When then-prime minister Ehud Barak returned from failed negotiations at Camp David, he expressed pride in one achievement: tearing the masks away from the faces of the Palestinians. That’s where the “no partner” spin came from. The facts from that point onward are familiar to everyone.
"Tearing away masks" is also at the foundation of the non-violent struggle that Palestinian activists have been conducting for close to a decade. What started as spontaneous and sporadic demonstrations — against the construction of the Israeli separation barrier on Palestinian village lands — has developed in recent years into a strategic choice to which wide portions of the Palestinian public and leadership are partner. A symbolic indication of such can be seen in the repeated attendance of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at the annual conference in the village of Bil’in, organized by members of the Popular Committees, which is behind the struggle.
