While looking at the current situation of the Palestinian people, one can easily see that there is a lack of leadership that is needed to continue the way to [singlepic id=249 w=320 h=240 float=right] freedom and independence. The reasons may vary between the difficulty in changing the liberation movements into political parties and the failure of the programs which Fatah and Hamas suggested in order to get an independent Palestinian state.

I am not interested in discussing the negotiations program or even the armed resistance choice since the current situation proves whether any of them succeeded or failed. Instead I would like to discuss the nature of the ideologies that both Hamas and Fatah believe in as a way to bring the Palestinian people liberation and freedom. The ideologies that exist within the Palestinian movements are connected to the ideologies in the Arab world. In the past and since the time of the former Egyptian President Jamal Abed ElNasser, the Arabs tried to introduce the idea of nationalism as an ideology that should assure success for the Arab states and their unity. At the same time, Islamic movements were active to spread Islamic beliefs and political programs that are affected by Islamic ideas.

The conflict between the Nationalists and the Muslim Brothers is not new and started many years ago. Although both ideologies share a similarity that it is the refusal of giving a chance for the new generations to take the lead, they differ in matters of effect and control through the Arab world. The Muslim brothers succeeded in spreading through the Arab countries. The Arab regimes that are already made although they lack real independence became a tool that the Islamic movements use in order to control and lead the country that they exist in. The way Islamic movements work differ from other movements for many reasons which one of them is the support that they get by the Arab peoples who are originally Muslims and find it hard to refuse Islamic ideas that brings them spiritual relief. However, it is important to remember that we are discussing political Islamic movements that are completely different from those who invite for a commitment to the Islamic religion and work within the boundaries of worship and religious beliefs.

Although the Political Islamic movements succeeded to create a kind of dialogue within its members and won a good support from the Arab peoples, they seem to fail once reaching a commanding rank in the head of the authority of a state. Hamas division with the PLO cannot be justified by only looking at the mistakes that Fatah could have made. The way Hamas went through as a Political party which wants to become a participant in the democratic process affected on the nature of its activities and the ways it use while facing the Israeli occupation.

Some western scholars claim that the Islamic movements use the democratic system in order to control the state and then begin to ignore the democratic norms in order to change the state into an Islamic regime. Such claims are made in order to justify the ban of Islamic movements from participating in the democratic process. Such a move is considered a major break of the democratic norms since one side of the community is deciding whether the other one respects democracy enough to be allowed to enjoy it. The question is what if the democratic system and the obligations that come with authority affect on the Islamic movements once they are leading a country. Hamas went through a serious change since it took the lead of Gaza strip by force. Not only that it is facing difficulties in communicating with the international community and the responsibility of the people but also the challenge with other Islamic movements which tried to affect on its existence in Gaza. Such circumstances affect on the agenda of the Islamic movement and made its leadership reconsider its choices.

A change is always possible within any political thought since in politics it is the event that decides the right way that should be used while facing it. Although Islamic movements promised to bring the Arab peoples their dignity back, it is facing current difficulties in marketing its ideas and possible problems in the future while dealing with the internal challenge between the Islamic movements themselves. Nationalists almost vanished and since the beginning of the nationalism ideas, the young generations were not allowed to express their opinions and say what they want to say in order to assure a true development in the nationalism ideas that were suggested about the unity of the Arabs and the importance of their independence.

Instead the young Arabs became believers of the one leader and forgot about the thought, belief, and ideology. Once this one person goes way whether because of death, occupation, assassination or even la coup, his followers become lost and can’t find the way for what they once considered a belief. When President Jamal abed ElNasser died, the whole situation of Egypt changed although many believed that the Egyptian Universities and academic associations knew what Nationalism really means and what the Arabs must believe in and work for in order to reach the Unity of the Arab nation. When President Yasser Arafat was assassinated, his followers in Fatah movement lost their way and until today cannot understand what is the exact political program of Fatah in order to reach a liberated and independent Palestinian state.

Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes which the fathers and leaders of the nationalism movement in the Arab world did was that they never thought of the day that comes after their death and preferred to control the process of political and social thought development to prevent the rise of any rivals who could have challenged their regime. The result was completely normal in which they had to face rivals that came up from a different place…Islamists. So what if the Arabs need a real reconsideration of the current thoughts they have..what if a serious change is what we need in order to change the situation of the Arab nation and will the new Arab generations be able to make such a change?

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

A Palestinian-Arab living in East Jerusalem, Ziad graduated from College Des Freres in Jerusalem in 2003. Ziad finished his major in International Relations and English Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ziad is a former President of the Watan student movement at the university. He is interested in Middle Eastern political issues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Founder of the Middle East Post and MEL (Middle East Future Leadership Network), he represents Palestinian youth at several international conferences.

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