The July 2, 2019 editorial of the Palestinian daily Al-Quds, based in East Jerusalem, titled "Our People Are on the Brink of a New Intifada," compared the current situation of the Palestinians with their situation before the first intifada in 1987 and the second intifada in 2000, stating that conditions are now ripe for the outbreak of a new uprising. The editorial explained that the main reasons for this are Israel's policy, which is "burying" the chance for peace and the two-state solution; the backing Israel receives from the Trump administration, which encourages its increasingly extremist positions towards the Palestinians, and Israel's efforts to normalize its relations with Arab countries despite the absence of a solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. A new intifada, concluded the editorial, is the way to thwart all the conspiracies against the Palestinians, including the Trump administration's Deal of the Century, and to restore their cause to its former status.[1]
It should be noted that the July 3 editorial of the Palestinian Authority (PA) daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida stated that the Palestinian answer to the Deal of the Century would be popular resistance, to convey the message that the Palestinian will not give up their rights.[2]
The following are excerpts from the editorial.[3]
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"The Israeli occupation state believes that its policy against our people – manifested in daily violations in the form of raids, attacks, collective punishment, demolition of homes, seizure of land, assaults on the holy sites in Jerusalem and other acts that contravene the international laws and norms as well as the rights of human beings under occupation – will distract our people from its national struggle to restore its immutable rights, first and foremost among them the right of return, [the right] of self-determination and [the right] to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. [But] in contrast to what is believed by the occupation state, its apparatuses and its settlers, this policy only strengthens our people's resolve to continue on the path of national liberation and cleave to [its] national principles and to the achievements it has made over its years of struggle, that have been replete with great sacrifices by the martyred, injured and imprisoned.
"It is a scientific principle that increased pressure results in an explosion. For this reason, this ongoing hostile policy of oppression will lead only to a deepening of the hostility between the two sides and will create conditions for an explosion that can come at any moment. The occupation state and others will not be able to control when [this explosion] begins and how it unfolds. The Palestinian people alone will decide when it begins and ends, and it will end only when [the Palestinians'] national goals are attained, just as [we saw in] the Intifada of the Stones in 1987 and the Al-Aqsa Intifada of 2000, which broke out following the occupation's attacks and violations against our people and the PA, and against the PLO, our sole legitimate representative.
"The objective conditions for the outbreak of a new intifada in the occupied territories are ripe, as many Israeli officials have assessed themselves. [These conditions] are manifested in the occupation's attacks and violations against our people, [including] collective punishments, especially in the village of Al-'Isawiyya in Jerusalem and other villages; the opening of the [Pilgrims' Road] tunnel in Jerusalem on Sunday [June 30, 2019], which threatens the foundations of the Al-Aqsa mosque and of residents' homes, which have [already] cracked and may collapse at any moment; as well as violations at the checkpoints, arrests, and attacks on prisoners and on many representatives of our people.
"The policy of the U.S. administration under Trump – who is more Zionist than the Zionists – is another major factor [that increases] the likelihood of a new intifada breaking out in all the occupied Palestinian territories. This is especially true since, alongside these despicable violations,... the occupation state opposes peace and acts to bury the two-state solution, if it hasn't already buried it, a solution that most of the countries of the world have supported in the past and continue to support [today].
"The occupation state's policy relies on the open backing of the U.S., which has encountered no response from most of the Arab states, except for useless denouncements and condemnations. In fact, the occupation state is acting to normalize its relations with an Arab state, with American backing, even though no solution has been found to the Palestinian problem, and we have already seen examples of such normalization with Arab countries under the guide of the struggle against Iran.[4]
"Our people are on the verge of a new intifada that will return the [Palestinian] cause to its [former] status and thwart all the conspiracies, especially the Deal of the Century, which [Jared] Kushner has called 'the opportunity of the century.'"
[1] It should be noted that the Jordanian press has recently published articles calling on the Palestinians to launch a new intifada to thwart the Deal of the Century. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 8079, Articles In Jordanian Press Call For New Intifada In West Bank, To Thwart The 'Deal Of The Century', May 22, 2019.
[2] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), July 3, 2019.
[3] Al-Quds (Jerusalem), July 2, 2019.
[4] The reference is apparently to the February 2019 Warsaw summit, which was attended by Arab and European representatives, as well as by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
