Cultural transformations of the Palestinian issue... What change is it?

There is no shame in the multiplicity of Palestinian cultural visions, which are reflected in political performance, but the danger is that it will slide into conflict instead of benefiting from the distribution of roles in favor of the cause (Al Jazeera)

People quickly sense any political or military transformation, in times of war and conflict. Things may turn around overnight, with a regime changing from a monarchy to a republic, or an army being defeated on a battlefield, or the balance tipping in favor of one of the parties involved in a civil war.

But social and cultural transformations take a long time, and they cannot be monitored from one day to the next. They are hidden deep down, and are linked to values, visions, and perceptions. Although their change is felt slowly, they are the thing that remains stable and influential for a long time.

Central point

Over the course of a century, the Palestinian issue witnessed cultural transformations, which were the turning points in it, which ultimately determined the Palestinians’ perception of their cause, as well as the perception of the Arab society surrounding them, which interacted to varying degrees with the Palestinians’ longings for freedom, justice, and independence, and their quest to regain their stolen land.

But this cultural change, which took a long time to appear on the surface, did not, throughout its operation, end the stable and persistent perceptions in the minds and consciences of Arabs, by making this issue among Arab public sectors a central point, to which they were drawn with their awareness and feelings, especially since this issue was not known in any other country. A stage of coldness, stagnation, and stagnation that makes it possible for those preoccupied with politics, or those connected to genuine national interests, to turn away from it and put it aside.

Despite the succession of Arab generations over time, the issue of the Palestinian people has remained strongly presented, imposing itself, sometimes out of the “common sense” of those with a single or homogeneous identity, at least, and sometimes out of the direct impact of this issue on the national interests of each individual country.

Either due to the extension of the Israeli aggression to these countries, especially what are known as the ring states, or the realization of successive ruling regimes that a significant part of public opinion in every Arab country determines its relationship with the political authority based on its position on the Palestinians, even if they sometimes differ in their approach to their issue, between... Armed or civilian resistance, or entering into negotiations; Hoping that the proposed peace initiatives and agreements will bring them their lost rights, or even those who ask for a state of calm, that will make their interests with the Israelis or their benefits from them current.

This Palestinian difference in itself is distributed across cultural backgrounds, which cannot be denied, specifically between a leftist ideology that accompanied the Palestinian struggle for decades, and then an Islamic ideology that has been on the rise since the 1980s, continuing what it began, in another form, at the hands of Sheikh Amin al-Husseini in the 1930s. The century itself.

Multiple visions

There is no shame in the diversity of Palestinian cultural visions, which are inevitably reflected in political perception and performance in varying proportions, but the defect is grave and extremely harmful, when matters do not stop at the point of diversity or natural difference, but slide into a complete division or rift, which makes Palestinian cultural identities are in a state of intense conflict, instead of benefiting from the distribution of roles and reaping the positive results that result from creative cultural and social diversity.

Arab cultural backgrounds are drawn towards this “central issue”, according to the continuous awareness of a wide sector of intellectuals and public opinion, and each party sees it from its cultural position or intellectual background. The leftist sees it as a face of struggle against the brutal capitalist forces that seek domination and possession, and arrogance without any calculation or consideration. He is pious and undeterred, relying in his opinion on the thick umbilical cord between the United States of America, the leader of the capitalist world, and Israel, which is seen as just one of the West’s tools in the Middle East.

Of course, Islam links it to religious texts, interpretations, interpretations and narratives, contained in the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet’s hadith, about the position of the ancient Jews towards the prophets Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, peace be upon them, and the texts mentioned in the Torah and Talmud that justify war, plunder, and seizing the land of others. At the heart of this lies the issue of “Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “Jerusalem” around it, which is the center of the entire Palestine issue, especially among Islamic political groups and organizations.

Even some Arab liberals cannot separate the Palestinian issue from the issues of freedom, the struggle for independence, self-determination, and human rights, so we find them approaching it from these angles, and some of them are very sincere in their approach.

Attractions and interactions

For this reason, we find agreement among people of Arab cultural backgrounds, who deal with politics, broadly or narrowly, with the Palestinian issue in its critical times, that is, when there is aggression against the Palestinian people, especially if it is excessive aggression, amounting to “war crimes” or "Genocide" as is happening in the Gaza Strip now.

Those belonging to these diverse Arab cultures do not stand behind high walls separating them from their counterparts in the Palestinian arena. Rather, there are many points of contact, rather, interaction that takes place between the two parties, give and take, and creates a kind of feedback or feedback, which makes the Palestinian issue a subject of discussion. Unfailing cultural.

These two cultural circles are surrounded by a broader circle that extends to the entire world. In addition to the followers of Islamic political culture in the Muslim world extending from Ghana to Fergana, there are of course leftists and liberals everywhere, and they approach the Palestinian issue from almost the same perspective from which those like them in the world see it. The Arab group, even if the other group is higher than them in rank due to national affiliation, geographical proximity, and sometimes a sense of direct influence, much of which stems from “Israeli harm.”

The terrible "communications revolution" that the world has witnessed in the last three decades, and whose presence and influence has multiplied over the years, has brought these circles closer and created forms of tensions and interactions between them, which we have seen throughout the months in which the current Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip continued, and which went beyond the limits of the phenomenon. To be a major global cultural shift in approaching the Palestinian issue.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.