CaitlinHowarth's blog

Will Palestine’s "Generation Oslo" be the game-changer in the West Bank?

Last Friday, Muhammad Khatib walked down a long country road toward a security fence. For the last six years, he and a cadre of nonviolent protesters have made their way down the road every Friday. And every Friday, they have been met with tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades. Some protesters threw stones in response. Most would retreat, burned by the gas or hit by the bullets.

Last Friday, Khatib and his fellow protesters marched for the last time in Bilin.

The campaign to reclaim land in the small Palestinian village of Bilin was marching in victory: the security wall deemed illegal in 2007 by the Israeli Supreme Court is being rolled back. While organizers debate the next phase of their campaign, this nonviolent movement’s success marks yet another victory for the Arab Spring.

Whether it will be a game changer in the West Bank depends on whether Khatib and the rest of Palestine’s “Generation Oslo” become the face of Palestinian leadership. Frustration over years of legal battles in Israel’s courts and at the International Court of Justice leave many convinced that Tel Aviv’s ‘wait it out’ policy may ultimately prevail, giving settlers enough time to establish communities that will be difficult to unroot. The youthful leaders like those at the center of events in Tunis and Tahrir Square have little access to power in the Palestinian Authority or political parties. And the longstanding dispute over whether Hamas can join in any legitimate Palestinian government, let alone in peace negotiations with Israel, is a constant source of tension that threatens to unravel any progress.

All the more reason, then, to believe in Bilin. Palestinians face a critical moment in the months ahead: namely, whether or not a third intifada (popular uprising) will take place in September, when Palestine approaches the UN to claim international recognition of its statehood. Whether that uprising will occur as it did it Tahrir — and with as much call for fresh Palestinian leadership as for liberation from Israeli occupation — depends largely on successful organizing among Palestine’s well-educated, under-employed youth. Cut off from job opportunities, Generation Oslo spends its time studying; its literacy rate is estimated above 94%, more than 20 points higher than Egypt’s. Brian drain from students leaving the territories in search of higher education and jobs has created a diaspora with precisely the kinds of diplomatic, financial, and organizational resources needed to help rebuild the West Bank and Gaza.

But jobs alone will not be enough to create a stable, thriving Palestine; nor will the old, hard-line leaders in Ramallah, Gaza, or Tel Aviv accomplish a lasting peace. The next generation, some of whom I was lucky to meet during a recent trip to the West Bank, understands both the tough game of politics and the power of hope. They, like so many young leaders I worked with in the States, are both deeply pragmatic and fundamentally driven by basic values. They aspire to nothing more — and nothing less — than human dignity. All they need is the opportunity to break free of an old and limited political paradigm.

For many, international recognition of Palestine could be a catalyst moment for the Oslo Generation to take charge. And despite all the complexities unique to Palestine and Israel, this next generation of leaders should hold one thing constant from the last year of revolution: a commitment to nonviolence. Leaders like Muhammah Khatib understand the uncompromising power that comes from walking toward walls with no protection other than their faith in each other. That is the power that makes everything else possible.

Let’s hope the Oslo Generation believes in Bilin.

(This article was originally posted at New Deal 2.0)

After being told that they would have a polling site on campus, students at South Carolina State discovered that they would have to find another way to cast their ballots. The site they had been promised was open – just not for them.

“[Students] were told they could vote on campus at Smith Hammond Middleton Center. What’s confusing is that the school across the yard, Claflin University, their students are able to vote at SMH. We’re trying to figure out who gave the SC State students the information that their polling place was on campus,” said Mr. Akeem Brown, political action chair for the South Carolina NAACP.

“We don’t want anyone to get students to cast provisional ballots. Once people get to polling places they are finding [that] they are on the rolls,” Brown continued. The NAACP has been shuttling students to two nearby schools where they can vote; while the elementary school is relatively close by, the middle school is a 30 minute drive away.

Claflin and SC State are located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and are represented by Congressman Jim Clyburn (D – SC 6) and Republican Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham. The 6th District includes no less than sixteen colleges and universities. Both Claflin and SC State are recognized as HBCUs; SC State has approximately 3600 undergraduate students.

Confusion over which address to cite for voter registration cards seems to be at the heart of the matter, a problem both particularly common among student populations and particularly difficult to unravel on election day. “I’m really proud of these kids of standing in long lines in the rain and being so determined to vote. But this is a letdown to them . . . This is what the Legislative Delegation told me would not be a problem,” Brown concluded. Despite the NAACP’s efforts and students’ desire to vote in this historic election, many students in South Carolina have already headed home, believing that they registered and planned in vain.

To contact the NAACP Youth Division, email sbrown@naacpnet.org or Caitlin.howarth@gmail.com

In one of the more uplifting stories of the day, the University of Arizona is showing great success in student voter turnout. Having pushed hard for early turnout to pre-Election Day polls both on- and off-campus, student organizers counted upwards of 3000 young voters at the polls. Considering that they had collected 4,193 student pledges to vote, those numbers are impressive.

“We’ve made over 8000 phone calls and face-to-face contacts,” said organizer Erin Hertzog of the Arizona Students’ Association. “We sent over 17,000 text messages to remind people to vote, and lines at the early voting polls were sometimes over 4 hours long.”

The aggressive GOTV effort was prompted by Arizona’s voter identification requirements, which are themselves among the most aggressive in the nation. Having been strengthened by Proposition 200 in the 2004 midterm elections, the state of Arizona requires stringent verification of each voter’s residence; residency needs to match a photo ID or be supported by extra documentation, such as a utility bill. Students who have legally registered in their university’s district have a particularly difficult time meeting ID requirements. Even students who have already voted in Tucson found the requirements difficult to meet, as their drivers’ licenses don’t often match their polling location. "Most people assume that showing up with a photo ID and their voter registration card will be enough, but that's not the case," said Arizona senior Kendal Nystedt. "Many students didn't realize that the requirements had changed since 2004."

One freshman in Tucson seemed out of luck when he arrived found that he could not meet the ID requirements. Rather than simply turning him away, a fellow student ferried the freshman around town so that he could assemble proper documentation and cast his vote. The good Samaritan wasn’t even a U.S. citizen – Azad Hosseini, an international student from Iran, volunteered because he saw just how important every person’s vote can be.

Students continue to drive each other to the polls, and even to the county recorder’s office and the DMV. No matter what it takes, Tucson’s students are determined to have their votes cast.

And it seems to be working. While other schools are reporting major problems and high percentages of provisional ballot use, Arizona’s students say that they’ve got some of the lowest provisional ballot use in the country.

“Less than 1 percent of our students have had to use a provisional ballot today,” said Nystedt. “This has been a real success so far.”

For more information or to contact any of the people quoted, please email caitlin.howarth@gmail.com