| May 15, 2026: A Palestinian State Of the 76 years of Israel’s apartheid and occupation of Palestinians, it was only in the last year that the world finally woke up to its brutality - Israeli soldiers laughing at the cruelty they inflict on Palestinian civilians, Israeli citizens indignant of Israeli people’s right to rape Palestinians, the mocking of Palestinian amputees flooding the Para-Olympics, and of course the videos of children decapitated by bombs from the United States and dropped by Israel. I can go on and on about the capitulation of the American government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide, the complete revelation of the farce of so called “international rules based order”, or the disgusting manner in which Biden’s administration has violated America’s Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. government from providing military assistance to foreign security forces that have committed gross violations of human rights. With the U.S. AID and his own State department providing detailed evidence of obstruction of humanitarian aid by Israel, Secretary of State Blinken lied to Congress reporting to the contrary thus enabling more shipment of arms to Israel. It's a rage that will fill me for the rest of my life. Despite the human rights violations we witnessed in the past one year, I believe the emergence of a Palestinian state is inevitable. I believe truth, human rights, and human dignity will win. Because Truth, as revealed by our social media feeds from Palestinian citizen journalists such as Bisan Owda and Motaz Azaiza to name a few, cannot be silenced or censored. That truth has opened up billions of peoples’ hearts, exhibited by the millions who continue to demonstrate in the streets all over the world; the majority of Americans who want a ceasefire and for Palestinian statehood; the votes at the U.N. General Assembly for Palestinian statehood; the slew of heads of states and their foreign ministers from the global South and North who have spoken up for the Palestinian cause; and the ICC and ICJ rulings. And that’s not all that gives me hope. Early in September at the Bahrain Summit, Arab countries convened, with Iran at the table, and called for setting a timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Here in the U.S. we see speaking tours by Salt of the Earth, a Palestinian man and an ex-IDF sharing their stories and the path forward. We are happy to sponsor this effort in partnership with MPV-San Francisco, and you can read about it below. Like all human rights issues, I’ve learned you cannot move the ball forward without each party getting something out of it. For Israel, continuing to be a pariah state, to feel besieged, is not a way to exist. For Palestinians, to be free of being besieged is the only way to exist. For its neighbors, to be able to live without fear without the cloud of war and to replace resources spent on their militaries with investments in education and development. And for Americans, well we could definitely use the billions pumped into Israel, Jordan and Egypt to alleviate poverty, provide free education and health care to millions in need, and strengthen our own infrastructure in the face of the increasing threats of climate change. I will put May 15, 2026 down as the date for the rebirth of a Palestinian State. A date that can be both a celebration and a reminder of the nakba. Onward and upward… Ani Zonneveld President and Founder of Muslims for Progressive Values |
