When I used to live in Palestine, I would become so frustrated with the Israeli governments policies, everyday terror tactics and demeaning collective punishments that I would promise myself, every day, that when I returned to America I would let everyone know how the Palestinians were treated and how angry and frustrated we were as a people. Keep in mind that the majority of my living conditions ocurred during the so called peace treaty, between 1993 and 1998. Most would say that this was a good time to be a Palestinian, considering our usual living conditions. Sadly, that doesn't say much about the current living conditions for Palestinians.
I'm ashamed to say that once I returned to America, I quickly adapted to the comfortable lifestyle. It seems that not worrying about checkpoints, angry teenage Israeli soldiers with guns and the illegal whims of the Israeli government, quickly got to my head. I didn't keep my end of the bargain. Sure, I have friends and relatively interested aquaintances who I've explained "the situation" to whenever convenient. But my action, or rather, inaction since my return here has been disappointing to say the least. I have to wonder, if living in an apartheid isn't enough to use my freedom here to try to better the situation of the Palestinians left behind, how on Earth can I get anyone else here to make a change or expect anyone else to care.
Convenience has always been one of the practices that I've blamed governments for, in the past. If a situation or dilemma inconveniences a government, they set it aside or ignore the issue, maybe making a statement to shut up the arguers. Unbeknownst to myself, I began to adopt and depend on convenience as well. If I became tired with an issue, I turned off the TV. In Palestine, you can't turn life off. It just keeps going, no matter how difficult facing it is.
Here I am, having come full circle, almost as frustrated as if I were still living there. I feel like I can't even do anything, when I know full well that I have all the tools and freedom necessary to actually do something.
I'm in an almost paradoxical situation. In one sense, I've never in my life been more proud to be Palestinian American. It's knowing that the striving and hardships our people have gone through have made them, and me, stronger. We are so secure in our convictions and belief that the occupation of Palestine and treatment of Palestinians are wrong. It makes us more sympathetic to the causes around us because we know what it feels like and that is truely a blessing in disguise.
It's hard to explain. To give you an example, it's like having someone you love contract Cancer and see how miserable they feel. You know that you must do anything and everything you can to find a cure for that disease. Perhaps this new sense of responsibility will help someone else in the long run. If you hadn't had that person face the disease, you, sadly, would not have cared or sympathised as much , if it did not directly affect you.
In another sense, I've never been more ashamed to be a Palestinian, because I, again, know full well the hardships the Palestinians continue to endure, have lived even a fraction of it and I haven't even been close to doing what I'm capable of doing to help. My responsibility as a Palestinian American is to change what is happening to the Palestinians and I'm not coming through for them. In that sense, I've failed them and myself.
What's even more frustrating is how biased the news is. Even PBS, for God's sake, was doing a report about the Palestinian-Israeli situation recently in which they strongly suggested that the Israeli created "Apartheid Wall" which they built on illegally occupied and confiscated Palestinian land was mostly the reason for the diminishment of suicide bombings and security of Israel. The fact the wall destroyed Palestinians' homes, land agriculture, way of life and separated families was an afterthought. It felt like a footnote the reporter suggested because it was an obligation. It seems like anything the media reports about the Palestinians' lives are obligated footnotes, if any. They've made up their minds. Israel is America's ally and that is the end of discussion.
Here's a few things points of interest ignored by the media...
1.) Palestinians, and frankly the Arab world, view Sharon, Israel's so called warrior/hardliner and Bush's "man of peace" as a genocidal maniac and war criminal. Following the horrendous massacres at Sabra and Shatila, Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon, in 1982 "Sharon and seven other Israeli officials, including Begin, were found guilty the next year by an Israeli commission of “indirect responsibility” for the massacres. Sharon was also found to have “personal responsibility,” and he was ordered to resign or be removed as defense minister."
In one account of that night, "Phalangists killed civilians indiscriminately in the camps. There were no PLO guerrillas, though Israel had claimed there were, so the women, children and old victims were defenseless. Whole families were gunned down or knifed to death. One infant was stomped to death by a man wearing spiked shoes. Another refugee was killed by live grenades draped around his neck.[12] Bulldozers were brought in, mass graves hastily dug and truck loads of bodies dumped in them. Throughout the night, the shooting and the screams did not stop.[13] The killing lasted until the morning of Sept. 18." "The official Israeli commission of inquiry into the massacres concluded that 700 to 800 persons had been killed in the two camps.[14] Non-Israeli estimates were considerably higher. The Palestine Red Crescent put the number at over 2,000, while Lebanese authorities reported that 762 bodies were recovered and 1,200 death certificates issued.[15]" (http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/print.asp?ID=187)
2.)Needless to say, the Palestinians were disgusted at Israel's election of Sharon in 2000. In this sense, Palestinians scoff at Israel's suggestion that Hamas, a group the Israelis and Americans have listed as a terrorist organization, has no place in government and that the Palestinians have made a decision against peace. To Palestinians, all the leaders the Israelis have been choosing have had no inclination towards peace. The illegal Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land alone shows the Palestinians that actions speak louder than words. Telling a nation that peace is the only way and showing them that settlements are built on Palestinian land regardless of the legality and ethics are another thing. In an article of the New York Times published on April 14, 1983 "Raphael Eitan, Israel's military chief of staff, speaking of plans to increase Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, said: “When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be scurry around like drugged roaches in a bottle.” (http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/print.asp?ID=187)
To help you understand what Israeli settlements are, here's a definition from "http://www.palestinemonitor.org/factsheet/settlement.html":
"Settlements are essentially large housing projects built illegally by Israel on land confiscated from Palestinians within the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. These settlements are joined to each other and to Israel through "by-pass" roads, which are for the exclusive use of Israelis and which are also built on privately owned Palestinian land confiscated by the Israeli government. Israeli settlements affect Palestinian daily life and impact long-term Palestinian developmental needs. They ensure that Palestinians live in a continuous state of insecurity and fragmentation and therefore prevent economic, social and political development."
What Americans do not know is that, "The population growth within the Israeli settlements is almost four times greater than that of Israel itself, contradicting any claim that this increase is due to "natural population growth". According to the Israeli Bureau of Statistics the percentage of increase in population in the settlements from 1995 to the end of 1998 was 24.8% as compared to 6.6% in Israel." (http://www.palestinemonitor.org/factsheet/settlement.html)
What's even more frightening, "Built-up Israeli settlement areas in the West Bank cover less than 2 percent of the land, but government planners have intentionally given settlers control of more than 40 percent, the Israeli human rights monitoring group B'Tselem said(...)" (http://www.rense.com/general25/40.htm).
3.) Finally, the Palestinian turnout in the elections showed how hungry the Palestinians were for democracy, something many Americans and Israelis question, when 77% of at least 1.5 million eligable Palestinian voters voted. If so, this shows that 77% of eligable occupied voters living in squalor were more willing to vote than the roughly 50% of Americans, in the most recent elections, living in over 200 years of independence. Although many question the voting choice of Palestinians, I have two things to point out.
1.) one name for you: George W. Bush. There's no excuse for THAT.
2.) Although many view the recent election results as a Palestinian step away from peace, an upcoming Newsweek article I read which can be seen at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080943/site/newsweek/, showed some interesting statistics. Among them, "Three quarters of all Palestinians, including more than 60 percent of Hamas supporters, are willing to support reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis based on a two-state solution." Please read the article, it's very inciteful.
Perhaps I've written much more than people generally care to read or hear about. But if I, as Palestinian, can't even find the time of day to write a blog entry even scratching the surface of the Palestinian issue, when exactly should I expect the rest of the world to care?
For more information on the Massacre of Sabra and Shatila, among countless websites, you can visit:
2 comments:
hell yes. you said what needed to be said. your #1 groupie has spoken.
Great work
Your real secret admirer! :)
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