CAIRO: "My country will continue to be my wound…until it’s returned and I return [to it],"said Roqayah Tbeileh, 21, a Palestinian student in Cairo who has lived for decades with the dream of returning back home to Palestine someday.
Tbeileh, President of Al-Quds Club (Jerusalem Club), the first and largest Palestinian student-run organization that raises awareness about the Palestinian cause in Egypt, waits anxiously for the final UN resolution on the Palestinian statehood and plans – with hundreds of members in the club – to carry a package of activities over the coming months accordingly.
The generation of Arab youth born to witness the failing 20-year-old Palestinian-Israeli peace talks are fed up. Just like they called for removing regimes that don’t meet their demands, they also call for changing the two-decade ruling of negotiations that didn’t put an end to 63 years of conflict.
The well known chanting, "to Jerusalem we’re going…martyrs by the millions," has become louder and stronger post the Arab Spring in pro-Palestinian protests in Egypt and across the region, and alternatives to the continuous negotiations – that don’t simultaneously satisfy Palestinians aspirations – are now being considered.
In a press release, the High Commission for the Revolution’s Youth in Egypt, a coalition of 36 different political youth groups, said, “We warn the countries that intend to stand against the will of the Palestinian people and veto against the recognition of their state […] that [they] will be subject to economic boycott from the free Arab people who [learnt] the meaning of freedom and dignity post the Arab spring."
Ramez Elmasry, member of the commission’s executive board, said that they will launch a strong campaign in Egypt to help consumers and importers boycott all products associated with boycotted states. Coordination with youth movements across the region also started for the same reason.
Other suggestions circulating among youth include pressuring Saudi Arabia, that has the second largest oil reserves in the world, to reduce oil exports to boycotted states, continuous demonstrations-especially with the anniversary of the second Intifada on Sept. 28.
Many Arab youth noted that the UN bid for a Palestinian state carries significant compromises. It recognizes only 22 percent of the Palestinian land; the situation of nearly 5 million Palestinian refugees registered in UNRWA who have the right to return to their hometowns, many of whom are now under Israeli ruling, remain unclear, same as the destiny of over 8000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. Supporters of the bid thought they’re offering a golden opportunity for peace that should have been seized by the Israeli government.
"[Now], if [they] vetoed the Palestinian state, they’re [really] calling for war," Mazen Ayman, an Egyptian student.
"The US might find itself using [the veto] at a time when Arabs are very angry," said Gamal Abdel Gawad, Egyptian political analyst.
The US administration that supported the Arab Spring across the region and slammed the Palestinian one with an announced veto is now being viewed widely as hypocritical.
While the US administration argued that getting recognition for a Palestinian state will not change anything, Aya Fahmy, 21, political science student, said "If [it will not change anything] why veto against it?"
"[The US veto] is shameful," said Tbeileh. "Delaying my right and forcing [us] to go back to negotiations that have proven to be useless nonsense while we lose an inch of Palestine everyday to illegal Israeli settlements [is not acceptable anymore]," she added.
David Banchich, 20, a Jewish US citizen and a student of anthropology at Canisius College in Buffalo NY, said "As [a Jew], I feel a very strong connection to places like Jerusalem. However, I refuse to visit [it] until my Muslim and Arab friends are also allowed to [which is not the case now].
"I am deeply […] offended to see how Palestinians are often treated in modern day Israel, and recognize that in many cases, their human rights have been denied," he said.
"Hopefully, [President Abbas’ move] will remind the international community that most Palestinians remain refugees in a land where their ancestors have lived for centuries," he added.
Debating Obama’s veto
William B. Quandt, veteran expert in US foreign policy and author of Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Since 1967, said, "US Policy is to support the principles of a Palestinian state, but not via a UN resolution [….] the real motive for opposing the UN initiative is that Israel is opposed to it and the [Obama] is not prepared to take a stand against Israel for political reasons."
But there are also legitimate questions on what will happen the day after the UN resolution, according to Quandt, who has been part of the US administration and was involved in the negotiations leading to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty of 1979.
"How is a Palestinian State going to come into existence unless there is some agreement between Israel and the Palestinians? Who will force Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem?" he added.
"If [Israel doesn’t agree to leave the land that belongs to Palestinians], then Israel is the one creating a problem and an obstacle to world peace," said Mohamed Qorani, 25, Egyptian.
The US administration is in a very difficult position backing the Israeli government with the veto, argued analyst Abdel Gawad.
Obama had such a strong entrance; vowing to apply new tactics, attempting to enhance US image in the Arab and Muslim world through the historical Cairo University speech, then receiving a Nobel Peace Prize for bringing about a new climate in international politics. Two years later, "he failed to bring new dynamics or deliver on the promises he made." "He no longer has credibility," said Abdel Gawad.
When asked how much confidence they have that President Obama would do the right thing regarding world affairs, a 38 percent majority of the interviewees in the research conducted by the Pew Research Center released April 25, answered "no confidence at all." According to the same research, a majority of 49 percent said they have a “very unfavorable" view of the US now, and a majority of 54 percent said Egypt should annul its peace treaty with Israel.
The situation escalated lately when Israeli military – despite the peace treaty – killed six Egyptian soldiers at the borders during Israeli-Palestinian clashes. The Israeli government’s refusal to apologize further infuriated Egyptian youth who staged protests, called for annulling the treaty and the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador in response.
A long, overdue right
Tbeileh, 21, who’s originally from Nablus Palestine but was displaced with her family to Jordan, was unable to attend her grandmother’s funeral or see her before she died a week ago because of her inability to return to her original home. This situation could have been resolved if the West Bank, where Tbeileh’s hometown is, was under the Palestinian State’s sovereign which is what this UN bid could do on the ground.
Secretary General of the UN, Ban Kin-Moon, already said that the right for an independent, sovereign Palestinian state has been long overdue.
But the problem is that the current UN system allows powerful countries to have a stronger say, commented Aya Fahmy, 21, secretary general of Cairo International Model United Nations, a union of youth that works on finding creative solutions for conflicts/challenges facing the region and the world.
"The UN is supposed to be an international forum for all states to achieve peace, security and avoid wars or conflicts. But, the fact that the Security Council is politicized [a veto of a permanent member like the US cancels a resolution] is a contradiction to the supposed notion of a horizontal international system that [supports equality, fairness and peace]."
Still, Tbeileh – like many other Palestinians – said, "I will never give up on my identity as a Palestinian, it will be passed on to my children and grandchildren and their grandchildren no matter what happen."
