Palestinian publicist against Islamization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Headline: “The morning tweet: incorrect mixing”

Excerpt of op-ed by Palestinian writer Hanan Bakir, a Palestinian publicist and regular columnist for the official PA daily who lives in Norway

“In a private message from a Facebook friend, he said that I contradict myself in my writing…

The friend objected to my criticism of the efforts to transfer the Palestinian issue from the political axis to a religious struggle. Simply put, if some of the Jews had not occupied our homeland, would there have been a religious struggle between the two religions of the children of Abraham [the Jews and the Arabs], at a time when they consider themselves cousins? And they, in other words our people, thus deny the Canaanite-Palestinian presence on the land of Palestine before the appearance of Prophet Abraham, and thus they intersect with the Israeli narrative according to which there is no Palestinian people… Indeed the popular uprisings and intifadas of our people are against the occupation alone! And this is a natural urge of people, whatever their faith, or lack of faith… It is unfortunate that some of us insist on mixing religion and politics by politicizing religion and dressing our political-national issue in a headdress and robe (i.e., religious garb).”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 24, 2017]