Palestinians are often asked to provide their own vision for peace. As innocuous as this demand may seem, it's actually little more than an attack, given its complete decontextualization. How can a colonized people be expected to put forward a plan for peace when their colonizers are curtailing their options and denying any just possibilities out of hand? When in actuality their synonym for peace is submission? Typically, Palestinians have been expected to squeeze their resistance and their political and historical discourses into the small spaces permitted by outside agendas. What is needed is a truly Palestinian vision for how best to pursue their struggle, particularly now in a post-Oslo context. Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out aims to challenge several strata of the current Palestine discourse that have led to the present dead end: the American pro-Israel political discourse, the Israeli colonial discourse, the Arab discourse of purported normalization, and the defunct discourse of the Palestinian factions. None promote justice, none have brought resolution; none bode well for any of the parties involved. Here, an alternative Palestinian view of liberation and decolonization is provided by engaged Palestinian leaders and intellectuals, those who been actively involved in generating an ongoing Palestinian discourse on liberation, taking into account the parameters of their struggle as it now stands. Drawing on their own personal experiences as educators, community leaders, spiritual leaders, artists, historians, human rights activists, political prisoners, and the like, they address what now, what next, is to be done, in a manner that reflects not only Palestinian aspirations, but their view of what is possible. 'Liberation' is a term that was dropped from the official Palestinian lexicon simply because it was incompatible with the US-championed political discourse, but it has resurfaced here because without its justice dimensions, there can be no peace. Now that the international community is able to see that Oslo, along with the 'two-state solution' model, has irreversibly failed, the paradigmatic void has opened space for the articulation of new possibilities. Our Vision for Liberation embraces this opportunity to introduce a new Palestinian discourse, one that is able to address current challenges and obstacles to Palestinian rights and freedom, and provide diverse paths, all leading forward.
Industry Reviews
"Now that this seminal and historical political work has been launched and is making its way into the world as a new release, the time has come to consolidate its social effectiveness as an instrument of cultural and political struggle. Praise for the editors and the 32 contributing writers cannot be too high.
They have blazed a new strategy for Palestine and the Palestinians, embattled as they are by ongoing Zionist crimes against humanity. It is a strategy of mobilizing the resourceful steadfastness of Palestinian civil society, aided and abetted by international solidarity with this just and noble cause. It is a strategy of maximizing a social and political renewal underway with good prospects of success." DAVID FARBER, Palestine Chronicle
"It is so important to pay attention to the brave and smart voices of Palestinians, those particularly who are active every day to bring decency and justice into a world getting uglier by the day." -- VIJAY PRASHAD, Indian historian, and director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
"Read this book and you will be strengthened and inspired. It's a death knell to the Zionist fantasy and imperialist domination." -- RONNIE KASSRILS, South African anti-apartheid icon
"The first-hand testimonies in this collection of essays send a clear message to the racist apartheid occupiers of Palestine: your attempts to obliterate us have failed. Here we stand...." -- JEREMY SALT, The Unmaking of the Middle East:
"There is eloquent, optimistic logic to this outstanding anthology edited by Ilan Pappe and Ramzy Baroud. It is that Palestine will be free..." -- JOHN PILGER, acclaimed documentary film maker
"These moving visions of a decolonized, democratic and free Palestine will resonate wherever collective yearnings for freedom have survived. Palestinian intellectuals, activists, and artists are a beacon both for the future of Palestine and the destiny of our globe." -- ANGELA DAVIS
"This book deserves a warm welcome. It celebrates the achievements of Palestinians and the rich diversity of their culture. Clearly, their spirit of resistance is alive and well." -- KEN LOACH, Renowned British filmmaker
"This is a fascinating, great book." -- ROGER WATERS, founding member, Pink Floyd
"Despite the Palestinian struggle being one of the most iconic and easily recognizable in the world, many Palestinians have long argued that they are denied the right to speak for themselves and to define their own narrative. Our Vision for Liberation is therefore an important corrective within the growing literature on Palestine." A. BUSTOS, Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs
"The book's aim is to promote a vision for the future which has been created by Palestinians themselves, putting them at the forefront of debate and decision-making....
The editors, two of the most distinguished writers on Palestine, are to be congratulated on this book whose positive message and clear-eyed sense of purpose make it an inspirational read." SUE TURNER, Morning Star.
