Nihilism in Palestine

[Aboud OA Hamayel]

Nihilism
in Palestine

By: Abdaljawad OA Hamayel

I ride a taxi heading from the world beyond to the world here. In instance I was shocked by the perplexity which the people seem to have been caught with. A confusion of what comes next, if anything comes next. A sense of disillusionment with tomorrow, in short a nihilistic attitude towards life. Nihilism in Palestine means “the sense of hopelessness” and the complete loss of a futuristic outlook that transcends certain demographics and encompasses large segments of Palestinian society. This loss of hopefulness is the result of the continuous failure to bring about a just and lasting peace. Not only a failure of Palestinian leadership to translate Palestinian sacrifice and struggle into political gains, but also a failure on the part of the world to recognize the inherent moral position of Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and state-hood.

The consequence of this hopelessness surpasses a narrow psychological individualistic outlook into the current fragmentation within Palestine. Cornel West, an influential afro-American intellectual, described this nihilism, in his acclaimed book ‘Race Matters’. In short he said “…the lived experience of coping with a life of horrifying meaninglessness, hopelessness, and (most important) lovelessness”. Although in Palestine it takes a different form and has different social and cultural dimension, the nihilism that exists here remains the same. What I mean by it is that the Palestinians have lost cultural structures of meaning and feeling, of a real sense of belonging and solidarity.

This loss might not be the death of such cultural structures but perhaps is the temporary dissemination of such structures. For example, political parties in Palestine were never only strictly concerned and consumed with politics, but in actuality provided a secure net and a social structure that facilitated a sense of meaning, belonging and solidarity to its members. Not to mention the fact that they were the prime socialization structure for Palestinian youth, specifically those in Universities. Today, these groups have failed to attract younger generations into their ranks in the same rate as they did more than 20 years ago. Universities today are plagued by social problems such as drug abuseand endless conversations about T.V shows, dating, marriage and other day to day tête-à-tête. Standing in contrast to the intellectual zeal of an older generation.

This nihilism is specifically present within the new generation of Palestinians who collectively and implicitly decided to never talk about politics and whose dreams lie in the unlikely possibility of moving abroad. This new generation rarely speaks about the future, for them the mere idea of future is not within their frame of reference. They do not dream, for dreaming is dangerous in Palestine. There is no sense of space, for space in Palestine means a complex network of checkpoints, regulations, soldiers, police and endless images of despair. In Palestine your space is what you want to run from.

Today the more encompassing structures that exist take a much more traditional orientation in which the main identification is the tribe or the geographic area to which one belongs. These structures have not truly dealt with the real threat that faces the Palestinian society, the threat of nihilism. Amidst such a bleak diagnosis exists hope, not only in a new generation of poets such as Tamim al-Barghouthi, and film makers that gain international acclaim in movies such as ‘Salt of this Sea’ and ‘The Time that Remains’, it also exists in a wide array of Palestinian musicians, rappers, dancers and artists that have extraordinary energy and determination. It is also embedded in the incredible rise of Palestinian intellectuals on a global scale, who follow in the steps of Edward W. Said. Not to mention the blood and tears of non-violent action in many villages of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Among all of those and many more we find a common thread, one that adopts transformative politics and moral ideals.

The reality and political condition in Palestine is what created this nihilism, not to mention that it has been amplified by the current polarization of the two divided camps. The Palestinian Secular Nationalists represented by Fattah and the Palestinian Islamist Nationalist represented by Hamas. Both have failed to deal with the nihilistic threat. Both have narrowly focused on political power and their relation to Israel and have been hiding under the sea of political slogans.

The solution lies in the politics of conversion as Prof. West framed it. In Palestine such political conversion should be focused on a new local leadership that transcends beyond tribal and geographic divisions. This new leadership should address the rise of political cynicism and augment the best in Palestine. The new leadership should tackle the nihilistic threat as a disease that not only endangers the social fabric of Palestine, but could prove to be detrimental to the Palestinian National Movement and its aspirations. The focus must be on a new type of politics; one that could regenerate the old cliché of Palestine as the victor. But, to regenerate Palestine as the victor such politics must offer Palestinians success in solving initially societal and economic problems on a local level and perhaps later success in leading Palestinian with a new set of vocabulary to their rightful aspirations.

Abdaljawad OA Hamayel is a graduate of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands where
he completed Bachelors in Political Science and International Law. He was Born in Jerusalem and lived in the occupied Palestinian Territories for his entire life. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the University College Utrecht’s Newspaper ‘The Boomerang” and the Chair of the All Student Interest Council at the same University. He now resides in Ramallah and writes articles concerning political
and social issues. To contact him please write to: [e-mail]

[Aboud OA Hamayel]

Your question is what has been on my mind for a long time now. What is the best model? What should be done? How can we gather resources to face both the problem within and from without? How could we have an approach that appeals to people? All of these questions are rather confusing and in a place like Palestine also complicated. However, I have some thoughts about tackling nihilism and the Israeli occupation.

In my modest opinion, I think that people want to see results on the ground; one of the tragedies of Martin Luther King was that after 1965 we witnessed a shift from his already radical ideas at that time to a more radical Black Nationalist project, this was true especially among poor urban blacks, who rioted for different reasons across the United States. The problem with Civil Rights and nonviolent struggles is that they do not produce immediate results but require discipline and patience. It requires a belief in the power of nonviolence, which most people here do not. This local leadership should start working on creating awareness and educating the masses on what nonviolence constitutes. In Palestine it is also important to link nonviolence with Islam as a religion but also as a culture. One of the successes of MLK is that he was able to link Christianity to the philosophy of nonviolence, this should happen here with Islam. This could also prove to be of utmost importance creating a new image of Islam and in fighting the idea of “Clash of Civilizations”.

After these links are established a rise of the orator or a leader, one who has the charisma and understanding, who can speak the language of the West and that of the East. One who has a “double consciousness” as Du Bois framed it. In the case of Palestine this is of the utmost importance, for Palestine has been and will remain politically dependent on regional and international interests. Thus, there is a need to involve the West and those in the West who want to help. This could happen on the ground by organizing freedom summers, advocating through lobbying, creating media watchdogs and in organizing divestment campaigns and the likes in university campuses across the United States and Europe.

This is a summation of many things to be done. But I hope I was able to clarify a little bet.

[Clayborne Carson]

I am very impressed with your analysis of Palestinian nihilism,despite the fact that your essay concludes with only a few spare suggestions of a possible solution: "new local leadership that transcends beyond tribal and geographic divisions." How can this happen? What can those of us outside Palestine do to help?