Dec 23 2012
The competing narratives for the liberation of Palestine
By Daoud Kuttab
Two narratives are competing for the hearts and minds of Palestinians, regarding the best way to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine: one military, the other nonviolent.
Two narratives are competing for the hearts and minds of Palestinians, regarding the best way to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine: one military, the other nonviolent.Each has strong arguments, but neither has produced any result yet. Both narratives were being displayed in parallel fashion this month. The PLO will seek statehood through the UN, while Hamas sought to convince the Israelis to quit their occupation through the use of rockets. Continue Reading »
The above statements or similar versions often appear in constitutions and are paraded as proof that a particular country safeguards its citizens’ universal human and civil rights. However, upon closer scrutiny, one discovers that any constitutional clause that ends with the term “in accordance to the law†is actually void of the kind of guarantees one expects from a constitution. Because once a guarantee is conditioned by law, a particular legislative body is actually allowed to work out the details of the law rather than allow the right to stand on its own.