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Editor Palestine Monitor
Middle East Turmoil Seen Inspiring Palestinians RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 1 (Reuters) - A wave of popular unrest in the Arab world will soon inspire Palestinians to wage non-violent protests of their own against Israel’s 43-year-old occupation, a prominent Palestinian has said. Mustafa Barghouthi, who came second in a 2005 presidential election behind Mahmmoud Abbas, said the failure of peace negotiations over the past two decades would spur Palestinians to launch mass rallies against Israeli rule. Barghouthi said the turmoil in the Middle East showed how fast events were evolving, producing much quicker results than non-violent movements in India against British rule in the 20th century and that of Martin Luther King in the United States. "None of these leaders could move half the population over the period of two weeks to bring down a whole regime," he told Reuters in an interview, adding that if Israel used heavy force to quell any protests it would be exposed to damaging international criticism. He said the first Palestinian popular uprising, or Intifada, in the late 1980s garnered heaps of criticism against Israel at a time when there was relatively little media coverage. "Imagine the same Intifada now happening again, popular and non-violent. Every mobile phone is a camera. I think that is the power that will come soon. It’s coming. It’s a must and I think that’s what will liberate Palestine," he added. "What’s happening in Tunisia, in Libya and in Egypt is empowering Palestinian youth and the Palestinian people". Talks Not Leading Anywhere Young people were the driving force that helped topple the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, and they are also at the forefront of other protests still battering the Arab world. "Once the young people in Palestine absorb completely this development, you will see much larger involvement in the non-violence resistance soon," Barghouthi predicted. There has so far been little sign of such a movement taking shape either in the West Bank or Gaza enclave. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, and the Islamist group Hamas, which runs Gaza, have both prevented rallies in support of revolutions elsewhere out of apparent concern that the crowds might turn on them. But Barghouthi, an independent lawmaker who heads a medical relief organisation, said non-violent demonstrations were essential as "an alternative strategy" if the Palestinians wanted to break free of the Israeli yoke. U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations broke down last year after the Palestinians refused to carry on talking unless Israel halted settlement building on lands Palestinians want for a state — a demand rejected by Israel. Even if Israel agreed to a freeze, talks were useless, said Barghouti, who took part in the 1991 Madrid peace conference. "If they resume, we will get stuck again. I think it’s time for non-violent resistance, not for negotiations."
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