By Rami G. Khouri
The Daily Star, Lebanon

Yesterday marked the 64th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba of May 1948, when Israel was established and Palestinians experienced the combination of exile and occupation that still defines them today.

The day was marked as usual by a variety of events around the world, from symbolic demonstrations by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to protests at Israeli embassies around the world. Such actions do not change the balance of power on the ground. But they do reflect the persistent will of Palestinians everywhere to continue doing the two things that have characterized them individually and collectively since 1948: to affirm their identity and rights as Palestinians, and to keep searching for means to recover their rights and resolve the conflict with Zionism and Israel in a peaceful manner that is anchored in international law and legitimacy.

Events this year suggest that something new and significant is happening in the Palestinian mindset of struggle to end their refugee status and live a normal life in their own country. The persistence of this common Palestinian will is partly a function of numbers, and partly of human nature.

The original refugees who fled or were forcibly expelled from Palestine in 1947-1948 numbered around 750,000 or so. They now number some 5 million people, out of a total Palestinian population of around 8 million. One-third of the refugees, or 1.4 million, live in 58 refugee camps in the Middle East, not far from their original homes, lands, towns and villages in Palestine – now Israel – which is one reason why the Palestine issue does not simply fade away.

“Refugeehood” is a heavy weight that constantly pulls you back to the struggle to regain your normalcy in your ancestral land – as Zionist Jews and Israelis know better than most other people in the world. Palestinians have responded to their refugeehood in various ways, including taking up armed struggle to fight Israel, initiating diplomatic actions bilaterally and at the United Nations, or doing their best to take care of their families and remain steadfast in the face of the multiple adversities they face.

The last two years have shown, however, that Palestinians and their supporters are exploring new forms of resistance and affirmation of their rights. Two in particular are noteworthy: the recent mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and the continued expansion of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement around the world. Both of these represent new forms of struggle that challenge Israeli power and policies head-on, using available nonviolent tools in the one arena where Israel’s superior military power and control of Palestinian land can be negated: moral legitimacy.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/May-16/173517-the-palestinian-struggle-persists.ashx#ixzz1v0vmSUnQ
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)