The People Are the Cause of the Division

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

I only understood the cause of the division in the Palestinian street on 15 March 2011, when demonstrators came out denouncing the division and calling for Palestinian national unity. I understood that the Palestinian people are the cause of the tragedy of division, that it is the people who feed internal conflicts and disputes, and who stubbornly and arrogantly reject every call for Palestinian unity, in service of their own selfish interests, which trample on everything sacred, on the blood of the martyrs, the moans of widows, and the tears of orphans.

The Palestinian factions loyal to Palestinian unity came out chanting their beautiful, attractive slogans in the name of Palestinian unity, and their leaders delivered sincere, faithful speeches denouncing the people who refuse unity of ranks and unity of purpose, and who refuse freedom and liberation. These great factions — which had very nearly liberated Palestine and established a state of freedom and justice — appeared frustrated and displeased with the people’s foolish conduct, and insisted on continuing their national struggle until the wayward people are brought back onto the straight path and made to accept the principles of unity and harmony.

These factions must rid themselves of the people so that the road may be cleared before them toward liberation and independence. For this reason, infighting, monopolizing power, and using money to buy loyalties and to tamper with things are not enough; rather, the Palestinian factions must bring in massive bulldozers to sweep this people far away — after which the Israeli army, the settlements, and the walls will collapse of their own accord, and the factions can then build for themselves a new people out of factional genes, the like of which history has rarely seen.

15 March 2011 was a sorrowful day in the history of the Palestinian people, because those who caused the division led the demonstrations against the division, and pushed the people aside to bear the blame themselves. I saw the people cast aside, defeated by security apparatuses and by those who have strayed from the national will, swallowing their grief over what the factions’ misdeeds had brought upon them. Some factions took the lead in demonstrations that pure Palestinian youth had called for, only to inflict further sabotage and destruction on the ranks of the Palestinian people.

For this reason, the people of Palestine, at home and abroad, must rise up against this continual disregard for the people and their causes.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “الشعب سبب الانقسام” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.