Democratic Palestine : 36 (ص 11)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 36 (ص 11)
- المحتوى
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to recognize the Palestinian state. We should never plant illu-
sions in the minds of our people who are making daily sacrifices.
Our heroic masses should understand the nature of the enemy
and that it will never acknowledge our rights until the costs of the
occupation become greater than its bencfits on the economic.
political and moral levels.
The slogan of civil disobedience was rasied in the first
months of the uprising, but later on there was less agi-
tation for its immediate implementation. Why?
What, in your view, are the required conditions for
implementing this step?
There was not complete success in implementing the dis-
obedience slogan as it was first raised and as we understood it.
However, our masses who are confronting the occupation every
moment have applied this slogan in the field. Lack of total suc-
cess does not and should not cancel the practice of civil disobedi-
ence which have been created by our masses, such as refusing to
pay taxes, to renew licenses or to open stores on the occupation
forces’ orders, attending school despite closure orders, organiz-
ing popular education despite the occupation prohibiting it,
refusing the magnetic ID cards, the resignation of the police and
appointed municipal councils, refusing to work in settlements,
abiding by the general strike days, continuing to form popular
committees in defiance of the military laws, refusing to pay fines
or remove barricades or slogans or Palestinian flags, etc. What
happened in the heroic town of Beit Sahour is an outstanding
example; the people collectively and totally refused to pay taxes
in spite of the violence and collective punishment, and the brutal
confiscation of their property, during the 43-day military sicge.
The battle of the IDs waged by the brave workers in the Gaza
Strip, is another outstanding example.
All these events point to the progress which has been made by
our masses in their daily experience of confronting the occupa-
tion. The battle is violent, but when the occupation began to use
new repressive means, we notice that the massesare really ready
to confront these. The masses were able to practice many forms
of disobedience, but not on a permanent basis. Total disobedi-
ence was not realized as we had imagined. Why?
As we understood it, civil disobedience means total rejection
of the occupation, refusing to recognize its legitimacy, boycot-
ting the civil administration and forming the alternative popular
authority.
The incomplete success has various reasons, some objective
and others subjective. The objective reasons are related to the
occupation and the realities it has created over 22 years. The
Palestinian national economy was subordinated and linked to
the Zionist cconomy; for example, more than 90% of the
imports of the West Bank and Gaza Strip had been from Israel,
including basic materials. The Israeli economy, with its high
technical development, was able to deform and contain the
weaker and more underdeveloped Palestinian economy. This
makes disengagement very difficult, especially as long as the
occupation exists.
As for the subjective factor, we in the PFLP consider this tobe
a decisive factor. The fact is that the Palestinian national organi-
Democratic Palestine, December 1989
zations did not possess joint conviction about the concept of civil
disobedience, and how to practice it. This inhibited a unified
national decision for total national disobedience. The other
aspect of the weakness of the subjective factor is the PLO’s ina-
bility to provide the minimum requirements for national dis-
obedience. For example, how can we deal with some 120,000
Palestinian workers who have been working in Zionist ter-
ritories? Total disobedience is impossible if the workers do not
boycott all work in the Zionist economy.
Why do we say that the subjective factor is decisive? Because
we have a deep conviction that we can practice civil disobedi-
ence if we devote sufficient effort to surmounting the obstacles.
The masses have implemented a series of acts of disobedience:
they are ready to sacrifice and have plenty of enthusiasm to esca-
late the struggle against the occupation, but on the basis of acol-
lective national position and the fulfillment of the needed mate-
rial support. In the PFLP, we feel that this processis realisticand
feasible. In order hot to push the situation towards adventurism,
especially in view of our understanding of the nature of the
enemy and the difficulty of implementing total disobedience,
we in the PFLP proposed the tactic of raising the civil disobedi-
ence slogan in different areas and at different times. This would
allow the mass movement to gradually head towards civil dis-
obedience. Gradual disobedience would serve as a rehearsal -
for one week, then ten days, then two weeks, and so on, and
then return to the previous situation.
This process would lead to self-examination, to knowing the
enemy's reaction, to disccvering the problems arising from the
steps of disobedience and helping us to find solution. In the
course of this dialectical process, the economic, political, milit-
ant and organizational basis of the uprising would be consoli-
dated. Our masses have been practicing acts of civil disobedi-
ence, but provisionally. Now they could begin practicing thisina
total and collective way. This in itself would reinforce the con-
frontation and escalate it, meanwhile strengthening coopera-
tion among the masses.
This is what we have understood when raising the disobedi-
ence slogan. What is our evaluation now of this slogan? It
became clear that the essence of the slogan was genuine and pos-
sible, but it seems that our assessment of the obstacles to its
implementation was not precise. In any case, we are raising this
subject very clearly. It is necessary to continue the work and
propaganda among the contingents of the Palestinian national
movement, aimed at applying this slogan, because in our view, it
is one of the most important dynamics for moving the uprising to
amore advanced level. We must have a unified, serious national
decision and fulfill the material requirements in order to imple-
ment this slogan.
Why haven’t Hamas and the Islamic trend joined the
United National Leadership after two years of the
uprising? Also, do you expect that the Islamic forces’
success in the parliamentary elections in Jordan, will
reflect on the Islamic trend’s strength in the occupied
territories?
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11 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 36
- تاريخ
- ديسمبر ١٩٨٩
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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