The Palestinian people have once again demonstrated drive to peace, given the latest fact on the ground ‘the Israeli unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip’, by saying ‘No need for Weapons.’
In a recent public opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian University of Alnajjah in Nablus in September, in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the ‘free Gazans’ and even the Palestinians of the ‘occupied West Bank’, have expressed their dissatisfaction over the spread of weapons across the occupied Palestinian territories.
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54.1 percent of 1,360 Palestinian men, women and children, believed that there is no need for weapons in the aftermath of the Israeli unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip’s settlements, thus advancing a wide pace towards reconciliation with Israelis manipulating a real confidence building measure after almost four decades of suffering under occupation, at least for the Gazans for the time being.
Supporting the idea of no weapons other than those of the Palestinian National Authority, can be considered a drastic development in the resistance-oriented mentality, for the Israeli occupation still exists in the West Bank, with further settlement activities and more construction of an Apartheid Wall that hamper not only coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians but also existence of Palestinians themselves.
By choosing ‘No Need for Weapons’, the Palestinians appear to be much more eager to live in a civil society as same as many nations around the globe, especially following a strangulating occupation and exploitation of their lands for the past four decades, that blocked good governance, good education, good health as well as good institutions building.
However, such a chance for real peaceful living is still controlled by the fact that the Israeli occupation still exists even in the ‘freed Gaza Strip’, mainly on borders and crossing points. Not only this, but also the Israeli plan to build a buffer zone in northern Gaza Strip, which might stir the same cycle of violence in light of some Palestinian resistance factions’ intention to continue their path if Israel actually constructs such a zone.
Therefore, the Palestinian dream to live in a civil non-violent society, might end with a nightmare, making Palestinian life as complicated as ever and returning the clock hand back to September 11, 2005, just few hours before the last Israeli soldier had left the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian tendency, according to the poll, to live in a weapon-free civil society or, in other words, ‘No Need for Weapons’ should be met by the Israelis with ‘No Need for Occupation’.
