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Hamas Has Palestinians Caught in Victimhood Mentality

(Reno Gazette Journal) David Farahi - In 1947, India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain and 15 million people began the largest population transfer the world had ever seen. They included 2 million Hindus displaced from Sindh in southwest Pakistan. They were forced to flee their land with not much more than the clothes on their backs. But in only one or two generations, they have shed the title of refugee and are entrepreneurs and community leaders across the globe. Some Palestinians have chosen a path similar to the Sindhis, overcoming a perpetual victimhood mindset. I have Palestinian friends in America who fit this description. But the exemplars are the Arab Israelis, full citizens of Israel who are members of the Israeli Parliament, sit on the Israeli Supreme Court, hold chairs at major Israeli universities and hospitals and are active in all aspects of Israeli civil society. It is no wonder that a majority of Arab Israelis identify more with Israel than with a possible Palestinian state when polled. They chose to reject the victimhood mentality and have built prosperous lives. Unfortunately, the Palestinian majority have been blinded by morally and financially corrupt leaders, most prominently Hamas, for whom the victimhood mindset is dogma. Why else do so many Palestinians annually mourn the day of Israel's establishment as the Nakba ("catastrophe")? Why else do Palestinians have cities in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon which are still called "refugee camps"? Hamas literally says, "We are a nation of martyrs." What is a martyr if not the ultimate victim? For the last 16 years, Hamas has educated an entire generation of victims. Hamas must be removed from power so a new Palestinian leadership can emerge that works to create opportunity for a prosperous Palestinian future alongside its neighbors - a leadership that does not trumpet the label of victim, but one that glorifies growth and agency. The writer is an adjunct professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
2024-01-07 00:00:00
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