The night of Wednesday, 21 November, will go down in Palestinian history as a turning point. On that night, the balance of power between the Palestinian people and Israel shifted. For eight days, Gaza was being bombed from warships off the coast, with F16s, drones, tanks and artillery. Then, exactly at 8:57pm, the shelling came to an end. At 08:59pm, the Palestinians fired four rockets to be exact, just to make a point, just to have the last word so to speak. By 9pm, you could hear the silence. Ten minutes later, people started walking out of their doors. Twenty minutes later, the streets were abuzz with people embracing and hugging. And cars arrived from other areas, with more people wanting to share in the joy. Some congratulated each other on their victory. Others said a prayer for the souls of the martyrs. Then everyone began chanting, a single song that resonated everywhere: “God is Great. Unity. Unity. The people want to end the division.” The Gaza people showered us with love and kindness, proud that they had the support of the West Bank and Jerusalem and of Palestinians everywhere. Everywhere I went, I heard people saying: “We want our unity back.” Gaza celebrated. All of us celebrated till dawn. We celebrated the triumph of Gaza, of Palestine, and of national unity. As of the morning of Thursday, 22 November, Palestine and the region ventured into a new era, one that comes with a sense of power and opportunity that we must preserve. Here are some points to ponder: First, Israel pledged to stop the rockets, and the rockets didn't stop. The Israelis wanted to break the resolve of the resistance, and the resolve only increased. The Israelis wanted to single out Gaza and its inhabitants for punishment, but the Palestinians and Arabs everywhere stood by their side. Free people across the world demonstrated in support of Gaza. The brutality of the Israeli aggression was clear to all. Israel killed 146 Palestinians, including 35 children, and wounded 1,200 others, half of them women and children. The death toll goes to show, yet again, Israel's voracious appetite for crimes of war. Second, Israel was taken aback by the ability of the Palestinians to resist, by the courage of Gaza's defenders and the skills they had learned from past wars. But the big surprise was, as Israeli analysts admitted, the reaction of the West Bank, including Jerusalem. For five years, the Israelis tried to dismantle the spirit of fighting, the Palestinian spirit of national struggle and solidarity. It tried to distract people from national struggle and make them focus instead on individual interests in the West Bank. The Israelis thought for a while that they succeeded. But the West Bank wasn't fooled. Its people and a new generation of youngsters took to the streets in Nablus, Hebron, Jerusalem, Jenin, Bethlehem, and dozens of other places. The West Bank boiled with anger. National unity was restored, and everyone took part. At one point, it became clear that Israel's military operations would end up hurting the Israelis themselves. The campaign of punitive detentions that Israel is now conducting in the West Bank will not reverse this newfound sense of solidarity. Third, a chink in Israel's armour was exposed. Israel is averse to economic losses and has little tolerance for human losses. Its arrogance was always based on the assumption that it can profit from its occupation and its segregation policies. But the pendulum has just swung the other way. Fourth, Israel felt recently the impact of the Arab Spring. Gaza that stood alone in the past war, which was besieged even by Arabs, was not alone this time. After the Arab Spring, governments could no longer ignore the sentiments of their people. And it is clear that the Arab people hadn't forgotten Palestine. In an unprecedented gesture, the Egyptian prime minister and 14 Arab foreign ministers, led by the Arab League secretary general, came to Gaza to show their support. They came to Gaza while it was under siege, while it was bombarded. As for the non-official delegations, no one could stop them this time. In the previous war, it was hard to evacuate the wounded, but now Egypt came through. The Palestinians once again feel that they have the backing of Arab nations. They feel that Egypt is once again pulling its weight. Fifth, the Israeli government had no option but to stop the onslaught. Either that, or launch a ground assault, something which it had no heart to do. When the threshold of pain rose, it was Israel that screamed first. Not that Binyamin Netanyahu lacked the determination to push through with a difficult situation, not that he was averse to taking risks, but even for him the stakes got too high. Had he pressed on with a ground assault, Israel would have risked another Intifada in the West Bank. It would have risked a confrontation with neighbouring countries. And it would have lost much of the international sympathy it has left. This attack on Gaza was, at least partly, designed to boost the election campaigns of Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. As it turned out, the Palestinian steadfastness shattered their dreams. Some 70 per cent of Israelis were opposed to a ground assault, for fear of more losses. Sixth, the Gaza war has created a new spirit on the Palestinian front, proving that there is no contradiction among the various forms of resistance. All types of resistance, as the history of South Africa shows, are complementary. If the Palestinians are willing to engage in popular resistance, it is their right to defend themselves in every possible way when attacked. The end of military operations, let's not forget, doesn't mean the end of popular resistance. We need to keep up resistance, in its various forms, until we regain our freedom and independence. Seventh, power has shifted in this conflict. It has shifted in favour of the Palestinians. The urgent task now is to achieve national unity and end all divisions. We need to form a united national command, one that is capable of leading the Palestinian people and their liberation movement. Our only option is to keep changing the balance of power through popular resistance and through national unity. We need to rally support to the Palestinian cause and we must keep campaigning for boycott and sanctions to be imposed on Israel. Our people want their leaders to unite. They want their leaders to set aside factional differences and petty gains. We need a programme for national struggle, for negotiations have led us nowhere. We need to continue to change the balance of power in our favour. And we must not give Israel or anyone else the opportunity to undermine our achievements. This is a historical moment. We have seen how great our people are and how wonderful their spirit of sacrifice can be. And we are sure of our need for unity. The Palestinian cause is once more the region's top issue, and no one can shove it aside anymore. Even the US, which had turned its back on our cause, was forced to send its secretary of state to negotiate with Egypt and talk to the Palestinian resistance. Gaza has triumphed; Palestine has triumphed; and unity has triumphed. And the road ahead is clear. Greater victories are ahead. Freedom is no longer a far-fetched dream. The writer is a member of the Palestinian parliament and secretary-general of the Palestine National Initiative.
