Media and political statements about the Palestinian issue do not fit the reality on the ground

What is said in conferences is not like what is happening on the ground. I wrote this article from the heart of the West Bank, about a reality that does not promise any state.

RUBA AYYASH

Media and political statements about the Palestinian issue do not fit the reality on the ground. If you want to see this paradox through the eyes of a witness returning from the West Bank, you will see the growing gap between what is said on international platforms and what is actually lived on the streets, between homes, and at the crossings.

International movements are still limited to ministerial meetings and conferences with resonant titles, the latest of which was the “two-state solution” conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and as usual, these conferences come out with repeated statements bearing obsolete and obsolete phrases, such as “establishing the sovereignty of a Palestinian state,” “reaching a lasting and just solution,” and “ending the suffering of the Palestinian people.”

In the West Bank, the reality is that Israel has comprehensive security and military control. In cities like Jenin, there is virtually no Palestinian security forces to regulate traffic, not to control markets, not to impose order. What kind of Palestinian sovereignty can we talk about? How can solutions be discussed in light of a reality tainted by geographical, logistical, service, and security challenges?

The role of the Palestinian Authority has become limited to providing minimal administrative services, with a symbolic presence that barely moves the wheel of life. The main roads between Palestinian cities are under full Israeli control, and the checkpoints between cities are subject to the mood of the Israeli army. The crossings are managed and closed by Israeli decisions, and the economic situation is suffocating, constrained by Israel’s decisions and the temperament of its authorities. On the security front, arrests are daily, and any form of popular expression, even if symbolic as a rose, is met with excessive force.

So, in the face of these policies that continue openly and silently, which Palestinian state are we talking about? And what two-state solution is on the table? What sovereignty is being promoted? Reality confirms that we are far from a just solution to the Palestinian issue.

As a witness who recently returned from the West Bank, and especially from Jenin, I can say that every Israeli move points to an actual expansionist project, not a settlement. The scenario of imposing legal and official Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank may become very soon. There is a clear path to isolating Palestinian cities and turning them into population centers surrounded by walls, checkpoints, and complete military and economic control.

In contrast, the PA appears to be a threatened administrative entity, whose future is uncertain. Will it remain as a limited services authority? Or is it being gradually dismantled? Could the idea of political separation from Ramallah, which was put forward in Hebron, become an experimental model for managing each Palestinian area independently?

What is clear is that there is already a separation, not only between Gaza and the West Bank, but even within the West Bank itself. The Palestinian of Ramallah is not like the Palestinian of Jenin, neither in his circumstances, nor in his services, nor in his security. This gap is manifested in weak organization, infrastructure, market control, prevention of security chaos, and even the payment of salaries. These are not simple details of life, but rather a lack of a comprehensive ability to manage, and a reality completely separate from what is said in the media discourses.

Gaza, for its part, is completely out of the reckoning. It is a terrifying humanitarian issue that has been left to death or to the seasonal media hype, without any real attempts to understand the magnitude of the tragedy there. The Palestinian Authority is incapable of managing it, and the reality confirms that the future of Palestine, both real and destined, is not in the hands of the Palestinians, but in the hands of Israel.

Only those who are able to put serious pressure on Tel Aviv can make a difference.

RUBA AYYASH: Multimedia Journalist @ Sky News Arabia ; Master’s in Journalism, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates. [Headline Image from www.tdh.org]

31-07-2025

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