Can We Rank Palestinian Organizations According to Extremism?

by Charles Lenchner · 2008-11-17 18:46:00 UTC
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This is an idea, so bear with me. What if we developed a measure for evaluating Palestinian or pro-Palestinian organizations, based on their state positions, behavior and reputation? 'Extremism is such a clunky word to use in this context, so let's find another one.

Here's how it goes. We have three measures, and any given group gets a rank of 1-5.

Violence:

  1. Rejects the use of violence on principle OR as ineffective in the pursuit of Palestinian rights.

  2. Mostly rejects armed struggle and terrorism on strategic grounds. Probably not horribly upset at stone throwing and 'spirited' demonstrations.

  3. Average score, representing the mid point of Palestinian public opinion. Accepts the legitimacy of armed struggle, including some actions aimed at civilians. However, is willing to stop all violence in exchange for concessions from Israel. Not sure that violence is effective, but 'what choice is there?'

  4. Sort of gung-ho about the armed struggle, which has a mythic connotation among the Palestinian resistance groups. Embrace the strategy of terror aimed at Israeli civilians as wholly legitimate under the circumstances, with no misgivings.

  5. Reject any attempt to compromise with the Zionist enemy, which must be fought until the end. No peace with Zionists!

To help us get acquainted with this scoring system, let's fit some groups into the mix:

  1. Sabeel, Holy Land Trust, Nonviolence International, AFSC, Christian Peacemakers Team

  2. Palestinian People's Party, government of Mahmoud Abbas, Fateh senior leadership, International Solidarity Movement, United for Peace and Justice, Anarchists Against the Wall

  3. Fateh grassroots, PFLP, US Campaign Against the Occupation, International Answer

  4. Hamas, some hard-line elements with Fateh, PLO remnants in Lebanon, al-Awda

  5. Palestinian Islamic Jihad, sympathizers with Al-Qaida

Now this is just a draft... We'll work on it over the course of a few days. What do folks think? Are there groups I've placed in the wrong category? Feel free to add groups below with the rank you think they deserve. A future post will add another category and ranking system. Stay tuned!

PS: I'm looking for guest bloggers to post here. Agreeing with my views is not required. Message me if you are interested.

PPS: We'll be doing this for Israeli and pro-Israeli groups as well.

Charles Lenchner
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