Palestinian unity must be the final result of Israel’s election

In light of the Joint List's electoral gains, Palestinians must establish unity through reform in order to secure their rights, argues Joseph Dana

Ayman Odeh, the head of the Joint List bloc in Israel's parliament, gestures during a press conference in Jerusalem. Ahmad Gharabli / AFP

In Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel re-elected an isolationist leader, who, as part of his campaign strategy, thumbed his nose at global efforts to achieve a lasting two-state solution. While the US government and media commentators grapple with the full weight of Israeli intransigence, it is time to turn our attention to the question of Palestinian unity.

The arrogance of Israel’s leadership stems from the status quo it has created by sowing Palestinian disunity on the ground. After all, breaking down the bonds of solidarity among indigenous populations is the cornerstone of colonial thinking.

From 1948 until 1967, Israel placed Palestinians inside Israeli territory under de facto military occupation. This order was not lifted until the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza following the 1967 war.

When Israel took over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, its programme of sowing disunity only deepened. It was not until the late 1980s and the outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada that the concept of unity was seriously challenged by Palestinians.

What came after the first intifada – the Oslo peace process and the creation of the Palestinian Authority, which has come to operate as a subcontractor for Israel’s occupation – was a desperate attempt by Israel, with the tacit approval of the West, to ensure that widespread unity would never return to the streets of the West Bank or Gaza. A Palestinian people united and using non-violent resistance present an existential challenge to Israel’s occupation.

In recent years, Israeli politicians have stoked a campaign of incitement against Palestinian citizens. From proposed laws requiring loyalty oaths to an aggressive campaign of Bedouin land expropriation and the raising of the electoral threshold of smaller (that is, Palestinian) parties in its parliament, Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian citizens is tantamount to second class citizenship. Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman brazenly said that disloyal Palestinian citizens should have their heads cut off.

The Joint List – a single bloc composed of all the established Palestinian parties in the Israeli parliament – is a direct response to the elevation of the electoral threshold. Far from a sign of unity at inception, the Joint List was a pragmatic move to ensure that Palestinian citizens retained a voice, however small, in the halls of the Israeli government.

The impressive showing of the Joint List – they came in third in the election with 13 seats – has brought with it renewed calls for unity in Palestine.

Under the leadership of a soft-spoken lawyer from Haifa, Ayman Odeh, Palestinians have demonstrated what is possible when they stop fighting among themselves and focus on the issues at hand. While we don’t yet know exactly the type of legislation the Joint List will advocate, their showing at the polls is the only hopeful spot in an otherwise gloomy election.

The pressing issue now is finding a way to spread this spirit of unity to the West Bank and Gaza. While there has been talk of unity governments since last year’s announcement that Hamas and Fatah would end their bitter standoff, nothing concrete has come of the discussions. The missing ingredient is long overdue internal reform inside the Palestinian Authority as well as the Hamas government. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, a deeply unpopular leader, has not stood for election in years. Hamas remains confined to the open-air prison that is the Gaza Strip. As a movement and a nascent government, it is desperate for cash and political aid now that its Muslim Brotherhood allies in Egypt and the region have essentially lost power and gone into hiding.

As with colonial regimes before it, Israel has begun the process of implosion from the very success of its colonial project. The actions of its leadership give credence to international efforts to boycott, divest from and sanction the country. However, the focus is no longer on whether Israelis want or are able to achieve a two-state solution – they have made their position clear – but on whether the Palestinians are able to seize the chances that have been presented to them for independence.

For an international community fed up with the long-dead peace process, the time has come to bolster efforts for lasting Palestinian unity. Unity is the vehicle that will deliver the Palestinians results in their quest for justice, security and independence.

On Twitter: @ibnezra