer to cover up their stomach rumblings. Oh hold on, we've just received this. They are suspending hunger strikes as Abbas is due to meet Haniyeh in Gaza. Instead, they'll be hosting art events. They've been chanting, "we don't want a meal, we just want to end the division" which sounds better as always in Arabic.

Here's the real question though. Is a unity between Hamas, who reacted despotic-like toward parallel protests in Gaza, and the PA, who are essentially just proxies of Israel, collaborators, etc etc really in the best interest of the Palestinian people? When they finally kiss and make up, the next step naturally is to work towards ending the occupation. Their unity will of course unite main aspects of Palestinian society, but we must not be dependent on them to confront Israel. Especially when the PA has no qualms in meeting with Gabi Askenazi, the Israeli military chief of staff. We always must think ahead, be that one step ahead of everything. If unity happens, it will be more like some sort of a smokescreen, because unity is definitely not in the best interests of Hamas and Fateh. We can use that as pretext for enhancing our own voices, taking charge from there, and cleaning up the mammoth pile of manure they've dumped us in. There are three demands the youth groups have announced; unity, formation of a new PNC, and the release of all political prisoners. That list needs to be much longer. We are here for the long run, and not just to celebrate imminently "Unity Day" by forming rings and doing dabke.

UPDATE: The list did in fact get longer. Here's part of the press release sent out by the protesting youth in Gaza, who were met with repressive tactics by Hamas and their security forces, which led to some protesters taking refuge in the UNRWA compound.

1 - The release all political detainees in the prisons of the PA and Hamas
2 - The end of all forms of media campaigns against each other.
3 - The resignation of the governments of Haniyeh and Fayyad to re-build a government of national unity agreed by all Palestinian factions representing the Palestinian people.
4 - The restructuring of the Palestine Liberation Organization to contain all the Palestinian factions and get back to its initial aim: Palestine's freedom from illegal occupation.
5 - The announcement of the freeze of negotiations until the full compatibility between the various Palestinian factions on a political program.
6 - The end of all forms of security coordination with Israeli occupation forces.
7 - The organization of presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously in the time chosen by all the factions

March 15th

Empty slogans?

We're just about done wringing our hands. Thank you Egypt for uplifting us with your successful revolution, but the cynicism is back and worse than before.

We've already voiced our thoughts for today. We dared to dream, to hope that March 15th had the potential to become the biggest thing since Tahrir Square captivated the world a few weeks ago. We were aware of our naivety, but we hoped against all hope. Because Palestine is at the lowest point in its history, and it seems just plain criminal to just stand there idly by while the rest of the region is actively attempting and in some cases succeeding in reforming itself. Because the youth were driven with inspiration from the revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen. Because if the people in Saudi Arabia braved the repercussions by going out to protest, then there really was no other excuse left for us. Because we want, we demand a better present, not a better future. We've been so guilty of living in the past, and so brusque about the future, that we completely forget that the present is what we're currently living through.

Foolishly, we expected thousands and thousands and thousands of people to come out today. The Facebook page "The Third Intifada" has over 170,000 group members. Were they all sympathetic foreigners, activists, refugees in the diaspora?

Yesterday night, a group of about ten young men went to the Manara square on a hunger strike. They planned to spend the night there. One of them is the son of one of my professors, and this morning in class he echoed what I felt when I first heard about their endeavor. It is admirable, yet foolish. We admire their resolve and their commitment, but this is not well thought out. Within our political society, these kinds of things do not serve as a heroic inspirational preemptive solution to ending the division between Fateh and Hamas nor to ending the occupation. If these youths are strong capable intellectuals, then we need them to stay healthy and not waste away in hunger.

Let us turn to Birzeit University for some general context. Yesterday, a rumor spread like wildfire around campus that the dean of the university had approved to host some Zionists and agreed to an exchange program between Israeli and Palestinian students. There was an uproar to say the least. Suspension of classes were once again announced by the student council, to protest against such shenanigans. Then they split themselves into gangs and went to each building, yelling out for the students to leave or the building will be locked. The student council is for the third year running, the Fateh youth group A-Shabiba. The gangs were all wearing the black and white kuffiyeh (their tattoo for membership) and seemed belligerent. We were shocked by the dean's actions. We were angry too. No to normalization, yes to academic boycott. But the information we had from repeated snippets of conversations from others were inadequate. Which Israeli universities? Who were the Zionists? When was this going to take place? Why would such a decision be undertaken, especially one this immoral? The student council had burned tires in front of the Administration building, and were shouting about something or the other with the loudspeakers blaring out nationalistic songs. With no classes, we went home.

This morning on campus I walked a little with a neighbor, who is involved with the student council. I asked her about yesterday, and she launched into an explanation, which filled out a lot of the dark spaces. Apparently, there was some guy (she told me his name, I forgot) who is well known for his extensive normalization with Israel. So much in fact, that Israel gave him citizenship. He spends weekends in Tel Aviv. Well, this guy wanted to study diplomacy for his masters' degree. Birzeit University agreed to including this new field of study in its masters program. The condition was that Zionists had to teach it. And that as the course progressed, for Israeli and Palestinian students to engage in some exchange business. It was only after I made it to my first class when I realized how silly this all sounded. My teachers that day each spoke about this case. When they had first heard the rumor, they went to the department head and in their fervor demanded that they be the first ones to strike. With fire in their eyes, they called up the administration office, got some clarification, rolled their eyes, and proceeded to give classes. Here's the truth: there is some institution backed by the university and sponsored by foreign aid. The sponsors said that they weren't going to fully finance it unless the institution participates in dialogue with Israel. The dean said no. End of story. [UPDATE: the dean put up this announcement on the student portal Ritaj to dispel the rumors officially.] Think of it this way--student elections (so politicized) are in two weeks. A-shabiba merely made up this baseless rumor as part of their campaign to attract more votes for the election. Last year, a total 40 percent of the student population voted, which reflects the disenfranchisement and annoyance with the student council who by the way don't do squat for the students.

Today, those little self-righteous gangs went from classroom to classroom, making a little speech at the beginning by saying how they represent ALL of us, how they are not just acting in the name of Fateh or Hamas or Jabha (PFLP) but are acting in our names. One guy even pointed us out, "You, and you, and YOU, and him, and her, and her, and YOU, and you!" We gave them the once-over in return. How dare they. They do NOT speak for us. They are NOT our representatives. March 15th was a day organized by youth groups, who warned that some political parties or individuals are going to attempt to hijack this day for their own interests, to suit their own agendas. If they were really serious about ending the division, instead of calling people out to congregate around the Manara chanting "No to Division" , they would right off the bat announce that the legislative elections due to happen in September are not to commence without the inclusion of Hamas. I don't buy for a second that these students, who become the big buff liberators of Palestine for the day, have pure intentions and are serious about ending the division. When the schism took place (2006), they and their ilk were the same ones chanting against Hamas and denouncing the so called oppressive tactics used by Hamas in Gaza. Their flaked sincerity is poorly masked blatant propaganda. They discovered they cannot go against the flow.

The gang came in, about 6 or 7 of them, some scrawny some brawny, all trying their best to look intimidating. They huddled in the doorway glaring at us, memorizing our faces, while one of them stepped in and politely called us out to join them at 11 am in front of the Administration building, and at noon a bus was going to come to drop them off at the Manara. He appealed to our sense of nationalism, "If you truly care about yourselves, if you truly want to see an end to division, please come out with us right now to show and strengthen our support for each other. We are not suspending classes so that the students can hang out in the cafeterias." The class looked back at him skeptically. The other guys from the doorway started shouting at us before a guard stepped in, indicating that they had made their point. We went on with our class, which was actually a discussion of these very same students who fail to use their minds critically. They expect us to be sheep, happily following their every lead. Suspending classes is such a stupid move. Right now, the most powerful tool we have in our hands is Education, something that is clearly lacking in our society. Lack of awareness about our history, our literary culture, BDS, other oppressed countries, resistance movements such as Otpor, etc. People need to engage in critical thinking, and not swallow up everything spoon fed to them. The Palestine cause is not black and white. Sure, you have the occupiers and the occupied, but in the middle there's a large vortex of so many grey areas. We are of course against the division. Every self-respecting Palestinian is. The lowest point in our history was when we brutally turned our guns against each other. No one gains from the division except for Israel and its proxies. However, we want to protest in our own way, not because someone is telling us that we must and the only way to do that is to schlepp along behind their questionable footsteps.

Another gang came by. Another nice little introductory speech, which was interrupted by one of the henchmen pointing to the teacher and pugnaciously disclosing to us all that "She can't stop you from leaving the class!" The speaker hushed him up and continued to babble on. "We come to you, in the name of Hamas, in the name of Fateh, in the name of Jabha and all other political factions and parties, in the name of the students, in the name of you all, to join us, right here right now, to end the division." One girl quipped, "You do not represent Hamas, since Hamas are excluded from the student body." He flustered a bit, then changed tacts. "If you really are Palestinian, you would join us." There was no doubt that we would be at the Manara today, but not pigeon-holed by any sort of group. It intensely grates us when the 'Prove You're a Palestinian' card is played, worryingly a lot these days. It is insulting, and demeaning, and highly unnecessary. It pertains to a sense of fascist desperation, which is the last thing we need.

We went to Ramallah, still encased with hope. A niggling thought that we had forcibly pushed to the back of our minds surfaced. How exactly are we going to end the division? A la Tahrir style? What about our own originality? Are we seriously expecting to end the division when there are different characters and groups who suffer not just from short-sightedness but from other crippling discrepancies? If we wanted to be united once again, we wouldn't have waited for five years. We wouldn't have needed the recent revolutions in the Arab world as a stimulus. We smelled some kind of farcical entity. Yet we dismissed all of that. We walked toward the Manara sqaure, our steps faltering a bit. Where was the massive crowd? We expected the streets leading to the Manara to be half clogged up at the very least. I was reminded by that line in one of the songs by the Arctic Monkeys, "Anticipation has a habit to set you up/ for disappointment in evening entertainment but..."

There were some three thousand people there. Three thousand. To end the division and to end the occupation. Inwardly we laughed scornfully, but our expressions were bleak. Is this the best we can do? The large banners certainly outdid themselves, hanging over the sides of buildings, a couple depicting Yasser Arafat and Sheik Ahmad Yasin (the people in the buildings cut out squares in the posters so that they could see). The problem, we quickly found out, was the loudspeakers. They kept playing songs over and over again, so that anyone chanting had little chance of being heard, and those small crowds who nevertheless resolutely chanted were drowned out. It was a washed out Arab version of Woodstock. The guys on the stage draped over the speakers were dancing and cheering the crowd on. Most of the people were just standing there, holding their Palestine flags. Foreigners darted through here and there snapping award winning pictures. Our hearts dropped somewhere below our toes. To one side, there was some jostling as a group of teenage boys formed a circle and dropped on their backsides for a "sit-in". One of their friends stood in the middle dancing inanely. We edged away, numb to it all. In front of us, more guys were starting to do dabke. Our insides squirmed and the space where our hearts were supposed to be cleaved itself into two. The loudspeakers encouraged them, belting out a couple of popular dabke songs. Was this a demonstration or a sahrah? Did we miss the cause for celebration? For this flippant atmosphere? We circumvented the Manara twice. It was mostly empty on the other side. We both wanted to go home, but we held on, hoping for a miracle to happen.

It never came.

The handful carrying their own posters. HANDFUL.

For something that was planned from weeks on end and organized on Facebook, this event was outstandingly anti-climatic. There was no element of seriousness about it at all. We saw more heart, passion, fortitude, and genuineness from the protests in solidarity with Egypt last month (February the 5th) than today. Abbas and Haniyeh are breathing more freely now. A colossal waste of time, a heart-rendering disappointment. We were shocked because we honestly had reason to believe that today, March 15th, was going to be a groundbreaking day. How silly of us.

So we had a bit of a moan and treated ourselves to some ice cream.

A sticker "Let Us End the Occupation" discarded on the street, trodden on

Now, to think critically. Reasons for the low turnout? Laziness, fatalistic attitudes, lack of faith, danger to one's health, ignorance, indifference, acceptance of present reality, realism, numbness to occupation (hey, we have food on the table every day), not being 'Palestinian' enough. etc. Where were all those people commenting on the Facebook page of Let Us End the Occupation? (Last I checked, busy bickering on cyberspace.) Where were the youth leaders? Where were their demands on this much toted 'seminal' day? Where is the communication between ourselves? What are the plans from now?

Is this a serious movement? By today's standards, the answer is a resounding hellllll to the no. Will anything happen tomorrow? Next week? WHAT IS GOING ON? Have we just demonstrated to ourselves and the world that nonviolent protesting definitely does not work with us? And that the fatuous campaign of writing on bank notes is definitely not the way to start our long process of liberation? Tunisia is not Egypt, and Palestine is not Egypt. What this protest succeeded in is to disorient many people, placing the thought that what was taken from us by force will only be reclaimed again by force. Is this what we're reduced to now?

Ramallah's finest brand of fafis

Are we going to end the occupation by procuring tents and settling indefinitely around the Manara square? That'll be a grand thing to do, as settlers expropriate more land, our yells and demands will get louder, all the while languidly sitting there. Or shall we turn rebel fighters and aided with the defected colonels of the PA's security forces, go forward in reclaiming each city one by one, until the mighty IDF bests us with their superior weaponry? So many questions. Too many questions. Call this a state of confusion.

One raging disgusted voice (which I'll leave anonymous), mostly mirroring our own, well expressed:

It's clear to me that we Palestinians are totally confused! El-Inkisam [Division] is probably the least of our problems right now! Personally I think we've lost our ability to create our unique way of resistance! so now we're just imitating and reproducing wotever is thrown upon us....we're not Egypt..Tunisia or Libya....we have Israel AND Qadhafi/Benali/Moubarak....we have one of the few left old forms of colonization in the world...peaceful demonstrations don't work to lift injustice (that's merely my opinion)

I think we should start over....wot is going on! wot has happened!where have we lost our path! wot have we lost and wot do we want now! I think we need to redefine US...who are Palestinians! In the Deffe [West Bank] they want the authority of the people....which people....what about the refugees.....why don't we reconnect with them....how many of us know about Ein elHilwe, Bourj elBarajneh, elYarmook.....that's our identity.....that's the only clear path...we forgot the basics and the redlines have turned gray.....there is Israel, an occupation.....it needs to go.....there are red green and white/black political parties...their agendas are proven incapable...they need to go.....an authority stumbled in weakness and confusion.....it needs to go....another authority full of religious crap and hypocrisy...it needs to go......flowers and candles DON'T WORK here.......only violence and power....physical power not verbal......don't go on food strike....STRIKE!

wot has been taken by force can only be restored by force.....indeed Israel has taken so much...but those who are in control have taken much more...our spirit to resist.....our path....Force is the only solution to Inkissam and to I7tilal [occupation]....(merely my opinion)....we need awareness and i don't think that could be found in the amounts needed....we're confused....i am :s

All i know now is that i don't blv in an peaceful protest here....Peace has done us alotta harm.

Peace has done us a lot of harm.

Ahead of March 15th

We have no idea if March 15th will blow out into a radically different intifada or see a couple thousand demonstrators on their lunch breaks chanting mechanically if at all slogans against the division and the occupation. We take heart from Egypt's January 25th, where a couple thousand grew into hundreds of thousands on that first day alone. Is there tension in the air? Not really. Personally, when we think about what a groundbreaking day March 15th could turn out to be and how that will play a pivotal role in forming a genuine Palestinian leadership ready to tackle the occupation head-on, our hearts flutter a bit. However, we don't want to dwell on that too long for fear of once again having our souls crushed if instead a pitiful crowd showed up for a couple of hours, yelling chants to let off steam before scooting back to their homes.

Here's the statement put out by the Palestinian youth groups organizing the shindig.

Regarding Attempts to Co-opt March 15th Protests
The mass protests planned by Palestinian youth groups for March 15th are gaining momentum and extended media coverage. We, the youth groups organizing and mobilizing for this movement, find it necessary to clarify the following points:
- These protests are being organized under the banner of national unity and reconciliation. However, we emphasize that resolving the predicament of Palestinian disunity must be based on principles and values agreed upon by the Palestinian people regardless of their political affiliation. The first of these principles is the illegitimacy of imprisoning people based on their political beliefs. Consequently, we demand the release of all political prisoners held by the government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Our demands for change go beyond ending Palestinian disunity and partial tweaks to the status quo. We insist on full democratic representation for Palestinians all over the world. Consequently our movement stipulates:
- Democratic Palestinian National Council (PNC) elections based on a one-person one-vote electoral system that guarantees equal representation for all Palestinians around the world (Gaza Strip, West Bank, 48 territories, refugee camps, and in the Diaspora). This necessitates a complete overhaul of the PNC’s structures and the establishment of new electoral procedures.
Attempts to Co-opt March 15th Mass protests
Palestinian political parties, Hamas’ government in Gaza, Fayyad’s government in the West Bank, and a plethora of nongovernmental organizations are seeking to co-opt this movement to serve their narrow interests. Moreover, they are attempting to legitimize themselves by falsely stating that they are the main organizers behind this event. We open-heartedly welcome the participation of party members and NGO employees, who are an essential and inseparable part of our societal fabric. We do not welcome attempts by their leaders to redirect our efforts.
- We affirm that the March 15th movement is by the people for the people, and is independent of any political party or institutional backing. It is being organized by non-partisan youth groups who dream of a better future for their people.
We invite all Palestinians, and particularly Palestinian youth, to come down to the street on March 15th. We will only carry Palestinian flags, and chant and sing for freedom, unity, and justice. March 15th shall be the day we stand in unity to demand democratic representation for all Palestinians as an affirmative step in our struggle for Freedom from Israeli Apartheid.

Will Twitter see a hash tag for March 15th? And more importantly, will Omar Offendum and The Narcicyst make a song entitled #Mar15th? Or will this blog run our angry bitter lamentations about what a huge disappointment the day turned out to be?