S. And other countries to carry out nonviolent direct actions as a means to oppose and end Israel's occupation. ISM provided medical assistance, delivered food, escorted people, rebuilt homes and dismantled roadblocks in Palestine (412). The Divest from Israel Campaign, made up of 50 major U.S. university campuses including Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Tufts and Cornell, served to inform many who were unaware of the university's holdings in Israel or of the Israeli/Palestinian occupation. There are also numerous boycott groups in Europe and activist Palestinian organizations. In short, she says, "a positive and just future for the Palestinians is intertwined with a better future for all the globe's citizens." (414)

Lastly, the late Edward Said, professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University and widely known as a representative of the post-structuralist left in America and strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, emphasized that the Palestinian issue is an issue for all of humankind. Palestine is not just an Arab and Islamic cause, but is important to many different, contradictory and yet intersecting worlds. What is needed is a highly educated, caring and sophisticated leadership and democratic support for these people. "Above all we must, as Mandela never tired of saying about his struggle, be aware that Palestine is one of the great moral causes of our time." Further, "As...

And that is something. It is for the generation of my children and yours, to go on from there, critically, rationally, with hope and forbearance" (np).
It is easy to be skeptical about the future of the Palestinians given the past thousand years and what has occurred in this small area of the world. However, the strong personal hopes that such historians and scholars as those noted above have about the future of the people of Palestine offer a belief that perhaps the centuries to come may enjoy some moments of peace.

Resources Cited

Columbia Encyclopedia. Sixth Edition. "Gaza." 2001-2005. 29 September 2005. http://www.bartleby.com/65/ga/Gaza.html

Lerner, Michael. The Geneva Accord. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2004.

Makovsky, David. Engagement through Disengagement. Washington, D.C.: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2005.

Pravda Ru. "What Next?" 19 Aug., 2005. Front Page.

Rubenberg, Cheryl. The Palestinians: In Search of a Just Peace. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003.

Said, Edward. "Thinking Ahead. After Survival, What Happens?" Al-Ahram Weekly.

4-10 April 2002. [electronic version].

Sukhitian. "Israel Completes Gaza Strip Pullout." Eugene, OR. Register…