palestinian strategy

This interview with Khalidi raises some excellent points in regard to
Palestinian strategy.

He fails, though, to address the negative aspects of "the uprising" in
terms of symbolism.  The recent NYT ad with a photo of a Palestinian youth
throwing a stone at a tank is an effort to turn a negative into a
positive (a deliberate echo of the famous photo from Tiananmen Square),
but I am convinced that a mass nonviolent action campaign would be far
more effective.

Khalidi stresses the importance of addressing the American and Israeli
audiences, but does not pursue the implications of that priority.  The
"violence" of the intifadah, and the "violence" of those speaking of jihad
would carry less weight if they had to contend with mass nonviolent
resistance in the occupied territories, and in Israel, and could not as
easily be made to represent the Palestinian or Arab view as a whole.

Most people in the Arab countries see the Palestinian youth as heroic, and
I'm sure that view is shared by a substantial minority in the U.S. as
well.  But to win the hearts and minds of the majority, the sorts of
images conveyed by nonviolent resistance, like the U.S. civil rights
movement, have the potential to be much more powerful.  

I hope that Palestinian leaders such as Said and Khalidi will advocate for
this strategy. 

Richard Hutchinson