The Blogs: Realising the New Palestine

Preface

This is about a destination and its journey. I call the destination “the New Palestine”. It is at the moment, a concept of the mind, a possibility of the future. It requires a journey to reach it. This journey is about making the destination real so that those who arrive there know that they have reached home – a home in common with their fellow travellers, bringing with it, a new sense of identity and purpose – called “nationality”.

Once the destination has been decided, the journey has begun. This is the journey to the “New Palestine” – a journey for all those who believe that what can be imagined, can be achieved.

Today

There has been much talk about a Palestinian state and “two-state solution”. But such talk brings no clarity on what this actually means or how it will come about. Several countries have already issued statements purporting immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. But well-meaning governments and institutions cannot simply wish a new state into existence. How long will the Palestinian people wait until these good intentions even come close to reality?

The reality is, that to have a nation state, you must first have a country. Today there is no country and nothing within which Palestinian nationality can take root and grow. “Country” here does not just mean an area of land with defined borders – it means a sense of connection to a place, shared with others who regard that place as home. That connection to a homeland defines “nationality”.

A long-held perception of the Palestinian people is generally that of refugees in their own land or a people dispossessed. While this generates sympathy and charitable assistance from the international community, it does not bring respect or any recognition of Palestine as a country. This has endured for too long and has not served the Palestinian people. It is time to move to a new reality and send the world a new message.

Building a new country will not come about through declarations of the United Nations or like organisations. International donors will contribute to rebuilding Gaza (in a physical sense, probably better than before) but then they will leave, hoping never again to be bothered by Palestinian problems. This is not to ignore the critical importance of continued humanitarian aid to save lives and alleviate suffering. But it does not help the Palestinian people to take back control of their future and reclaim their nationality. That is something they can only rely on themselves to do.

This journey is one from statelessness and dispossession to independence and self-determination. It’s destination is about a government by the will of the Palestinian people, led by those chosen by the Palestinian people. It will be free from the malign influence and oppression of the terror groups orchestrated by the ruling regime in Iran.

The journey is not easy and has many dangers. The terror groups will do their utmost to ensure that there is never a New Palestine. Those people are not the defenders or liberators of the Palestinian people as their allegiance is owed to the Iran regime. That regime’s objective is to destroy Israel (and Palestine in the process) and become the uncontested ruling power in the Middle East.

The terror groups which control Gaza and southern Lebanon care nothing about peace in the region nor the thousands of innocent lives lost since Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023. They oppose a New Palestine and their greatest fear is the day when Palestinians and Israelis start talking to each other about the future.

Countries are built on hope and optimism because these values appeal to the fundamental desire of people to create a tomorrow that’s better than today. These beliefs once they take hold, are steel – like and unbreakable. By contrast, those ideas born of hatred and forced on people through coercion and indoctrination are weak because they are never adopted through the free will of the people on whom they are imposed. So, when adversaries start to find a common path to a possible future, the messages of hate, destruction and endless war begin to weaken and finally dissolve.

Tomorrow

Freedom involves having access to information – information about what the future can be and the choices that can be made. For the people of Gaza, what kind of choices will make life better tomorrow than it is today? For families and their children, will a new system of education open the door to a world of knowledge and opportunity never before possible? For the school students of today who will become the nation builders of tomorrow, a future of stability and prosperity for all Palestinians will be an expectation and not just an aspiration.

Communication about the future is, at the moment, a dangerous and even life-threatening activity. But with assistance both internal and external, safe channels can be created to share ideas about what tomorrow could be. Such dialogue would include the basic foundations of nationality in a new country including the rights and obligations of its citizens, its laws and national institutions. Other countries in the region and beyond can and will assist the New Palestine. Indeed, help will come from a source which today would be considered being anything from “unlikely” to “impossible”.

And, as for the question about future relations between the New Palestine and Israel? There is hope that one day there will be a new beginning, forged by those on both sides who can look beyond the obstacles of today at the possibilities of tomorrow. In the meantime, it is realistic to believe that there will be a mutual recognition of those interests which are common to neighbouring countries, such as security and stability.

One immediate action for the Palestinian people, is to take back their flag. It is the flag of all Palestinians and the symbol of their country; it cannot be used by anyone else without their permission. This action may be symbolic but its intent is strong – the flag of Palestine is not a banner of destruction and hate; it is not the property of campus protestors and their influencers whose agendas promote extremist views with neither care nor knowledge of the people they claim to represent. This action can be as simple as an affirmation by individuals that the flag of Palestine belongs only to its people and that they alone have the right to fly it.

Now

The New Palestine is a possibility of the future; it is for all those in Gaza and the West Bank and their diaspora seeking an alternative to the reality of today. It is for those who want a better life for their children and grandchildren; it is for those who want a future of stability and prosperity and it is for those who want to re-affirm their nationality as “Palestinian” and their country’s place in the world as deserving of respect, not sympathy, from the international community. To make the possibility a reality will require a singular mindset.

The journey here is one of faith and conviction. And, may the Traveller’s Prayer (“Dua”) be a blessing on all who set forth on it.

*Brian O’Connell is a Sydney based lawyer with an interest in diplomacy and statecraft. The views expressed here are his own.