Scenes in Ramallah
Irecently attended the seventh congress of the ‘Fatah’ movement, one of the oldest Palestinian factions that is currently headed by President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. My participation came after I received an invitation from the movement to attend the congress, along with a group of parliamentarians, intellectuals and parties in support of human rights and backing the Palestinian cause. I was accompanied by Abdallah Al-Naibari and Dr Shafiq Al-Ghabra from Kuwait. The visit required going to Jordan and getting through the occupied territories to reach the congress hall in Ramallah. It is a beautiful town, well known to Kuwaitis before its occupation in 1967, when families used to spend the summer there. Now, it is the administrative city of the Palestinian Authority.
Lectures were held about the future of the struggle and its nature, in addition to field trips to see the painful reality and hear stories about the cause of people that struggled and still struggle to get their legitimate rights. I visited Bethlehem, Nablus, and also Hebron where the Ibrahimi Mosque is located. I saw the building of Israeli settlements that expand in front of every Arab city and village, also the electrified security barriers and the inhumane separation wall. We heard stories about official and popular roles the State of Kuwait is playing, and the necessity to overcome all hurdles and obstacles that affected relations.
Kuwait’s popular speech at the conference was spontaneous and reflected a Kuwaiti-Palestinian relationship that was affected during the Iraqi Invasion, and was restored officially and popularly through initiatives by all parties. It left something in all those who attended the conference, particularly those who lived in Kuwait, and we listened to supporting speeches from free people around the world.
We saw the suffering in how citizens are steadfast towards settlement and organized action by a wanton and oppressive power that supersedes any description, as seeing with your own eyes is different from looking at pictures in the media. This trip remains a link among the links of moral support of people to keep their steadfastness, and also to intensify and focus on events in occupied Palestine and all regions, as well as war and destruction being witnessed by the Arab and Muslim worlds.