China and the Question of Palestine
This event is co-presented by SFU's David Lam Centre.
On popular Arabic-language Shi鈥檌te websites, one can find an amusing apocryphal narration about the first meeting between Ahmad al-Shuqayiri, the first Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and Mao Zedong, sometime in the mid-1960s. To the former鈥檚 plea asking 鈥渢o be taught revolution,鈥� the latter deflectively retorted 鈥渉ow could I teach you revolution, when you have the revolution of Imam Hussein [to emulate]?鈥� Though undoubtedly a myth (and part of a fascinating hagiographic tradition in its own right), this short story inadvertently captures an enduring theme in the optics surrounding Sino-Palestinian relations: of high-hopes combined with limited (or even non-) delivery.
The talk explores the twists and turns of China鈥檚 official relationship with various Palestinian actors and its evolving approach towards the Palestine Question from the mid-twentieth century to the present. It also highlights the forces that feed into expectations of a larger Chinese role, and the realities (internal or regional) that circumscribe China's ability (and desire) to exert substantive influence in relation to the conflict.