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The Case for Palestinian Pragmatism

(The Atlantic) Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib - Not long ago, I spoke at a university in New Jersey and described the horrors afflicting Gaza. I also said that Hamas's kidnapping of Israeli women, elderly people, and children as hostages, and the killing of innocent civilians, were atrocities that could easily be condemned without minimizing Palestinian rights or grievances. Agitators affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine stood outside the lecture hall shouting that I was a "traitor." How did student activists in New Jersey who claim to represent Palestinians and to care about Gazans make me, a Gazan American who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for humanitarian projects in Gaza, their enemy? The so-called pro-Palestine movement has no space for a Palestinian who opposes Hamas's terrorism and promotes a future of coexistence with Israelis. We Palestinians have grown far more comfortable analyzing the role of Israeli decision-making than in reflecting on our own mistakes. The Palestinian political leadership has manifestly failed to inspire meaningful action that could achieve progress. Wishing for the disappearance of 8 million Israeli Jews is not a policy. Hamas and its embrace of "armed resistance" have hijacked the Palestinian discourse. What Palestinian politics need, and grievously lack, is pragmatism. Palestinians have few resources, no military advantage, no political leverage, and virtually no economic viability on our own. The time for maximalist demands and rhetoric is over. To be pragmatic means abandoning unrealistic demands, such as the right of return to land that has been part of Israel since 1948. It means accepting Israel's existence, and understanding Israeli security as complementary to the Palestinian pursuit of freedom, dignity, and independence. Israel is here to stay; it will not be annihilated and can even be a helpful partner in the future. Many things will become possible once we recognize the necessity of political and security cooperation with Israel. I have spoken with thousands of Palestinians over the years who believe, as I do, in the viability of a pragmatic path to peace. The writer, a Gaza native, is a resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council.
2025-03-18 00:00:00
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