we lost palestine in 1948, and dreamed of restoring it until may 1967. in june 1967, we woke up to discover the sinai, the west bank and the golan heights were also lost, so we forgot about palestine and dreamt of restoring sinai, the west bank and the golan. this continued until december 2017. however the us president donald trump recognized jerusalem as the capital of israel and here we are, all our dreams of persuading him to back down from his decision are modest appeals. in short, there is no hope for the palestinians to restore or establish a state for them in the present circumstances, nor do the jews have the ability to either eliminate their dream of the return of the palestinians, or silence them or eliminate them altogether. i am not concerned here in talking about the jewish point of view and how to convince them to coexist with the palestinians in the twostate formula, because they are the stronger party today, the ones who write history, therefore i am concerned in talking with, and about, the weak party, and the closest to me, the palestinians. here i do not think it is worthwhile for the palestinians to build their aspirations of establishing a homeland on religious grounds or texts, because the world cannot understand that logic, or the arguments or religious texts of muslims and the christians. the other party (the jews) has their own texts and religious arguments that support their point of view, which shows the lord stands by their side. moreover, several islamic texts support the right of the jews to return to the holy land, which god has blessed. i do not think it is prudent to build the right of claim on historical grounds or facts. each party has its books, references, documents, p i c t u r e s , maps, sacred texts and evidences. it is almost impossible to ascertain the validity of any of these references, or to determine who that land belongs to, based on what is stated therein, because history is often distorted or falsifi ed. thus, there is only one solution left for the palestinian to regain his homeland. the fi rst: armed struggle, not jihad, and what is taken by force can be restored only by force, but words are easy and action hard, and there is no comparison between the strength of the two parties, even if the arab countries combined — in their current situation — along with the palestinians. if a referendum was held among the palestinians to determine their views on the issue of armed struggle, there is no guarantee that the majority will accept paying unlimited price for their return, especially if this includes self-sacrifi ce, blood and children in a battle whose consequences are unknown. the palestinians have only one way to regain or retake a homeland that is to follow the same path followed by the zionist jews before them 120 years since the world zionist congress led by herzl in basel in 1897. the talk is easy, recommending solutions are easier, but the action is hard, and insistence is still more diffi cult. the path to follow this track requires fi rst of all unity among the palestinians. are they? all palestinians — muslims and christians alike — should have the same degree of citizenship. are they really equal? the liberation of palestine needs freedom, science, and democracy, all of which are not recognized by the palestinians, and the majority of arabs do not know them. is change possible? it is also necessary to sacrifi ce, to do much, and to sincerely believe that the land is dearer than honor, not the other way round. they have been demanding ‘honor’ for more than seven decades. by the way, do you remember the confessions of the then israeli foreign minister tzipi livni? the restoration of palestine is not a picnic; it must be a sacred goal before any other goals. is a palestinian willing to exert efforts, sweat, money, blood and sacrifi ce, and more importantly work silently and patiently for his return? neither i, nor anyone has the answer in the absence of democracy and freedom of opinion in all our societies. e-mail:
