Summary
Palestinian in Haifa interviewed in Chapter 16 of From the River to the Sea, “Lessons from ‘48” (4 December 2023), on the silence and fear across ‘48 Palestine since 7 October 2023, the repression that followed the Unity Intifada, and the need for a liberatory infrastructure (From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine, lines 1119-1178).
Details
- Since 7 October there have been “unprecedented levels of silence and fear in Haifa and across ‘48”, different from previous wars, while Gaza’s resilience is radicalizing the world: “Within this whole unprecedented scene, ‘48 is not there.” (lines 1129-1131)
- The Unity Intifada of May 2021 was led by a different social class claiming agency, with anonymous manifestos, mutual aid to besieged Lyd and a general strike on 18 May demanded from below; Israel arrested more than 2,000 people and indicted 545, and the most marginalized paid the highest price (lines 1131-1137).
- Since Oslo, ‘48 political leadership has been stuck within a citizenship framework; under Ayman Odeh the Joint List’s “impact policies” pursued integration into Israeli ministries and individual economic advancement, while poverty among ‘48 families rose from 38 percent in 1997 to 45 percent in 2018 (lines 1147-1155).
- The task she sets is building a liberation infrastructure of community-led mutual aid — food sovereignty, union organizing, protecting detainees, community safety — rather than NGOs, in ‘48 and the West Bank: “Gaza doesn’t need our lessons. Gaza consistently teaches us a lesson.” (lines 1167-1171)
Related pages
From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine, Unity Intifada, Haifa, Ayman Odeh, Oslo Accords