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America’s Intifada Must Dig Deeper
Palestinians’ sustained struggle for freedom and independence offers many lessons
The murder of George Floyd and the White House’s mishandling (to put it politely) of the COVID-19 pandemic may be providing the perfect toxic storm to fix America. The road to creating an equitable American society will be long and hard, but the U.S. civil rights movement is not starting from zero. As social movements around the world, the U.S. movement can learn much by studying other struggles for freedom. The Palestinians’ century-long struggle is a treasure chest full of valuable lessons.
As a Palestinian-American from Youngstown, Ohio watching events unfold on the streets of American cities to the chambers of power in Washington D.C., something seems eerily familiar to what I have witnessed in my 25 years of living in Israeli military occupied Palestine. Paralyzed leadership (to put it politely), the militarization of society, the economic hollowing out of communities, the growing class chasm, religious fundamentalism packaged as a plausible national reference, not to mention the need for justice system reform which sparked this latest outcry for justice for all, are all issues we in Palestine have grappled with for decades.
