Dear world: This is what Palestinian unity looks like

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced by Israel forces, return their houses through Al-Rashid Street on the coastal strip following the ceasefire agreement in Gaza City, Gaza on January 27, 2025. [Stringer – Anadolu Agency]

Even those of us who have long emphasised the importance of the Palestinian people’s voice, experience, and collective action in Palestinian history must have been shocked by the cultural revolution resulting from the Israeli war against the people in Gaza. By cultural revolution, I mean the defiant and rebellious narrative evolving in Gaza, where people see themselves as active participants in the popular resistance, not just mere victims of the Israeli war machine.

When the ceasefire was announced on the 471st day of the Israeli genocide, The Palestinians in Gaza rushed onto the streets in celebration. Media outlets reported that they were celebrating the ceasefire, but judging by their chants, songs, and symbolisms they were celebrating their collective victory, steadfastness (sumud) and resilience against the powerful Israeli army, which has been and remains supported by the US and other Western countries.

Using basic tools, they hurried to clean their streets, clearing debris to allow the displaced to search for homes. Although their homes were probably destroyed by Israel – 90 per cent of Gaza’s housing units were, according to the United Nations – they were still happy, even if they could only sit on the rubble. Some prayed atop concrete slabs, some sang in large, growing crowds, and others cried but insisted that no power could ever uproot them from Palestine again.

Social media was flooded with Palestinians expressing a mix of emotions, although they were mostly defiant, expressing their resolve not just in political terms, but also in other ways, including humour.

Of course, the bodybuilders returned to their gyms to find them also mostly destroyed. Rather than lament their losses, though, they salvaged machines and resumed training amid collapsed walls and ceilings punctured by Israeli missiles.

There was also a father and son who composed a song in the ahazej style, a traditional Levantine vocalisation.

The son, overjoyed to find his father alive, was reassured by him that they would never abandon their homeland.

As for the children – 14,500 of whom were killed by Israel, according to UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) – they resumed their childhood. They laid claim to destroyed Israeli tanks in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and elsewhere as their new playground equipment.

One teenager pretended to be a scrap metal salesman and yelled, “An Israeli Merkava tank for sale,” as his friends filmed him and laughed. “Make sure you send this video to [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he added before moving on, unfazed.

This does not mean that Gaza is free of unimaginable pain, which is difficult for the rest of the world to fully comprehend. The emotional and psychological scars of the war will last a lifetime, and many will never recover fully from the trauma. But Palestinians in Gaza know that they cannot afford to grieve in the usual way. So, they emphasise their identity, unity and defiance as ways to overcome grief.

In parallel with its military assault on Gaza since 7 October, 2023, Israel has invested heavily in dividing the Palestinian people and trying to shatter their spirit. In Gaza, it dropped millions of flyers from warplanes on starving refugees, urging them to rebel against Palestinian factions by providing Israel with names of “troublemakers”. The Israeli army offered large rewards for such information, but little was achieved.

These flyers also called for tribal leaders to take control of their areas in exchange for food and protection. To punish those who resisted, Israel systematically killed clan representatives and councillors who tried to distribute aid throughout Gaza, especially in the north where famine was devastating.

Against overwhelming odds, though, Palestinians remained united.

When the ceasefire was declared, they celebrated as one nation. With Gaza destroyed, Israel’s actions obliterated Gaza’s class, regional, ideological and political divisions. Everyone in Gaza became a refugee: the rich, poor, Muslim, Christian, city dwellers and refugee camp residents; all were affected equally.

The unity that remains in Gaza, after one of the most horrific genocides in modern history, should serve as a wake-up call. The narrative that Palestinians are divided and need to “find common ground” has proven false.

With the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank aiding Israel’s war on Jenin and other refugee camps, the old notion of political unity through a merger of the PA and various Palestinian factions is no longer viable. The reality is that the fragmentation of the Palestinian political landscape cannot be solved through mere political agreements or negotiations between factions.

A different kind of unity has already taken root in Gaza and, by extension, across Palestinian communities in occupied Palestine and the rest of the world. This unity is visible in the millions of Palestinians who have demonstrated against the war, chanted for Gaza, cried for Gaza, and developed a new political discourse around it.

This unity does not rely on talking heads on Arabic satellite channels or secret meetings in expensive hotels. It needs no diplomatic talks. Years of endless discussions, “unity documents” and fiery speeches only led to disappointment.

The true unity has already been achieved, felt in the voices of ordinary people who no longer identify as members of factions. They are Gazzawiyya. Palestinians from Gaza, and nothing else.

This is the true unity that must now form the foundation of a new discourse.