The Palestinians want a third intifada, but will the PA allow it?

Opinion polls in Israel reveal that 58 per cent of those polled believe that the annexation plans and the imposition of sovereignty on the land in question will trigger a third violent intifada in the occupied West Bank. This prediction is, I believe, both valid and logical. The expectation is even more realistic if the Palestinian Authority and its security services decide to let the people of Palestine express their views without fear of arrest.

The Palestinians are sick of the stagnation engulfing their lives; sick of living under occupation; and sick of having to live under the yoke of a corrupt authority, which offers nothing to the cause of liberation and the end of Israel’s occupation. Apparently, 98 per cent of Palestinians would support a third intifada. What they don’t want is an authority that suppresses their desire for another uprising.

The people want to end the occupation and end the PA’s manoeuvres and insulting hesitation. They know that there is no remedy for annexation and the imposition of sovereignty other than a strong, comprehensive and even violent national uprising. They want to resist, and the PA must leave resistance options and opportunities open to them without hindrance.

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Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are ready to rise up and pay the inevitable price for doing so until the occupation is ended. Annexation and Israeli sovereignty would then be meaningless. They are waiting for the PA to get its act together and help the intifada that could be developed in the territories until Israel leaves the West Bank, stops weakening the people and stops seizing their land.

If the people do not rise up now when annexation and sovereignty measures are on the horizon, when will they do so? When and how should they express their patriotism and freedom? There is no other option: either they rise up against the occupation or they surrender to the wrongdoers who underestimate the dangers of the annexation project and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty. Their failing leaders should not simply resort to media sophistry to confront the annexation.

The Israeli newspapers warn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a third and strong intifada, and we warn the PA not to stand idly by and contain public anger through one or two protests. We warn the PA of the danger of procrastination, indifference and letting things go according to the enemy’s plan.

READ: UN warns of new Israel-Palestine conflict if annexation plans go ahead

PA Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki has called for yet more “serious” negotiations with Israel in Moscow, despite the fact that the leadership meeting on 19 May agreed to break away from all previous agreements with Israel. How can the minister now call for negotiations? What is the PA’s real position?

Whatever it is, it is not enough. The people want another intifada, which is legally justifiable and the conditions are right, and they want it now.

This article first appeared in the Palestinian Information Centre on 4 June 2020

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.