I am not planning on watching fireworks, attending celebrations or even bothering to switch on the TV (that is the first part of slavery one can afford to free themselves from peacefully - unless it becomes a tool for the masses, which I can't see happening soon). Since I am not watching, I ask myself the simple and obvious question: Will 1997 be different as far as the Palestinians are concerned?
One should not start by being pessimistic. At the same time, we must be
realistic and rely on cautious optimism. So, what is cautious optimism?
Some define it as looking for the good while being prepared for the worst.
I prefer to look at it as being able to expect what ... if ... .
We, Palestinians have seen so much hardship at the hands of both friends and
foes. We are still targeted everywhere and on different levels. Our real
friendship is with individuals who saw the light on their own and while
we deeply appreciate such noble feelings and thank these fellows from
the depth of our heart, we can't count on it while we struggle with a
nasty mess of problems.
Yes, difficulties are so severe to the point that on an individual level
we may dispair, give up, compromise or join the "why should I care" line.
The ugly fact is: one may run but one can't escape. Not only that,
but a reasonable share of the total blame falls squarely on us. Sure there
are plans and plots, but these work only with a responsive target and we
can choose not to be. We blame others or expect them to perfect their job
while we don't contribute to the overall effort if not sit down and assign
labels to the rest. This is the right environment for the growth of
unqualified community leaders, opportunists and corruption. If I care less
then I become a passive target: I fail to speak out (in a civilized way)
and those in higher positions only hear praise. This generates a "feedback"
and things get worse.
The resulting effect may not become evident very soon, but it is already being felt, and badly, in Palestine - let alone the Diaspora. Oslo was imposed on us with all its ills and we are reaping what was planted. The question is: can we minimize the hardship? Will someone really take pity on us and solve our problems?
The brief answer to the first part is yes, to the second? a big NO. This is the time of corporate governments and ethnic cleansing (also known as the new world order). If you belong to the right race, bright color and you are "worth" something on the material scale, you have chances to survive, otherwise, you better write your will before it is too late. We can't hide our identity (we shouldn't in the first place) and our resources are controlled by other managers, so our chances are pretty slim.
Now let us come back to the glimmer of hope: We can minimize the suffering
if we focus on it and coordinate our efforts. We have to identify the
challenges - not a rocket engineering issue - and work toward a better
present and future. The magic words here are very few, yet very effecient:
Awareness, networking, coordination of sincere, civilized efforts,
dedication and self-denial. This last one is a bit difficult.
This has to take place in both physical and cyber space. We are trying to
offer a starting point by providing free seating and digital coffee in
the Cafe hoping to bring serious people together and match needs with
skills. What we can't do is provide the will to make a difference and we
hope serious people already have it, no doubt. Why not get started right
away?
This is getting too long and the lights are still threatening to say goodbye
so let's end with a humble wish list for 1997: