If history has taught the people of Gaza anything, it's that they never have much of a say in their destiny
By Laila El-Haddad
The Guardian
"Even in the worst of times, there's one thing we're never short of in our troubled part of the world: another conference, meeting, declaration, summit, agreement. Something to save the day, to "steer" us back to whatever predetermined path it is we are or were meant to be on. And to help us navigate that path.....
The conference simply generates new and ever-more superfluous and intricate promises which Israeli leaders can commit to and yet somehow evade. An exercise in legal obfuscation at its best: we won't build new settlements, we'll just expropriate more land and expand to account for their "natural growth", until they resemble towns, not colonies, and have them legitimised by a US administration looking for some way to save face. And then we'll promise to raze outposts.....
So then what are people's expectations in Gaza from all of this?
In short, not much. But then, if history has taught them anything, it's that they never have much of a say in anything that involves their destiny, be it Madrid or Oslo or the Road Map. And the moment they do attempt to take control, the repercussions are to "teach" them never to attempt to do so again......
We are prisoners, others have told me, constantly waiting and helplessly hoping for decisions to be made that determine whether they live or die - both figuratively and literally.
Except prisoners are guaranteed certain things, like food and water and access to medical care. Gazans are guaranteed none of these things. Instead, they are setting the bar as the first occupied people in history to be embargoed and declared hostile.....
We have become a people, to quote Darwish, constantly preparing for dawn, in the darkness of cellars lit by our enemies."
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