51. Hammad: breaking poems
- Author:
- Marcy Jane Knopf-Newman
- Publication Date:
- 05-2009
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Palestine Studies
- Institution:
- Institute for Palestine Studies
- Abstract:
- Occupied lands for Israel without incorporating the people on the land—the Palestinians. This set in motion a set of practices—expropriation of land, expansion of settlements (all of them illegal), and erection of walls to prevent Palestinians from reaching their lands—that collectively constitute occupation. Palestinians in the territories thus have become outsiders who are denied access to the “inside.” Walls and Israeli roads should be understood “as an effect rather than a cause” (p. 30); the real problem is the occupation itself, which demands such practices. This has led to the division of the West Bank into “three or four large pieces, plus East Jerusalem” (p. 57). These divisions, of both Palestinians and their lands, have been codified by the Oslo negotiations, which also produced a compliant Palestinian leadership incapable of advancing the national rights of Palestinians.
- Political Geography:
- Palestine and Jerusalem