Demotix/Mhamed Hajjar. All rights reserved.
The leader of a new intifada will come from among Palestinian youth currently leading popular unrest across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, a senior member of Hamas has told Middle East Eye.
“The youth is leading everybody at the moment, with no particular person in charge,” said Ahmed Yousef, a former political advisor to the deputy chair of Hamas’ political bureau Ismail Haniyeh.
“I believe that once this [popular unrest] has grown into an intifada they will find someone among the youth who will create a name for themselves. The [Palestinian] people will follow whoever that is and everybody will join from all the political factions.”
Yousef is seen by Hamas as a gateway to the west and regularly receives international delegations in Gaza. He spent many years living in the United States before returning to Gaza in 2005, following Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.
The 65-year-old is now head of the Palestinian Institute for Conflict Resolution and Governance in Gaza, after serving Hamas in numerous senior positions, and remains an influential figure within the movement.
Speaking to MEE by phone on Thursday, Yousef urged Palestinians not be “stuck in the mindset” of looking for leadership from the current crop of politicians. He said it was time for the younger generation of Palestinians to take control of the struggle for statehood.
While many commentators have described violence gripping Israel and Palestine—50 Palestinians and eight Israelis have been killed in October—as the beginning of a new intifada, Yousef said it was still too early to declare a third Palestinian uprising.
The last intifada, which lasted for five years and ended in 2005, saw the deaths of over 3,000 Palestinians and more than 1,000 Israelis.
