The Palestinians need new leaders
But few believe that Israel will ever let them have a state of their own
Few experiences are more humiliating for Palestinians than plodding through the Israeli checkpoint at Qalandiya, where the West Bank’s administrative headquarters at Ramallah are separated from the Palestinians’ would-be capital in east Jerusalem. Young Israeli conscripts bark orders at middle-aged labourers queuing to cross. Meanwhile the Palestinian workers can hear the roar of Israeli commuters who live in settlements on nearby Palestinian land zooming along a four-lane motorway barred to Palestinians, en route to jobs in Tel Aviv. “The humiliation is a tax I have to pay to feed my six children,” says a day labourer trudging to work in Israel.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A fading dream of independence”
From the May 13th 2023 edition
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