Palestinian/ Israeli update 11/26/2016..Are Palestinians ready for Trump?

Palestinian crew helps battle Haifa blaze

Law That Would Legalize Land-Grabbing Creeps Through Israeli Government

Are Palestinians ready for Trump? | The Electronic Intifada

……………Whatever Donald Trump turns out to be when it comes to Palestine – no one knows yet, probably least of all himself – Washington has long been part of the problem rather than any solution.

And with more pressing global and regional issues, Palestinians are also likely far down the list of US foreign policy priorities, even as they find themselves more and more isolated, regionally and globally.

This may explain a renewed interest in finding unity after nearly a decade of division.

In October, Abbas and Meshaal met in Doha to affirm their shared commitment to overcoming their differences. Meshaal has continued to be vocal about the need for unity.

And Dahlan, who was unceremoniously ousted from Gaza in 2007, has previously argued to include Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the PLO, one of the key sticking points.

Unity alone is no strategy. But unity would seem a necessary precondition for articulating a strategy that a skeptical public can rally behind.

Political unity between Palestinian factions would also be necessary to revive a PLO that long ago stopped being an effective actor even as it remains the official representative body of Palestinians globally.

A renewed role for the PLO is vital to include Palestinians in the diaspora, who, after all, make up a majority of all Palestinians yet have found themselves with almost no say in Palestinian decision-making.

It could also see Palestinian political leaders take advantage of and lend their weight to global initiatives like the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, BDS, that are gaining in momentum.

Something certainly needs to change. Traditional political factions already face being consigned to irrelevancy.

“There is a huge number of Palestinians who are now independent, a bigger proportion than those who support Hamas and Fatah,” Atwan said. “Whoever wins those independents can unify Palestinians.”

“As long as things stay the same – Hamas is losing a lot of support in Gaza, Abbas is hated in the West Bank – we are in a deep crisis.” Omar Karmi

Promises Of The Storm – Mahmoud Darwish

Promises Of The Storm

So be it
I can assure you that I will refuse death
And burn the, tears of the bleeding songs
And strip the olive trees
Of ill their counterfeit branches
If I have been serenading happiness
Somewhere beyond the eyelids of frightened eyes
That is because the storm
Promised me wine and new toasts
And rainbows
Because the storm
Swept away the voices of idiotic, obedient birds
And swept away the counterfeit branches
From the trunks of standing trees
So be it
I must be proud of you
Oh wounded city
You are lightning in our sad night
When the street frowns at me
You protect me from the shadows
And the looks of hatred
I will go on serenading happiness
Somewhere beyond the eyelids of frightened eyes
For from the time the storm begin to rage in my country
It has promised me wine and rainbows
Mahmoud Darwish :