STF NA MÍDIA

ent olive tree, known as al-
Badawi. Thought to have
stood for up to 5,000 years,
the tree s knotted trunks and
branches would serve well as
an emblem of the incipient
state of Palestine, whose demand
for recognition at the
United Nations next week is
causing seismic waves in
diplomatic and political circles.
But for Walaja s 2,300-
strong population, the perspective
is different. Deeply
disillusioned after 20 years of
negotiations that have failed
to produce independence,
and through which Israel has
relentlessly built and expanded
settlements in the West
Bank and East Jerusalem,
many Palestinians have little
faith in their political leaders
to effect meaningful change.
"We are suffering from a
leadership crisis," says Ahmad
Barghouth, 64, a neighbour
of Atrash in Walaja.
"Our leaders are either fools
or traitors. Throughout history
I don t think independence
has been granted to a
state with no land."
Barghouth, whose terraces of
fig, plum, walnut and olive
trees are also being churned
up to make way for the barrier
a few metres from his house,
is scathing about the suggestion
that a positive UN
vote may open up recourse
for the Palestinians to international
legal bodies.
The international Court of
Justice ruled in 2004 that the
construction of the West
Bank barrier was illegal and
should be halted. "Did anyone
implement it? You see the
wall before your eyes," says
Barghouth. The UN passed
resolutions calling on Israel
to end its occupation. "Have
these been implemented?"
asks Barghouth. "We want
action on the ground, not
votes at the UN. We want an
end to it."
Despite such scepticism, and
fears that the move towards a
Palestinian state could effectively
relinquish the right of
refugees to return to their
original homes, Palestinian
leaders insist their strategy is
correct in the context of two
decades of failed negotiations.
They say a positive vote on
the issue of statehood will
strengthen the Palestinians
hand in negotiations. Such an
act of political symbolism,
while not immediately altering
conditions on the
ground, could change the
paradigm of relations between
Israel and Palestine, they
argue.
According to the national
campaign, Palestine: State
194, the bid for membership
of the UN is a step towards
freedom and ending the occupation.
"For almost seven
decades now, the Palestinian
people have been denied
their natural and historical
right to establish an independent
state. The establishment
of a sovereign and viable
[state] is a debt owed by the
international community to
the Palestinian people that is
long overdue," it says. "Now
it is Palestine s time."
Veteran Palestinian politician
Hanan Ashwari told western
diplomats this week: "September
is a historic test for
the international community.
We have reached a turning
point, both in terms of possibilities
for peace on the
ground and in the light of
democratic changes transforming
the region as a whole."
Sheerin al-Araj, a member of
Walaja s village council,
concedes that the approach to
the UN may be a useful tool
to bring pressure to bear on
Israel. "But it s not the end of
the road," she says. "It has to
serve a bigger goal … I don t
trust [the Palestinian leadership]
to have a back-up
plan."
One option she favours
would be for the Palestinian
Authority, created under the
1993 Oslo accords, to "hand
back the keys". She says:
"We should say to them if
you don t want us to have a
state, take responsibility for
your occupation."
Negotiations, she says, are
pointless. "You can t negotiate
with someone who s holding
you by the throat."
Barghouth is also mistruST-
Ful of a leadership which, he
says, is doing Israel s dirty
work. "The Palestinian security
forces prevent any resistance
while the settlers are
carrying out atrocities against
us, taking our trees, burning
our mosques, humiliating our
people. If we defend ourselves,
Abu Mazen [Palestinian
S T F N A M Í D I A • 2 2 d e s e t e m b r o d e 2 0 1 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P Á G I N A 4 6