<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Palestine: Demands for a Unified Nation set for March 15 · Global&nbsp;Voices]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div id="post-description" class="postmeta context-meta">
<div class="date">Posted <a title="posts from 2011/02/26" href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/26">26 February 2011 </a></div>
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<div class="author contributor"><span class="credit-label">Written by</span><a class="url" title="View all posts by Imane Eddbali" href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/author/imane-eddbali/">Imane Eddbali</a></div>
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<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-200738" href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/26/palestine-demands-for-a-unified-nation-set-for-march-15/attachment/74782/"><img loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-200738 " title="Palestine March 15 Campaign" src="https://i1.wp.com/globalvoicesonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/74782-375x281.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="281" /></a></p>
<p class="wp-caption-text">Handala &#8211; symbol of the Palestinian youth &#8211; torn between Fatah (right) and Hamas (left)</p>
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<p>As the Arab world witnesses uprising after uprising, seeing dictators  fall and others exposed one after another, the Palestinian case looks  like the ultimate goal. The fate of Palestine has long suffered from its  neighbors’ incapability (more or less intentional) of forming a strong  block against Israel, whether through feeding the divisions inside the  Palestinian political scene, or more directly by being an ally of  Israel.</p>
<p>When in 2006 the last elections saw Hamas’ wide victory, the  Palestinian Authority (PA) – backed by the USA, Israel and the EU among  others – unilaterally decided to form its own government, while Hamas  ruled over Gaza. A civil war between Hamas and Fatah supporters finished  to settle the divisions, immediately followed by the ongoing Israeli  siege on the Strip, while in the West Bank the Occupation continues to  take root deeper and deeper in what is left from the Palestinian  territory.</p>
<p>In late November, one month before Mohamed Al Bouazizi’s self  immolation sparked the Revolution in Tunisia, an anonymous group called  Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO) emerged, yelling at the world a <a href="http://gazaybo.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank">manifesto</a> full of anger, throwing words at Israel, but also at their political leaders, and calling for change:</p>
<blockquote><p>There is a revolution growing inside of us, an immense  dissatisfaction and frustration that will destroy us unless we find a  way of canalizing this energy into something that can challenge the  status quo and give us some kind of hope. […] What is our leitmotiv?  Freedom. And for that, we know that we need the Palestinians and their  leaders to unite against the Zionist Occupier. And that’s precisely why  we call for action. Now. Not in 6 months, not in a year, not wait until  another massacre strikes us.</p></blockquote>
<p>The manifesto has immediately drawn the attention of Western media,  which fueled most of pro Palestinian activists’ speeches against the  GYBO group. While many accused them of giving reasons to Israel to  maintain the siege on the little enclave by venting the way they did  against the Palestinian political factions, some try to give a more  balanced view:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>@</strong><strong><a title="Asa Winstanley" href="http://twitter.com/asa_wire">asa_wire</a></strong> I honestly think @<a href="http://twitter.com/gazaybo">GazaYBO</a> did not realize the extent to which Hamas are covered in racist fashion  in the Western media. I also think some in the Western solidarity  movement are blind to the possibility that Gaza youth have legitimate  complaints against Hamas.</p></blockquote>
<p>Thrown in turmoil for lack of support from most of the activism  spheres &#8211; where criticism of Palestinian factions as Hamas is almost  considered as the step before collaboration &#8211; the movement resurfaced  when we witnessed the first victories of the Arab revolutions.<br />
On twitter, reactions were immediate:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>@</strong><strong><a title="david smith 10E6" href="http://twitter.com/davrs">davrs</a></strong> May be wrong, but the @<a href="http://twitter.com/GazaYBO">GazaYBO</a> “F*** ‘em all” manifesto seems to have presaged all the events we&#8217;ve just witnessed</p>
<p><strong>@</strong><strong><a title="Gaza Youth Break Out" href="http://twitter.com/GazaYBO">GazaYBO</a></strong> Mubarak is officially out and in celebration of that GYBO announces the  15th of March as the day of the revolution against division in Gaza!</p></blockquote>
<p>Strengthened by the <a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/01/23/israelpalestine-reacting-to-the-palestine-papers/">Palestine Papers</a> episode that shed light on the PA&#8217;s concessions &#8211; way beyond the  acceptable for many Palestinians &#8211; the idea grew bigger. It then spread  to the West Bank, where less organized groups joined the movement,  calling the Palestinians to rally on March, 15<sup>th</sup>. A common page has been created on Facebook – initially in Arabic “<a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200985693252117" target="_blank">الشعب يريد إنهاء الانقسام</a>” then in English “<a href="http://www.facebook.com/Palestinians.United" target="_blank">The People want the End of Division</a>”  – that, unlike the previous move by Palestinian youth, gathered  thousands of Palestinians and Arabs in a couple of weeks. Their demands  made their way to Mondoweiss, which published the <a href="http://mondoweiss.net/2011/02/gaza-youth-breaks-out-calls-for-a-unified-palestinian-leadership-to-lead-us-to-freedom-with-all-pride-and-dignity.html" target="_blank">English translation</a> of their call:</p>
<blockquote><p>We call on the governments of the West Bank and Gaza to respond to the legitimate demands of the people:</p>
<p>1 &#8211; the release all political detainees in the prisons of the PA and Hamas</p>
<p>2 &#8211; the end of all forms of media campaigns against each others</p>
<p>3 &#8211; 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.</p>
<p>4 &#8211; the restructuring of the Palestine Liberation Organization to  contain all the Palestinian factions and get back to its initial aim:  Palestine&#8217;s freedom</p>
<p>5 &#8211; the announcement of the freeze of negotiations until the full  compatibility between the various Palestinian factions on a political  program</p>
<p>6 &#8211; the end of all forms of security coordination with the Zionist enemy</p>
<p>7 &#8211; the organization of presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously in the time chosen by all the factions</p></blockquote>
<p>A first event in support of the Egyptian revolution took place in Ramallah on February, 5<sup>th</sup>,  then several others followed. Thousands took the streets for one same  reason; they’re not calling for the end of the regime, but they want “to  bring the regime back to life, united in the Palestinian cause.”</p>
<blockquote><p>Amira Sliman &#8211; <a href="http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/palestinians-are-losing-patience-1.767752" target="_blank">protester</a>:  “I am here in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and to see an end  to the division. Because there is one nation and one people”</p></blockquote>
<p><span id="more-200677"> </span></p>
<div>Palestinians chanting “The people want the end of the division”</div>
<p>The main political parties reacted more or less desperately; the PA  called for anticipated elections in September and promised reforms and  Cabinet reshuffle, Gaza government &#8211; suspecting the groups of serving  foreign agendas &#8211; cracked down on any peaceful rally and confiscated  personal equipments. Both keep on blaming the other for the current  political split while officially claiming they are seeking  reconciliation.</p>
<p>When asked about their motives, GYBO members <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/24/palestinian-young-people-protests">replied</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>In the West Bank, people are concerned with settlements  and the wall. Here it&#8217;s the siege. I tell people I&#8217;m from Gaza, not from  Palestine, and that&#8217;s very sad. We want the spirit of one people to  come back.</p></blockquote>
<p>Some go even further:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>@</strong><strong><a title="Jenny Baboun" href="http://twitter.com/jbaboun">jbaboun</a></strong> I&#8217;m excited to report THE end of division! It can be done. There should  be elections without Fatah or Hamas or any other faction, I mean we  seriously need to “refresh” everything here!</p></blockquote>
<p>Organizers stay realistic; for the “March 15″ campaign to succeed,  they need numbers and even if their demands sound legitimate, it’s a  whole different story to make the political factions settle on a common  program and overcome years of national divisions. One thing is sure,  whether for Palestinians in the West Bank, or in Gaza, or even abroad,  the recent events in the Arab world brought back a new hope in change  and a collective consciousness that only unity will make them reach  freedom.</p>
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<p><span class="credit-text">Written by <a title="View all posts by Imane Eddbali" href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/author/imane-eddbali/">Imane Eddbali</a></span></p>
<p><a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/26/palestine-demands-for-a-unified-nation-set-for-march-15/">Palestine: Demands for a Unified Nation set for March 15 · Global Voices</a>.</p>
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