Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib: Proud American, native Gazan, pro-Peace

Okay. Let's see what there is here.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib uploaded a post on “X” in which he describes how he envisions peace between Israel and the Palestinians. When I come across reference to such an individual, especially by people I know, it always sparks my interest. Is he brave? Does he inspire hope as some commenters wrote?

It is important to examine in depth what people like Alkhatib write and say and not just attend to the melodious soundbytes of stuff we like to hear.

[UPDATE: I just read a recent FB post he uploaded five hours ago and will relate to that in my conclusions.]

He first writes about having grown up in Gaza in a refugee family that had fled, in 1948, what became Israel, about having had first-hand experience with Israeli violence and bombardments, and about still having family in Gaza enduring what is happening there during the current war. “This background,” he writes:

informs and influences me and speaks to why I care about the Palestinian issue and consider myself pro-Palestine. I am motivated by a sincere desire to see my people obtain their legitimate and undeniable rights, which they have not had for decades.

At the same time, he “struggle[s] with finding a political home in today’s pro-Palestine movement” that is unable “to hold multiple truths at once and to advocate nuanced and color-rich positions and views that are not black-and-white depictions and understandings of the Israel and Palestine conflict.” This made me think perhaps I had found a person of great interest.

I copy-paste here his entire list of 19 points that constitute what he calls, “an effective and meaningful pro-Palestine platform.” I approached this list with a sense of anticipation, hoping to find evidence of a man with whom one can have a fruitful conversation. I add my comments in italics after each point in this list.

SPOILER: Let’s just say, for now, that there are some points I with which I agree. My conclusions follow the list.

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib’s platform for peace:

1. Supporting the right of Palestinians to a sovereign and independent state living in peace side by side with Israel.

Good start. While I don’t see evidence that there are many Palestinian Arabs in either Gaza or the Judea-Samaria (aka west bank) portion of the Palestinian Authority (PA) who want to live next to the Jewish state, if one wants peace, this is the obvious opening remark.

2. Condemning Israeli government actions, policies, priorities, and decisions that kill, harm, undermine, or oppress the Palestinian people.

Okay. Yes. killing, harming, undermining, or oppressing the Palestinian people is worthy of criticism, in theory. I would agree with this statement regarding any country doing this. Without examples of how Alkhatib thinks we are killing, harming, undermining or oppressing the Palestinian people, I cannot otherwise relate to this point other than to think perhaps he is not so different from antizionist Palestinian Arabs after all.

Oh! And does killing Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists fall within this category or is killing them okay?

3. Criticizing and decrying the conduct of the war in Gaza, the military occupation in the West Bank, and the Israeli government’s disregard for Palestinian civilian lives, and the destruction of property and cities.

Oy. I guess he has not read the growing list of articles, interview, reports, etc. regarding the amazing care the IDF has and is taking to protect civilian Gazan lives under the most difficult conditions of urban warfare against a guerilla force. For example, here.

Regarding the ‘military occupation’ in the West Bank (aka Judea-Samaria), all I can say is that Alkhatib apparently has not read the section of the Oslo Accords dealing with security issues.

4. Rejecting, denouncing, and exposing the theft of Palestinian lands in the West Bank and the sprawling settlement enterprise and settler violence.

I suppose he means that the “sprawling settlement enterprise” is what is involved in the “theft of Palestinian lands.” He is ignoring the fact that Judea-Samaria/West Bank was divvied up between Israel and the PA in the Oslo Accords, a contract signed by grown men who have to take responsibility for what they signed. Israel is only expanding settlements in Area C, land that the PLO agreed is under exclusive Israeli control. So stealing Palestinian land? Nope.

“Settler violence?” Yes, there are vigilante Jews who attack Arabs, sometimes in response to specific Arab attacks against Jews, sometimes not. I oppose vigilantism.

5. Supporting highly targeted, specific, and effective sanctions against individuals, groups, and entities that are enabling the unjust and illegal occupation of the West Bank and harming Palestinian civilians.

The West Bank/Judea-Samaria is not occupied, at least not illegally so. The most one can say is that the land is disputed territory. The fact that so many world leaders believe it is occupied, illegally or otherwise, does not make it so. Anyone truly interested in examining what I am saying now can watch this brief interview.

6. Denouncing and combating the dehumanization of the Palestinian people or the denial of their existence as people with the right to live on the land they called home for generations.

The Palestinians did not even consider themselves “a people” until recently. And the UN determined that a Palestinian refugee was any non-Jew who lived in the land before 1946.

How many of those who now call themselves Palestinians were on the land for generations and how many migrated here just in time to be called a refugee?

In any case, I believe the Palestinians may, since 1993, be regarded as ‘a people’ and I wrote up why here.

7. Acknowledging the tragedy experienced by hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians from 1948 and giving them/their descendants the right to return to the lands of a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Displacement is traumatic. There! I acknowledge that. If a Palestinian state actually comes into existence, it will have the right to bring in all the Palestinian refugees it wants. After all, sovereign states determine who has the right to become citizens.

8. Understanding past and contemporary mistakes that have set the Palestinian people back by decades and made them pawns in ideologies and geopolitical programs, agendas, and designs. [bold in the original here and for the next four points]

Mistakes by whom?

9. Developing a pragmatic and realistic framework for recognizing Israel’s existence, right to exist, and the inevitability of its continued existence, all of which should inform how a solution is approached.

Sorry to be cynical but it is really ‘big’ of you, Alkhatib, to recognize Israel’s right to exist. And I suppose you do that only because you recognize “the inevitability of its continued existence,” making this a concession to reality rather than a value statement.

10. Dispensing with delusional and destructive elements of the Palestinian narrative and acknowledging that there will not be a full liberation of all of Palestine, there will not be a right of return to what is now mainland Israel, and that Israel cannot and should not be confronted militarily or through any form of violence.

Finally, a point I can wholeheartedly agree with. Except for the fact that, in truth, a “full liberation of all of Palestine” would include Jordan as that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine, and there was never ever an independent Palestinian state in all of history.

11. Promoting a cultural shift away from revolutionary rhetoric, martyrdom, and armed resistance, and instead, rebranding coexistence and peace as a courageous and necessary evolution to preserve Palestinian lives, lands, and heritage and foster a new generation of nation-builders who are focused on doing the most with what the Palestinians currently have and can have in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

And here is another point with which I wholeheartedly agree.

12. Denouncing and rejecting antisemitism while also acknowledging that Zionists and Israelis are a diverse group/people and that the Palestinians have to work with all of these segments to have sustainable coexistence and peace.

Yes.

13. Understanding how violent/hateful rhetoric, actions, and mistakes are detrimental because they empower right-wing and extremist forces in Israel who are opposed to Palestinian rights and that persistent mistakes and incendiary rhetoric and proclamations erode support for the Palestinian people and cause.

This made me guffaw— perhaps “violent/hateful rhetoric, actions, and mistakes are detrimental” just because they are wrong in and of themselves?

14. Recognizing Palestinian agency, responsibility, and accountability when taking actions that have negative consequences and outcomes and acknowledging that, while there’s an asymmetry of power dynamics, Palestinian leaders, political groups, and prominent figures should make rational and responsible choices to optimize for better prospects.

It is not a matter of “recognizing Palestinian agency, responsibility, and accountability” on the part of Israelis or of foreigners trying to make peace between us. It is a matter of Palestinians acting from a position of agency, responsibility, and accountability as opposed to their seemingly favoured position of victimhood.

15. Accepting that even with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, access to holy sites must always be shared and open to all.

Does this mean you want Jews to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount or to pray at Rachel’s Tomb without needing an IDF escort? After all, Israel has never restricted access of any religious group to their holy sites; it has only been the Jews that have been denied open access.

16. Realizing how nefarious regional players like the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies are not sincere or helpful allies to the Palestinian people and have done so much damage to the entire region and the Palestinian cause.

I think you should tell that to the Palestinian Arabs because Mahmoud Abbas sent a condolence message to Hezbollah on the death of Nasrallah and people marched in the streets of Ramallah mourning his killing.

17. Developing the capacity to hear Jewish perspectives and grievances, historical and contemporary, to understand why pro-Israel supporters believe what they do and why Israel means so much to so many, even if one disagrees with those opinions and views.

I see….so our historical perspectives are “opinions and views” and not fact. Is that what you are saying?

18. Understanding that Hamas recklessly endangered Palestinian lives and placed the people of Gaza in significant harm and that the group relies on Palestinian suffering as part of its strategy to delegitimize Israel globally while perpetuating the conflict without any meaningful resolution.

I suppose this is Alkhatib’s way of saying that he is against Hamas’ violation of the ceasefire agreement and the horrific atrocities committed against Israelis and the foreigners who were with us at the time.

Big of him.

Seems, however, that he cannot bring himself to say that he denounces, deplores, totally rejects what they did on Oct 7th. And notice how he expresses opposition to this behaviour only because of how it affects Palestinian suffering. Not a word about how what they did that day was just pure evil.

So, not good enough!

19. Registering the dangers of Islamist rhetoric and ideology that seeks to Islamize Palestinian society and to turn the Palestinian national project into a religious one in pursuit of an Islamic state that, by default, will be exclusionary and incapable of accommodating diverse residents in a future Palestinian country.

I wonder how many Palestinian Arabs agree that Palestinian society should be anything but an Islamic society or that the state they say they want should be secular. At the same time, how is this related to establishing peace with Israel? Is he implying that Jews should be allowed to live in the future Palestinian state? Now THAT would be interesting.

Alkhatib adds that his goal is to “present viable and pragmatic ideas that are not mere rhetorical statements and empty slogans.” He accepts that many will strongly disagree with what he writes but he believe that, instead of angry protests, BDS, antisemitism, and lectures, what is needed is a pragmatic approach that includes a willingness for both sides to compromise and to recognize their “undeniable and mutual humanity.”

Concluding words:

Nothing new here. I don’t think he says anything that has not been said IN ENGLISH by some Palestinian leaders. While many are honest only in Arabic about their desire to see Jews dead and gone from here, there are other Palestinian leaders who have no qualms saying it in English. There is some hint in Alkhatib’s words that he does not (necessarily) want us dead and gone. I get the idea that if we were to be weaker and vanquishable, he would join the ranks of those who would be happy to see us gone. I guess this means that I don’t find him particularly believable.

I restrained myself from turning some of the items back on themselves, kept myself from saying, “but what about….?” I thought doing so would just make this article too long and clumbersome. Probably an entire article could be written on each what-about.

Five hours ago, Alkhatib uploaded a FB post in which he accuses Israel of waging a war of revenge against Hamas, writing:

What has happened in Gaza went beyond a military strategy to include punishment and revenge for the atrocities that took place on October 7. There was a deliberate intention to inflict damage, destruction, and misery as retribution for the unprecedented intelligence and military failures that caused the success of Hamas’s massacre despite being significantly smaller and less powerful than Hezbollah. Destroying Gaza was a choice, not a military necessity. ….

It’s time to admit the obvious: the war in Gaza was primarily driven by revenge and rage more than a desire to get the hostages or destroy Hamas in a transformative way that actually pacifies Gaza and creates a different future/reality.

Here he is accusing Israel of genocide without using that word.

He lives in the USA. He is fluent in English. He has access to the articles by military experts that prove that Israel did everything possible to reduce civilian casualties to a low level never before seen in urban warfare. And he never points out that Lebanese civilians had places to run to, in comparison with the Gazans who were not let across the Egyptian border to safety. Where is that acknowledged by Alkhatib? I understand his sympathies lie with his Gazan family. But perverting the truth is never a good start to promoting peace. Sorry.

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