Watched this long interview with head of the Palestine National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti
Set up as alternative to Hamas and Fatah. Its secular group.
He calls for a
One State Solution
Interesting as his life has covered lot of history of Palestine / Israel. Grew up on West Bank and was 13 when Israel occupied West Bank. His whole life changed with living under Israeli military rule. Got a scholarship to study medicine in USSR. Spent seven years in USSR. Which he liked. USSR took in a lot of students from other countries. He had to stay as if he went back to visit the petty nature of Israel military rule would have likely meant being stopped to return to USSR to finish studies.
On return he found that Israel had been not funding health services. As occupying power it was responsible. The gap between funding Israelis health and those of the West Bank was very big.
He decided to set up small teams of people to be trained to go out and treat people in West Bank. When the first Intifada started his medical teams worked to support those injured by IDF
His view of the first Intifada was positive. It was genuinely grass roots community organised revolt against occupation. And made occupation so difficult for Israel it was forced to have peace talks.
The main Palestinian leadership had been in exile during Intifada and a new generation of leaders came up.
He took part in talks as a representative of the grass roots. A sticking point was agreement to end settlement building.
What he and other grass roots people realised was that the Israelis had opened back channel talks with the exiled leadership to overcome this,
He opposed the agreement reached and told Arafat so. Said it was a trap.
He and others like Edward Said were correct on this.
PNI was set up as secular alternative to Hamas and alternative to the now corrupt Fatah.
He tries to get a united leadership of all the factions. Looks like he is seen as an honest broker by both sides.
On present day he says its up to Palestinians who they want to represent them. That would include Hamas.
PNI does not have an armed wing and works non violently. He does not oppose resistance to Israel.
On Gaza. This is worse than Nakba. Israel wants to clear Gaza of Palestinians.
So he is anti Zionist but not against existing Jewish Israeli population living in a future Palestine.
He came across as thinking the Two State solution died. The Oslo talks ended up as a trap for Palestinian movement.
