by Karma Nabulsi
Last weekend the Observer carried a dramatic account of ‘The Gaza Youth Manifesto’, written in English by a handful of young people in Gaza and posted on Facebook. Given the thousands of people in the West who have said they ‘like’ it on Facebook or posted positive comments, the manifesto is said to herald a new movement for change in occupied Palestine.
Because of Palestinians’ lengthy predicament of expulsion, dispossession and military occupation, there is a rich tradition of Palestinian manifestos and declarations: hundreds of them have been written since 1948. ‘Bayan Harakatina’ (‘Our Movement’s Statement’, 1959) played an important role in recruiting the first wave of young people to the Palestinian National Liberation Movement-Fateh, and in unifying their political consciousness. It was distributed clandestinely, ‘entrusting’ its readers with the key ideas of the new movement. Later documents, such as the founding manifesto of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (1967), were distributed more openly. These manifestos were written by organised Palestinian youth as mobilising documents, exclusively for young Palestinians.
Manifestos have been written by everyone: ‘Workers of Palestine Unite’ was issued by the General Provisional Committee of the Workers of Palestine in 1962; the Unified National Command of the Intifada released 46 communiqués between 1988 and 1990; ‘The Palestinian Civil Society Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel’ was published on 9 July 2005; ‘The Palestine Manifesto’ was published last year by the National Committee for the Defence of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; dozens of statements have been issued by right of return committees in the refugee camps since 1998; Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, from all parties, released the now famous ‘National Reconciliation Document’ in 2006.
Palestinian manifestos and declarations tend to do four things: 1. engage critically with the current situation and its historical context; 2. outline a response, clearly stating the principles that should underpin it; 3. announce the emergence of an organised group to carry out that response; and 4. call on Palestinian youth to join the movement. The wording is careful and has usually been negotiated at length between a variety of people and organisations. In short, the manifestos are purposive and geared towards some form of collective action.
The ‘Gaza Youth Breaks Out’ manifesto does not belong to this tradition: it does not put forth any clear analysis of the current historical situation, or outline a response to it. It does not declare the existence of an organised group, or invite anyone to join anything. Its tone is denunciatory rather than analytical. Its language is apolitical: the terminology of resistance common to Palestinian manifestos is replaced here by use of the f-word. And it lacks any mobilisational dimension. It’s unsurprising, then, that it has received little attention in the Arab world. The most extensive report on it appeared in Al Akhbar in Lebanon, which more or less reprinted the piece from the Observer.
If this manifesto does not belong to the Palestinian tradition of declarations, then what tradition does it belong to? Clearly it captures the despair and horror of life in Gaza today, and the young people behind it have every right to post their appeals and complaints on Facebook or wherever they like. But without being rooted in any particular or collective vision of change, the three demands articulated in the manifesto – ‘We want to be free. We want to be able to live a normal life. We want peace’ – are meaningless. Perhaps this is why it is so attractive to those who have read it on Facebook, and the European and American media who have taken it up. It caters to western tastes and desires, especially to the fantasy of a digitally connected youth emerging from cyberspace as agents of transformative change in the real world. In the case of Palestine, this fantasy does a number of things besides soothing guilty consciences. It reframes the issue of justice for Palestine in vacuous and unthreatening terms, casts the method by which change may occur into virtual space, and empties the Palestinian body politic of the thoughtfully articulated demands of its millions of citizens.
First published on the London Review Blog.
P U L S E 
Your viewpoint is well written. However, “Gaza Youth Breaks Out” are not interested in any “tradition” of previous Palestinian manifestos.
They are tired and fed up. Have you any idea what it must be like to be born into the nightmare created by israHELL ? To live this nightmare from birth day in and day out ? Have you walked in the footsteps of Gaza’s youth to have even a minimal clue what their lives are like ?
You haven’t anymore than I have…and they are getting attention because people do care…you are twisting their objective to fit your agenda whatever that may be, but Gaza’s young people are very intelligent and they know what they want.
THIS WAR THAT IS NOT A WAR BUT AN ILLEGAL OCCUPATION CARRIED OUT BY ISRAHELL AGAINST PALESTINE FOR OVER 6 DECADES IS NOT TO BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CHILDREN BORN INTO IT BECAUSE THEY HAD NO CHOICE.
Diabolical monsters created this nightmare of tyranny and suffering. It’s high time the world listen and do something to stop catering to israHELL and their evil agendas.
Heike, you are obviously not aware that Karma Nabulsi is a Palestinian refugee and one of Palestine’s great writers and strugglers. Calm down a little.
Robin,
what in the world does that have to do with my comment?
I disagree with Karma Nabulis, whether a “Palestinian refugee and one of Palestine’s great writers and strugglers” or not.
The situation in Gaza is unacceptable and the fear of another “Cast Lead” is in the air, and you tell me to “calm down a little”.
Gaza’s youth is mostly so emotionally and psychologically damaged, none of us on the outside can even imagine. Palestine’s children are born into the horrendous evil executed daily by israHELL. I don’t think I’m upset or vocal enough.
Thank you karma for this article, I believe there is a lot of truth in it. I have had many discussions with youth in Palestine and other neighbouring arab countries, youth involved in community initiatives, who are actively seeking a role to play in their societies, yet they have no political or ideological position, or at least an understanding that can help them analyze the situation in depth… Everything is the same, everyone is equal, there is no differentiation between those who destroy and those who build… It almost always leads to the same nihilistic position expressed in the manifesto.. It is sad but we can’t really blame them for it, the older generation has f****d up so much that young people today don’t want anything to do with their ideologies or ways… So they end up throwing the baby with the water!!
As ever Nabulsi puts things in historical context very well. However, it seems to me the point of the Gaza Manifesto is that it is trying to break with tradition. A tradition, however noble and well-meaning, that has failed Palestinians where it matters, on the ground. The ‘Palestinian body politic’ will easily survive this venting of the frustration felt in Gaza and its virtual online support – with a friendly push that virtual support could be directed towards the increasingly successful boycott & divestment movement, where it will turn into action.
What struck me when I first read it was that it was a ‘western’ piece, composed in English rather than Arabic and later translated _into_ Arabic, which right off raised my eyebrows. Seeing that their logo was also composed in English and that their main outrage was the closeure of an American and EU funded center, my brows climbed higher. And when I realized that they were equating Hamas as an equal oppressor, I really began wondering
I too noticed how much more of a reception this has had among westerners than among Arabs; of course it does, as western ‘pro-Palestinians’ want to see Palestinian youth as no different than Black Blockers in Toronto or Genoa and have quite a bit of liberal orientalism
Hearing purported Palestinians use their own idiom wins them
Ahmed Moor says:
Authors of Gaza youth manifesto speak to Electronic Intifada…
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11734.shtml