The day after the vote in the UN’s General Assembly, the sky is blue + cloudless, sun is shining, everything glistens It is Friday, so it is quiet.
On Palestine Television, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Awqaf [Islamic Trusts, Mahmoud Habbash, gave the Friday prayer sermon in a mosque in Al-Bireh, next to Ramallah, that was shown on Palestine TV: he was happy about the UN vote.
The PA Minister of Awqaf [he is a former member of Hamas] said that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had followed pathway indicated by long line of martyrs [including Hamas co-founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin + Fatah co-founder Yasser Arafat].
He said: West Bank, Gaza. Fateh, Hamas. Palestine is above all this, bigger, more important.
Now that the borders of Palestine are outlined and recognized by the UNGA, he said, the question is: why did the settlers decide to live here? Why in this spot on earth? Eventually, he asserted, the settlers will leave, they won’t stay here forever. But, he said, the settler-terrorists — those who have attacked Palestinians and/or their property, must go.
Reaction seemed mixed in the all-male congregation at the Friday prayer sermon given by the PA’s Minister of Awqaf. Some men looked at floor; some stared intently, unblinkingly, at the speaker. One old man wearing a kuffiyeh on his head, wiped away tears.
Judging from the Friday prayer sermon given by the PA Min of Awqaf, a more proprietary attitude may appear: “We will be masters on our land”…
Hanan Ashrawi, the public face of the push behind yesterday’s UNGA vote, said on Palestine TV [was it a re-play from last night?], explaining the effect of the UNGA vote: “We are now a state”. She did not waiver in her optimism, despite the polite and well-mannered scepticism of the program host about the lack of prospects for any reach change.
Continue reading The day after the UNGA voted to give Palestine status of state