The first challenge is to truly put global perspectives at the heart of Palestinian strategic thinking. Such a challenge goes far beyond reforming old alliances and enmities or using a different vocabulary ? it requires a genuine Copernican revolution. For, in the last three years, Palestine has been the heart of the great international movement against capitalist globalisation and war. Everywhere in the world, in the ?South? as well as the ?North?, millions of people are demonstrating their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

I remember the huge demonstration at the European Social Forum in Florence: not only in the Arab blocks and the ?Solidarity with Palestine? blocks were there Palestinian flags, but even in the sections of workers and unions, one could see thousands of people carrying it. It reminded me of the 1960s and ?70s, when we used to come to every demonstration with the Vietnamese flag. Palestine has become the Vietnam of the 21st century. Palestine is the heart of the anti-globalisation movement. However, many internationals have visited Palestine and come away feeling that the relationship is not reciprocal, that the Palestinian struggle looks only to itself, and that the activists in the Palestinian national movement do not understand the importance of the huge global anti-war movement for their own cause.

We still have to put the global in the heart of the Palestinian strategy. The global phase of imperialism is different from previous phases, and the relationship between activists around the world and Palestine must be different too. It can no longer be limited to international solidarity with the national liberation struggle of the Palestinian people, because in this new global reality there are no more local conflicts ? only local battles within a single global war, between global capitalism and the working people of the whole planet. We must therefore coordinate our efforts on a global scale to win this war, not only in Palestine, but also in Afghanistan, Columbia, Tchad, Iraq? This is a challenge that has yet to be met, and a challenge which requires our foremost attention.

The second and more immediate challenge is to develop an efficient Palestinian-Israeli anti-colonial and anti-war cooperation. To conduct a political meeting in Bethlehem, Palestine, with the participation of some 50 Israeli anti-colonialist activists, in today?s climate, is far from being an obvious event. It is not an obvious event for our Palestinian comrades either. For political reasons, the reluctance of many Palestinian activists to handle ?dialogue? with Israelis is well known, and fully justified and legitimate.

This is where the role of the international activists who are with us becomes vital. Allow me to quote a well-known Lebanese activist involved both in the world social movement and in the solidarity movement with Palestine, Nahla Chahal, who wrote in a letter to Via Campesina leader Paul Nicholson the following:

? the role of the internationals is to facilitate Israeli- Palestinian contact, and in the medium term, to help stabilise the results. They need an outside eye and guarantee. Over the years we have gathered much experience in this issue, and developed the concept of a ?triangle?, in which the internationals are one element. We are not trying to invent a role for internationals, but to provide an answer to a real need. In this conflict there is too much passion, too much sensitivity, too many temptations to hide and too many ?tactics?: the internationals can help to minimise these aspects?

Indeed, we are building this triangle ? Palestinians, Israelis and internationals ? elaborating a new spirit of global cooperation. Together, we are seeking the new strategies needed here in Palestine to win our joint battle for Palestinian freedom as part of our worldwide war for another world. Because another world is not only possible ? a world without wars, exploitation and repression is necessary for the sake of all our children.