Publication
Omar Shaban Ismail · صحيفة محلية · 1999
A 1999 call-to-action article advocating for practical initiative and community-led development action rather than mere complaint and negativity, drawing on a constructive philosophy that believes in the transformative power of individual and collective agency in Palestinian society.
A 1999 call-to-action article advocating for practical initiative and community-led development action rather than mere complaint and negativity, drawing on…
There are two contrasting patterns of response to the difficult reality facing Palestinian society: the pattern of constant complaint and cursing without action, and the pattern of initiative and work that transforms complaint into project and problem into solution.
Under the extraordinary circumstances Palestinian society faces, the darkness is real and the reasons for complaint are legitimate — but complaint alone changes no reality, builds no economy, and creates no job opportunity. What the current period demands is a culture of initiative that nourishes economic and social resilience: initiatives in education and vocational training; initiatives in organizing small-scale popular savings and directing them toward productive investment; initiatives in developing local communities and municipal governance.
Palestinian civil society possesses the energies and competencies that make it capable of lighting many candles against the darkness — provided there is belief in the worth of action and the will to bring about change. The choice between cursing the darkness and lighting a candle is ultimately a choice about agency: whether we see ourselves as passive victims of circumstance or as active agents capable of shaping our collective future.
Topic: Palestinian Economy — Development · Civil Society · Initiative · Community Action · Palestinian Society