Young Palestinians Lose Heart as Hopes for Own State Dim

Israeli police took measures to increase security around the Old City of Jerusalem and deploy a special anti-riot police in anticipation of further stabbing attacks. (EPA Photo)

Bethlehem, West Bank, 07 Sya’ban 1437/14 May 2016 (MINA) – Sixty-eight years after the creation of the State of Israel, young Palestinians are losing hope that they will ever live to see the creation of their own independent state.

The growing despair mounted this week as Israelis celebrated their Independence Day on Wednesday and Palestinians prepared for their annual Nakba observance Sunday to mourn what they call “the Catastrophe” — Israel’s establishment on May 14, 1948, and the displacement of Palestinians living there, USA Today was quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The Nakba was a “central event” in Palestinian history, “and the consequences continue to this day,” says Samir Awad, a political scientist at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah.

“The younger generations feel they have no options. They live in territories surrounded by Israeli soldiers and settlements. We have no sovereignty and the rate of unemployment is 25% in the West Bank and 40% in Gaza.”

Frustration over their status helped fuel many of the stabbings and other attacks Palestinian teens and young adults have carried out against Israelis since last September. “The situation is unbearable, and people feel they have the right to rebel,” Awad said.

The attacks have only set back the Palestinian cause for a separate state by raising Israeli fears and making prospects for renewing long-stalled peace talks even more remote.

The attacks have abated in recent weeks as a result of tighter Israeli security and efforts by the Palestinian Authority that governs the West Bank to prevent the attacks, something it failed to do in the fall.

Even so, a majority of Palestinians still favor violence against Israel. In April, 58% supported knife attacks, 56% backed a full-fledged uprising and 65% opposed measures the Palestinian Authority has taken to halt attacks, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.

Palestinians in Limbo

Thabet Abu Rass, co-director of the Abraham Fund, a non-profit group that promotes equality among Israeli Jews and Arabs, said Palestinians are in limbo.

“There is no peace process, no genuine attempt to solve the Palestinian question, and that adds to the frustration,” said Abu Rass, a Palestinian who lives in Israel.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but imposed a blockade in 2007 after Hamas, a militant group that governs the area, repeatedly launched attacks against Israel.

Palestinians largely run their own affairs in the West Bank, but tight Israeli security in the disputed territory coupled with Israeli travel restrictions and a wall Israel built to keep out terrorists severely limit Palestinians’ educational and career options.

And there is further anger over the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Palestinians consider their land. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)