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Dear World: This Is What Palestinian Unity Looks Like

Even those of us who have long emphasized the importance of the Palestinian people’s voice, experience, and collective action in Palestinian history must have been shocked by the cultural revolution resulting from the Israeli war on Gaza.

By cultural revolution, I mean the defiant and rebellious narrative evolving in Gaza, where people see themselves as active participants in the popular resistance, not just mere victims of the Israeli war machine.

When the ceasefire was announced on the 471st day of the Israeli genocide, Gazans rushed to the streets in celebration. Media outlets reported that they were celebrating the ceasefire, but judging by their chants, songs, and symbolisms, they were celebrating their collective victory, steadfastness (sumud), and resilience against the powerful Israeli army, supported by the US and other Western countries.

Using basic means, they rushed to clean their streets, clearing debris to allow the displaced to search for homes. Though their homes were destroyed – (90% of Gaza’s housing units, according to the United Nations) – they were still happy, even to sit on the wreckage. Some prayed atop concrete slabs, some sang in large, growing crowds, and others cried but insisted no power could ever uproot them from Palestine again.

Social media was flooded with Gazans expressing a mix of emotions, though they were mostly defiant, expressing their resolve not just in political terms but in other ways, including humor.

Of course, the bodybuilders returned to their gyms to find them mostly destroyed. Rather than lament their losses, they salvaged machines and resumed training amid collapsed walls and ceilings punctured by Israeli missiles.

There was also the father and son who composed a song in the ahazej style, a traditional Levantine vocalization. The son, overjoyed to find his father alive, was reassured by his father that they would never abandon their homeland.

As for the children – 14,500 of whom were killed, according to UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) – they resumed their childhood. They claimed destroyed Israeli tanks in Rafah, Beit Hanoun, and elsewhere as their new playgrounds.

One teenager, pretending to be a scrap metal salesman, yelled, “An Israeli Merkava tank for sale,” as his friends filmed and laughed. He finished by saying, “Make sure you send this video to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu,” before moving on, unfazed.

This does not mean Gaza is free of unimaginable pain, which is difficult for the rest of the world to fully comprehend. The emotional and psychological scars of the war will last a lifetime, and many will never recover fully from the trauma. But Gazans know they cannot afford to grieve in the usual way. So, they emphasize their identity, unity, and defiance as ways to overcome grief.

Parallel to its military assault on Gaza since October 7, 2023, Israel has invested heavily in dividing the Palestinian people and shattering their spirit.

In Gaza, it dropped millions of flyers from warplanes on starving refugees, urging them to rebel against Palestinian factions by providing Israel with names of “troublemakers.” The Israeli army offered large rewards for information, but little was achieved.

These flyers also called for tribal leaders to take control of their areas in exchange for food and protection. To punish those who resisted, Israel systematically killed clan representatives and councilors who tried to distribute aid throughout Gaza, especially in the north where famine was devastating.

Against overwhelming odds, Palestinians remained united. When the ceasefire was declared, they celebrated as one nation. With Gaza destroyed, Israel’s actions obliterated Gaza’s class, regional, ideological, and political divisions. Everyone in Gaza became a refugee; the rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, city dwellers and refugee camp residents were all equally affected.

The unity that remains in Gaza, after one of the most horrific genocides in modern history, should serve as a wake-up call. The narrative that Palestinians are divided and need to “find common ground” has proven false.

With the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank aiding Israel’s war on Jenin and other refugee camps, the old notion of political unity through a merger of the PA and various Palestinian factions is no longer viable. The reality is that the fragmentation of the Palestinian political landscape cannot be solved through mere political agreements or negotiations between factions.

However, a different kind of unity has already taken root in Gaza and, by extension, across Palestinian communities in occupied Palestine and the rest of the world. This unity is visible in the millions of Palestinians who have demonstrated against the war, chanted for Gaza, cried for Gaza, and developed a new political discourse around it.

This unity does not rely on talking heads on Arabic satellite channels or secret meetings in expensive hotels. It needs no diplomatic talks. Years of endless discussions, “unity documents,” and fiery speeches only led to disappointment.

The true unity has already been achieved, felt in the voices of ordinary Gazans who no longer identify as members of factions. They are Gazzawiyya. Palestinians from Gaza, and nothing else.

This is the true unity that must now form the foundation of a new discourse.

(Courtesy: Palestine Chronicle.)

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Gaza’s Unbreakable Resistance: A Historical Perspective on the War and Its Aftermath

The problem with political analysis is that it often lacks historical perspective and is mostly limited to recent events.

The current analysis of the Israeli war on Gaza falls victim to this narrow thinking. The ceasefire agreement, signed between Palestinian groups and Israel under Egyptian, Qatari, and US mediation in Doha on January 15, is one example.

Some analysts, including many from the region, insist on framing the outcome of the war as a direct result of Israel’s political dynamics. They argue that Israel’s political crisis is the main reason the country failed to achieve its declared and undeclared war objectives—namely, gaining total “security control” over Gaza and ethnically cleansing its population.

However, this analysis assumes that the decision to go to war or not is entirely in Israel’s hands. It continues to elevate Israel’s role as the only entity capable of shaping political outcomes in the region, even when those outcomes do not favor Israel.

Another group of analysts focuses entirely on the American factor, claiming that the decision to end the war ultimately rested with the White House. Shortly after the ceasefire was officially declared in Gaza, a pan-Arab TV channel asked a group of experts whether it was the Biden or Trump administration that deserved credit for supposedly “pressuring Israel” to agree to a ceasefire.

Some argue that it was Trump’s envoy to Israel, Steve Witkoff, who denied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any room to maneuver, thus forcing him, albeit reluctantly, to accept the ceasefire terms.

Others counter by saying that the agreement was initially presented by the Biden administration. They argue that Biden’s supposedly active diplomacy ultimately led to the ceasefire.

The latter group fails to acknowledge that it was Biden’s unconditional support for Israel that sustained the war. His UN envoy’s constant rejection of ceasefire calls at the Security Council made international efforts to stop the war irrelevant.

The former group, however, ignores the fact that Israeli society was already at a breaking point. The war on Gaza had proven unwinnable. This means that, whether Trump pressured Netanyahu or not, the outcome of the war was already sealed. Continuing the war would have meant the implosion of Israeli society.

On the Palestinian side, some analyses—affiliated with one faction or another—exploit the war’s outcome for political gain. This type of thinking is extremely insensitive and must be wholly rejected.

There are also those hoping to play a role in Gaza’s reconstruction to gain political and financial leverage and increase their influence. This is a shameful stance, given the total destruction of Gaza and the urgent need to recover the thousands of bodies trapped under rubble, as well as to heal the wounded and the population as a whole.

One thing all these analyses overlook is that Israel failed in Gaza because the population of Gaza proved unbreakable. Such notions are often neglected in mainstream political discussions, which tend to commit to an elitist line. This line is entirely removed from the daily struggles and collective choices of ordinary people, even when they achieve extraordinary feats.

Gaza’s history is one of both pain and pride. It stretches back to ancient civilizations and includes great resistance against invasion, such as the three-month siege by Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army in 332 BCE.

Back then, Gazans resisted and endured for months before their leader, Batis, was captured, tortured to death, and the city was sacked.

This legendary resilience and sumoud (steadfastness) proved crucial in numerous other fights against foreign invaders, including resistance to Napoleon Bonaparte’s army in 1799.

Even if some of Gaza’s current population is unaware of that history, they are a direct product of it. From this perspective, neither Israeli political dynamics, the change of the US administration, nor any other factor is relevant.

This is known as “long history” or longue durée. Far from being merely an academic concept, the long legacy of resistance against injustice has shaped the collective mindset of the Palestinian population in Gaza over the years. How else can we explain how a small, isolated, and impoverished population, living in such a tiny piece of land, managed to withstand firepower equivalent to many nuclear bombs?

The war ended because Gaza withstood it—not because of the kindness of an American president. It is crucial that we emphasize this point repeatedly, rather than seeking inconclusive and irrational answers.

It matters little how we define victory and defeat for a nation still suffering the consequences of a war of annihilation. However, it is important to recognize that Palestinians in Gaza stood their ground, despite immense losses, and prevailed. This can only be credited to them—a nation that has historically proven unbreakable. This truth, rooted in “long history,” remains valid today.

(Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). Courtesy: Palestine Chronicle. The Palestine Chronicle website strives to highlight issues of relevance to human rights, national struggles, freedom and democracy.)