Palestine

Besides political and ideological conflicts, the savagery of war and mass killing inspires several existential reflections.

The physical exclusion of Bishara from Palestine did not diminish his intellectual and political impact on the arena that he was forced to leave on the 23rd of March 2007.

Bishara's ideas are alive and well in the minds and consciousness of people, and they still have a great impact on their political activity. It may be true that Bishara has been exiled, but no one can exile his ideas.

Only the Occupation cannot tell the difference between occupation and resistance. I am astonished by Arabs who support Israel against Hamas. I am astonished by those who think the number of terrorists is too small, and so decide to add Hamas to them.

The struggle in Palestine, call it an intifada, an uprising or anything else appropriate, hurts Israel and her plans in many ways, and it should be expected to continue, given the continuation of settlement and appropriation of Jerusalem.

Dr. Azmi Bishara

A long time has passed since Palestine was occupied. But one of the leading causes of the failure to resolve this just cause, even as other peoples managed to free themselves of colonialism, is the overlap with what I termed in my 2007 book "the Arab Question" and "the Jewish Question" in our region and in the West respectively.

Lately, Israeli officials have been reiterating the demand that the Palestinian National Authority recognise Israel as a Jewish state or as a state for the Jewish people. This is a significant notch up from the Israeli demand in the pre-Oslo period that the PLO "recognise Israel and renounce terrorism" as a precondition for talks. 

The intimate relationship between religion and the state in Israel, as compared to other modern societies, stems from the total mutual identification between the religious and national affiliations in Zionist thought.

Dr. Azmi Bishara