What would a "Free Palestine" look like?
In recent weeks there has naturally been what I’ll diplomatically call a lot of talk about “Free Palestine”. Most of this rhetoric is quite clear in one thing: Palestine must be free from Israel. But, aside from that, there is no clear narrative around what a Free Palestine would look like, what it would mean in practical terms for Palestinians, Israelis and geopolitics, or what kind of Palestinian state is being advocated. The complete absence of any clear vision for Palestine means it’s very difficult to know what is being called for, other than an end to the status quo (which can be a useful start with any protest). But it matters because there are competing visions out there, with very different ideas of what a future Palestinian state should be. Let’s start with Hamas. There’s no equivocation there: Hamas exists to eliminate the State of Israel and replace it with an Islamic state. What Hamas intends to do with the 6.8million Jews who live in Israel is left to our imagination. Upr