Palestine Should Not Wait for Obama
Senior Fatah official Husam Zomlot speaks to Daoud Kuttab of the need for Palestinians to press ahead with their own strategic track, and not wait for the United States to impose a solution.
![A Palestinian protester holds a flag during clashes between protesters and Israeli border policemen near Ramallah A Palestinian protester holds a flag during clashes between protesters and Israeli border policemen outside Israel's Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah February 15, 2013. Clashes broke out on Friday between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops following a protest calling for the release of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3DU35](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2013/02/RTR3DU35.jpg/RTR3DU35.jpg?h=29935e1d&itok=oP7Fm5QW)
As Palestinian political strategists are in the process of preparing for the first visit ever of President Barack Obama to the state of Palestine, new thinking is emerging. Instead of routinely preparing for a set of demands and tactical gains to be accomplished, some are worried that the visit might slow down a paradigm shift that has been taking place in the direction of the Palestinian leadership.
One of the young rising stars in the Fatah movement, Husam Zomlot, explains to Al-Monitor the new thinking using a sports metaphor, “For 20 years, we have been playing on someone else’s playground, according to their rules, their fans and even their referee.” Zomlot says that the playground is the peace process as it stands now, which treats both parties as equal, requires that they come to a compromise on their own with each side giving a little, with some possibilities of confidence-building measures in the process.