Sinwar’s vision for a one-state solution: The Palestine Liberation Commission

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar realised that resistance is a tool to achieve a political goal: the establishment of a Palestinian state from the river to the sea. Interestingly, he did not postpone envisioning the shape of this state until after liberation. In 2021, he sponsored a conference titled “The Promise of the Afterlife: Palestine After Liberation” that aimed to make recommendations regarding the shape of the Palestinian state and how to deal with issues such as organising the return of refugees, the fate of settlers and dealing with the laws of the occupying state and the international agreements concluded with it, among others. The conference called for establishing a “Palestine Liberation Commission”, which would be a group of Palestinian and Arab forces that “embrace the idea of liberating Palestine” and are responsible for coordinating the forces’ efforts.

Sinwar was martyred before he saw a deeper crystallisation of his vision for tomorrow’s Palestine or the formation of a coordinating body to advance this vision. The need for these two things is crucial today. Reviewing some of the recommendations of the conference could help open a discussion between Palestinians and Arabs allied towards alignment of political vision and practical steps to form a coordinating body for the liberation of Palestine.

The conference’s recommendations

“Occupation” is, in essence, a system of control imposed on a society from outside it. “Liberation” is a project to dismantle this system and replace it with one that expresses the aspirations of the indigenous. Throughout history, national liberation movements have had visions for the future of their societies – the shape of the state after liberation. The recommendations of the conference come within this framework.

For example, the conference recommended: “The repatriation of Palestinian refugees should be gradual, a guide should be developed to explain the mechanism of organised return and Palestinians able to contribute with their capital to housing, employment and investment should be encouraged. The land should be returned to its owners as long as strategic interests and constructions are not built on it, and the owners should be compensated fairly, either by cash or real estate allowance (Recommendation 17).”

What about the fate of the settlers after liberation? The conference recommended: “A distinction should be made in the treatment of Jewish settlers in the land of Palestine, between a warrior who must be fought, a fugitive who can be left or prosecuted for crimes or a peaceful surrenderee who can be accommodated or given time to leave (Recommendation 15),” in line with the historical Palestinian vision for one state for all its citizens.

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With regard to legislation, the conference recommended: “Working with the laws that were in force before the establishment of the independent state as long as they do not contradict the principles contained in the Declaration of the State of Palestine or conflict with the laws that will be enacted and approved in the transitional phase or after the transitional phase until the unification of legislation in Palestine because the demise of states does not mean the demise of legal effects and laws can only be cancelled or modified by other laws (Recommendation 5).” The resolution stated: “The fate of international agreements signed by the occupation or the Palestinian Authority depends on the will of the State of Palestine upon liberation.” It further recommended: “Forming a committee of legal experts to study all agreements, treaties and organisations to which the State of Israel has acceded and determine which treaties will be inherited by the State of Palestine by choice and which will not.” (Recommendation 9).”

The Palestine Liberation Commission

The first three recommendations regarding the Palestine Liberation Commission were distinct in that they mainly related to the liberation process itself. They called for: “The formation of a Palestine Liberation Commission from all Palestinian and Arab forces that embrace the idea of liberating Palestine, supported by an alliance of friendly countries.” It defined its responsibility as: “Developing a plan that utilises the energies of the nation and distributing roles to its components, each according to their capabilities.”

The past year has shown the need for such a coordinating body, as it has become clear that there is almost no coordination among the forces espousing the liberation of Palestine, whether in the fields of narrative warfare, armed resistance, media efforts, boycotts, direct action, legal efforts or others, resulting in wasted energies, missed opportunities and fragmenting the discourse.

For example, Hamas responded to the enemy’s accusation of “targeting civilians”, the main argument it used to justify its genocide, in several forms, particularly the document “Our Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood?” which reiterated the movement’s stance that: “Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women and elderly people is a religious and moral commitment by all the Al-Qassam Brigades’ fighters.” It emphasised that on 7 October: “The Palestinian fighters only targeted the occupation soldiers and those who carried weapons against our people [and] were keen to avoid harming civilians,” explaining that Israeli non-combatants were killed either by the occupation army, by non-organised Palestinians or during the crossfire. However, hardly any effort was made to convey this message to governments, political officials, political movements, Jewish anti-Zionist organisations, traditional and non-traditional media, solidarity movements, activists and others. Although the “Our Narrative” file was translated into ten languages, Hebrew was not one of them, and no effort was made to convey our narrative to Israelis. Even the Hebrew-language resistance videos were not delivered to Israelis.

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Hamas leaders such as Osama Hamdan or Musa Abu Marzouk, and Islamic Jihad leaders such as Muhammad Al-Hindi, have repeatedly rejected the concept of “cleansing Palestine of Jews” and unequivocally mentioned the possibility of previous Israelis remaining as equal Palestinian citizens after liberation. This is consistent with the aforementioned conference recommendations and the historical position of the Palestinian liberation movement. Unfortunately, this vision was not publicised either to settlers in Palestine or to the outside world. This made it easy for the colony to beat the drums of war among the settlers, to portray the 7 October military operation as an attack on the Jews and to conclude that Jews had no choice but to pre-emptively annihilate the Palestinians.

This gap in the liberation discourse also allowed the colony’s allies in Europe and North America to portray expressions such as “Free Palestine” or “From the River to the Sea” to refer to the deportation and/or extermination of Jews. Hardly any efforts were made by the Palestinian resistance to challenge the enemy’s narrative warfare and to provide allies abroad with any guidance on the topic. At the same time, the absence of a clear liberation discourse has allowed the Palestinian cause to be diluted by portraying it as a mere demand for equal rights or ending apartheid, or by calling for proposals that accommodate Zionism such as two states or bi-nationalism.

Sinwar was assassinated, but the need for these two objectives is still there: first, by centring the Palestinian liberation discourse on a clear vision for a single Palestinian state for all its citizens and second, by forming a body that adopts this vision and coordinates efforts among the forces adopting it. These objectives will not, however, miraculously self-accomplish. Palestinians, Israeli allies and those who long for a free Palestine around the world are called upon to work towards them.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.