Movie Review: Twelve Years a Slave – Decades of Occupation

This weekend I viewed the movie Twelve Years A Slave.  As I sat throughout the movie and for five minutes afterwards I was numb, bewildered and astonished, unable to move from my seat. I just don't know how African-Americans endured such cruelty, such horror, such brutality, such a violation of every indignity known to man. Then I thought about what Israel has done and is currently doing to the Palestinians and while I cannot personally relate and while I do not want to belittle the dreadful era of American history known as slavery, I am perplexed to understand how man can commit such inhuman violations upon his fellow man.  Slavery and occupation are abhorrent attributes of the evil that man can inflict upon man.  Slavery has been constitutional banned in America.  Occupation is still in our midst in Palestine.

Twelve Years A Slave is a powerful movie which depicts the savagery of slavery like no other movie ever has. The arousal of our emotions is deliberate but you have to be spineless if you are not moved- by the brutality of the long hours of hard labor; by the whippings, even for the minuscule deviation from the white master’s rules; by the cramped and unsanitary living conditions; by the indignity of being constantly raped by the master; and by a constant dehumanization of a race. But there is something more in this movie to make you wonder beyond what you see on the screen.  

As I scrutinized the movie on the big screen, I wondered how man can be so malevolent towards another, so callous to the deprivation of another’s human rights and so righteously barbarous even when interpreting the words of the Prince of Peace.  The lure of cheap labor and the exploitation of another unlike “your image” for profitable gain based on a warped perception of superiority over another race are powerful persuasive monetary and narcissistic incentives that induce the worst trait of human behavior to dominate.  Hitler used this glorified perception of superiority to attempt to conquer Europe and the world and also to attempt to annihilate the Jews.  The Southern Whites in pre-civil war America needed a cheap labor force to pick the cotton fields and chop the sugar canes in order to keep their large multi-acre plantations and lavish lifestyle and they justified their actions within their own twisted and malignant minds by using the words of Jesus in support of their immoralities. The exploitation of the “uneducated” Africans presented the cheap labor force needed by Southern Whites to perpetuate their decadently self-centered existence. Besides Africans were different than Whites and identifiable in such a way as to be controlled.  

Thank God for the abolition of slavery in America.

Within the 150 years after the abolition of slavery, we find that the lessons of how not to treat our fellow man have not been learned.

·        The egocentric Nazis attempted to claim the German race superior to all other people and they galvanized the emotional charge of a defeated nation in World War I into another world war that saw a holocaust beyond imagination. 

·        At its height, the British Empire colonized over 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time. The empire covered almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. Revolutions around the globe in America and India and elsewhere attest to the abomination of what Britain has done throughout the centuries to exploit other people.

White South Africans subjugated the native Black South Africans to apartheid in 1948 but the precursors to that system were embedded into that region over a century before. It was not until the release and election of Nelson Mandela (1990 and 1994 respectively) that the human spirit of the Black South Africans was set free.

Many countries in the world have not learned these lessons and therefore, much to the disappointment of those who champion human rights, we see repeated violations against humanity. Paradoxically, Israel, which should be the chief advocated of human rights given its citizen’s memory of the holocaust and their “never again” mantra, is the chief country which repeatedly violates the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding the protection afforded to civilians in an occupied territory.  Israeli atrocities against Palestinians have been documented extensively in the past forty to fifty years.

The brutal military occupation of Palestine by Israel is not unlike slavery in America and as I sat in my theater seat squirming within my mind at the horrific scenes of Twelve Years A Slave, I could not help recall what I read about the recently arrested Palestinian Rasmiah Odeh in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

As local news accounts flashed about Rasmiah having allegedly not disclosed her imprisonment by Israel for “terrorist” acts she allegedly committed in Jerusalem in 1969, I quickly did a quick Google search of her. To my amazement, the first thing I read was the following about her torturous interrogation by Israeli Mosad agents:  

In February 1969, Rasmiah Odeh was arrested and brought to Moscobiya [prison]. Her father, Joseph and two sisters were detained for interrogation. Joseph Odeh was kept in one room while Rasmiah was beaten nearby. When they brought him to her she was lying on the floor in blood stained clothes. Her face was blue, her eye black. In his presence, they held her down and shoved a stick up her vagina. One of the interrogators ordered Joseph Odeh "to fuck" his daughter. When he refused, they began beating both him and Rasmiah. They again spread her legs and shoved the stick into her. She was bleeding from the mouth, face and vagina when Joseph Odeh fell unconscious.  http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/Chapter22_1of4.htm

In Twelve Years a Slave there is a scene in which the main character, Solomon Northup, is ordered to whip a female slave, Patsey, and when he hesitates, a gun is pointed at his head as the enraged “master” threatens to indiscriminately kill all the “Niggers.”  Reluctantly, Solomon beats Patsey mercilessly and when his conscience no longer allows him to continue the whipping, the master takes over, but only to appease his wife as she knows that her licentious husband favors Patsey whom he repeatedly rapes.

That horrific scene on the big movie screen bellowed out the screams of Patsey but in my mind’s eye I also heard the screams of Rasmiah. The penetrating pain of whip marks upon Patseys’ back horrified me as I recalled the descriptive brutality inflicted upon Rasmiah.

Like the White Southern, the Israeli military brutality subjects Palestinians into a submissive state of being in order to exploit the cheap labor that Palestinians are compelled to offer the Israeli middle and upper class. Prior to the Oslo Accords, the Israeli military occupation administration of the West Bank and Gaza would not issue building permits for Palestinians (in Area A) thus leaving Palestinians clustered into shanty homes that can never be improved or expanded. This is not different than the shacks that were loosely built to house ten or more slaves in a single room.

Deprivation of basic rights such as housing, education, speech, assembly and representation in government are all denied by the oppressor. Slaves could not read or write and when Solomon is exposed as to his writing ability, he must deny it to save his hide from the wrath of an insecure oppressor who fears education among the oppressed. Israel routinely closes Palestinian schools and in many cases turned the buildings into military bases for the occupation.

According to a 2009 Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education report:

“Since 2004 the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] shelled and invaded 13 colleges and universities, “shelled and broken into”, 288 schools, overtook and converted 43 schools into military barracks, and disrupted 1125 school”.

During the First Intifada (which literally translates as the shaking off the occupation) in 1987 through 1992, Palestinian education was effectively made illegal by the Israeli occupation. Palestinian universities, schools and even Kindergartens were closed down by Israeli issued military order for nearly five years. http://organizations.bloomu.edu/gasi/2009%20Proceedings%20PDFs/RahmanImpact%20of%20the%20Israeli%20Occupation%20on%20Palestinian%20Education%20for%20GSIA.pdf

All this has come after the Oslo Accords (Treaty between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel) first signed in 1993 at the White House Rose Garden.

In Twelve Years A Slave, Solomon was once a free man and living comfortably as a violinist in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and two children.  He was separated from them when he went to Washington D.C. (a slave territory  at the time—about 1842) to perform when he was captured and covertly shipped to the deep South to be sold as a slave.  Other slaves never knew what being free meant as they were born into slavery. In Palestine, a great majority of Palestinians know nothing but the brutal Israeli military occupation. Generations are being born into a submissive state where a gun is pointed at their heads and while they are not slaves subjected to the cruelties of the White Southern as Africans, their human spirit is nevertheless imprisoned and they are not free.

In the end, Solomon was freed when a Canadian working with him on the plantation agreed to write a letter for him to his family. This started a chain of events (not in the film) which freed him back to his family. 

Who will write a letter of conscience to the world to set the Palestinian human spirits free?

(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)

Celebrating: Day Of The Land in the Diaspora

ONE PEOPLE, OUR LAND

America is known as the melting pot—meaning that many people come to the U.S. and melt in the social and community fabric that makes up this great nation.  Yet, as we, the Palestinian  community in the U.S. become a part of that social fabric by becoming voters and active participants in what makes the U.S. great, we also need to keep the beauty of the Palestinian culture alive in our hearts, our minds and our souls.

As Palestinians, we know too well the many attempts to eradicate our culture; to uproot our roots in terms of people and our commercial epicenter—the olive tree; to steal our culinary meals—humos;   to confiscate our land—ever increasing illegal settlements; and to prevent the unification of our political parties—blackmailing one party to not reconcile.

We know too well that we need to be one people on our land—Palestine.  We know too well that our enemy wants to remove us from our land, our Palestine, and they will use any means necessary.  They have and continue to use the “divide and conquer” methods to attempt to destroy our will.  They employ religious tactics to pit Christians and Muslim against each other; and they employ blackmail, war and political incentives to pit Fatah against Hamas.

Our enemy can use all the tactics at its disposal.  It can use military tanks and war planes to destroy our buildings, our schools, our hospitals, our universities, and our commercial centers. They can build an Apartheid Wall which divides our people from each other; which separate us from cultivating our land; and which isolates our towns and cities into separate Bantustans.  

However, there is one thing our enemy can never destroy. They can never destroy our will, that innate human spirit that inspires every human being to be free.  The human spirit inside us, inside the collective will of the Palestinian people, cannot be destroyed; it cannot be separated from our culture; it cannot be stolen by claiming our food as theirs; it cannot be eradicated by military might; and it cannot be blackmailed with piecemeal political incentives that divide our people.

No, our human spirit to be free from the chains of occupation and apartheid cannot be destroyed. It lives in each and every Palestinian. The human spirit lives in the grandfather that still has the key to his house in Yaffa (not Jaffa as our enemy calls it). The human spirit lives in the Palestinian boy who faced down our enemy’s tank with a stone. The human spirit is rooted in our people who steadfastly remain strong and remain on the land.

So we celebrate the DAY OF THE LAND together to energize our collective human spirit; to cultivate the human spirit of our culture in our children and to state that we are ONE PEOPLE who remain defiant against any attempt to separate us from OUR LAND. 

Oppose The Israeli Three State Solution

I have written in previous articles that Israelis are excellent at using words to manipulate the thought patterns of world public opinion, especially in the United States. They have, through the use of the word “terrorist” against the Palestinians, been able to monopolize a negative opinion of Palestinians in the US, although the history of the creation of the State of Israel is not without horrendous terrorist acts against Palestinians.  I have countered that it is the Israeli soldier that is a terrorist because his/her primary job is to instill fear into the minds of Palestinians in order to get them to do what they would not ordinary do on their own, i.e. give up, leave their land.

Now the Israelis are trying to manipulate public opinion by redefining “checkpoints.” The Israeli soldier controls what Israel now calls “security crossings” to imbed into the minds of public opinion that the formerly called “checkpoints” is the border of the State of Israel.  United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that there were 522 roadblocks and checkpoints obstructing Palestinian movement in the West Bank in July, 2010.  This figure is up from 503.  There are other checkpoints called “flying checkpoints” that are unknown as to when and where they will pop up. On average per month in 2011, 495 of these random checkpoints sprung up, in addition to the 522 permanent roadblocks and checkpoints, to not only hamper, humiliate, harass but also to instill fear, frustration and fatigue into the lives of every Palestinian.

The use of the term “security crossings” and its manipulation and blackmailing of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is what leads me to believe that Israel does not want a Two State Solution (2SS) but rather wants a Three State Solution (3SS). Israel is in a frantic mode to impose this 3SS upon the Palestinians before the projected demographics make Israelis the minority in 2016 to prevent the inevitable solution: One State Solution (1SS). Israelis believe that if they continue its policy of fear, frustration and fatigue, the Palestinians will ultimately succumb to the 3SS that Israel sees as a counter to the inevitable 1SS. This policy will fail.

Israelis argue that the Palestinians have negotiated away Area C in the West Bank by agreeing to give up control of this area to Israel in the Oslo Accords. Nonsense! Israeli intransigence in not agreeing to the final status matters in the so called “peace talks” and it’s continued expansion of the illegal settlements have rendered the Oslo Accords null and void. Israel refuses to discuss the final status of Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as the capital of a Palestinian State. Israel refuses to discuss the right of return of Palestinian refugees. And Israel refuses to discuss the borders between Israel and Palestine. Calling the checkpoints “security crossings” is part of the Israeli attempts to impose a 3SS.

Another blatant attempt to impose a 3SS is Israel’s blackmail of withholding taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority if the Palestinian politicians of the West Bank attempt to reconcile with the Palestinian politicians in Gaza. In essence, Israel does not want Fatah and Hamas to reconcile. It wants separate States for these two political rivals in the West Bank and Gaza. The stupidity of these factions in continuing the divisions between themselves is playing right into the Israeli plans to impose a 3SS.

I argue, in other articles, that this imposition will not be successful as the Palestinian human spirit to be free, innately a part of every human being, will overcome the Israeli aggression against them. However, Palestinians cannot rely on the burning desire inside themselves alone, they must have gumption; they must be shrewd; they must think outside the box.  

Palestinians need to understand what Israel is planning and they must counter the political manipulation of their land, their lives and livelihood. 

There are a variety of practical actions that Palestinians could advocate in their struggle to break the Israeli chains of oppression.

• ·     Palestinians need to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement . Mobilization and support for the BDS movement needs to part of the Palestinian agenda around the globe.  Supporting supporters of Palestinian Statehood is a must.
•  ·   Palestinians need to make the Israeli businessman suffer the consequences of the occupation. In my article, “Hitting Israel Where it Hurts—Economically”, I argue outside the box by advocating boycotting a single Israeli product imported into the West Bank and Gaza at a time. Read it at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/hitting-israel-where-it-hurts.html
•  ·    Palestinian youth need to throw their stones. I advocate keeping the option of the stone alive in the following articles: “Romancing the Stone” and “Keeping the David vs. Goliath Option Open.”  http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/romancing-stone-option.html and http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/keeping-david-vs-goliath-option-open.html
•       Palestinians need to reconcile their divisions and present a unified front against the Israelis. I have written numerously in various articles about the need for Hamas and Fatah to reconcile. See “Palestinians Must Establish Parity with Israelis” at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/palestinians-must-establish-parity-with.html. Opposing Israeli attempts to place obstacles to the reconciliation of these Palestinian political factions needs to be the goal of every Palestinian. Palestinian unity is a must!
•       Palestinians need to take their fight to the International Criminal Court and bring to justice those Israeli leaders who ordered and Israeli soldiers who committed human rights violations against Palestinians.

While the impending demographics will impose a 1SS, Palestinians cannot sit idly back and let the hope of events control their destiny. Palestinians need to be continuously active to make the inevitable human spirit within them blossom sooner than later.

Israeli Elections: Hegemony Over Homogeny

I have been trying to find something positive to write about the recent Israeli elections. I just cannot. There is simply nothing good about it. It simply is just the continuation of the status quo and that is not good for Palestinians and really not good for Israelis as well.  For the Palestinians, the status quo means the continuation of the occupation and the deprivation of the human spirit to be free. For the Israelis, it means that the lack of a clear expressive desire for peace in the election outcome ignores the ever increasing demographic boiling point which is turning Israel into the old Apartheid regime of South Africa.

The basic result of the Israeli election is that the right wing and center-right parties are likely to end up with 61 of the legislative seats in the Israeli Knesset, thus continuing the status quo of the Benjamin Netanyahu Government.

The status quo of domination over the Palestinians is what Israel wants for the region but this only exasperates and heightens the inevitable inner Palestinian human spirit to evolve towards the will to be free. Israel prefers hegemony over--instead of homogeny with--the Palestinians; it would rather dominate the Palestinians rather than treat them with equality. This is the crust of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The result of the Israeli elections elevated this inherent perplexity to the forefront; yet, Israelis seem oblivious to the fact that this clash between Israeli dominance and the Palestinian spirit to be free will come crashing down when the current trends in the demographics will result in an anticipated Palestinian majority in 2016. 

I have written about the human spirit to be free and my article can be read at http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6942645014941809001#editor/target=post;postID=7408208507238483659. In essence, I argue that inevitably Israel cannot suppress the will of 4.29 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who desire to be free of occupation and a relentless siege.  By 2016, it is projected that the Palestinian population in Israel, West Bank and Gaza will outnumber the Israeli non-Arab population.

Suppressing the Palestinian desire to be free perpetuates the status quo. Keeping the status quo is rooted in the aspiration of maintaining a Jewish homeland as Jews around the world feel secure in having Israel be a safe haven given world history of atrocities toward Jews. Thus, The Israeli election also tells me that Israelis are horrified of losing the concept of a Jewish homeland and therefore are clinging onto the status quo. Given the history of the Jewish people, that fear is warranted; but this aspiration driven by historical fear comes at the expense of the Palestinian people.  Finding a solution that would alleviate that fear while acknowledging the inevitability of the Palestinian human spirit to be free is what is needed to resolve the conflict.

The Israeli election did not shift Israeli politics to the left or right but rather left it smack where it has been—standing still.  Peace talks are standing still because Palestinians feel that there is no use in endless talks that lead to nowhere.  The Occupation of Palestinian land is standing still—continuing in its fifth decade.  Yet the fermenting Israeli suppression of Palestinian aspirations is about to boil over.  The Israeli elections did not alleviate this tension.

Israelis have consistently expressed security concerns in the 20 plus years of attempts at trying to negotiate a final solution with the Palestinians.  I interpret this security concern to mean a safe haven for Jews all over the world.  This security may ultimately be elusive however, if it comes at the expense of the Palestinians, for the natural course of human development is to be free from the oppressor’s chains that bind the collective individual conscience. 

This has been demonstrated time and time again with the thirteen American colonies breaking away from the British King; with the French masses overthrowing the absolute monarchy; with Black South Africans breaking the White Minority Rule apartheid chains; with Gandhi leading his people to overthrow the mighty British Empire; with the eventual American realization that slavery cannot long endure; and with many countless other examples where peoples all over the globe repelled imperialist colonial hegemony.

The Palestinian human spirit is no different than the American colonists, the French masses, India’s masses and the Black South Africans.  The Israeli election did not negate the Palestinian spirit; in fact that spirit has regenerated and grows with each Palestinian generation. 

The social revolution which opens the world to all also opens the spirits of the Palestinian people. Palestinians are not oblivious to the freedoms enjoyed around the world and they desire that same freedom in their daily lives.  As Palestinians interact with the globe community on social network sites, their human spirit to be free grows. Social networks exponentially inspire the Palestinian youth to lift off the chain that suppresses their collective bondage that the Israeli occupation imposes upon them.

The Israeli election takes little note of this growing social internet revolution and shows that Israelis would rather continue to believe that the colonial aspirations of the past several centuries is still prevalent in today’s age. That belief is antiquated and it leaves Israel further isolated around the family of nations.

Recently, the Palestinian human spirit has gained from international recognition and international intervention.  The upgrade in Palestine’s status at the United Nations has inspired Palestinians in that it gave them faith in the world community, while the truce between Israel and Hamas,  brokered by the US and Egypt and international pressure against a ground assault, excited the Palestinian will to fight off Israeli aggression.

Again, the Israeli election results seemed oblivious to growing worldly sentiment that the Palestinian human spirit is on the road towards freedom. The question is will Israelis ride along with the Palestinians or will Israelis fate be that of the White Minority rulers of South Africa.

            Israeli’s fate is really in their hands—or more accurately in their right to vote.  Palestinian’s fate is in the natural evolution of their human spirit.

Must A Palestinian Set Himself Ablaze?

                Desperate situations call for desperate actions.   In Morocco, 5 students, occupying the Defense Ministry for a week, set themselves ablaze after they poured gasoline on their bodies when police would not allow food to enter the building.  They were protesting lack of jobs, especially for college graduates.[1]

           

This desperate action has become a norm in Arab countries after Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian vendor, set his body ablaze when a police officer humiliatingly slapped him, confiscated his vegetable cart and then fined him an equivalent to a day wage.[2] The vegetable cart was Bouazizi’s livelihood.  This desperate action sparked the Arab Spring and within 10 days after his death on January 4, 2011 the rule of the dictator President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was over in Tunisia.

           

Americans know very well the concept of this human spirit, although not to the extreme of setting oneself ablaze.  Yet, whether one sets himself ablaze in Tunisia to protest the laws of a dictator in 2010 or dresses up like an Indian and dumps the tea imported from England as a way to protest the tea tax imposed by the British King in 1773, the human spirit is expressing the same concept—the will to be free from all forms of tyranny, including “taxation without representation.”  Still American’s have forgotten the revolutionary spirit, having been liberated from England over 230 years ago.  

Americans do not understand that the human spirit to be free did not end when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.  People around the world are still governed by tyrants, kings and presidents-for-life to this very day.  The human spirit to be free still cries out for freedom in Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, The Gulf States, and Palestine, as well as many other places around the globe.

            In Palestine, the Apartheid State of Israel operates a “taxation without representation” system of government over the Palestinians.  Apartheid Israel collects customs and Value Added Tax on goods that ultimately are sold in the Palestine. It is Apartheid Israel and not the Palestinians that sets the tax rates on customs and Value Added Tax thus taxing the Palestinians without any representation as Palestinians do not have the right to vote in Apartheid Knesset elections despite Republican Presidential Candidate Senator Rick Santorum’s belief that the West Bank is captured territory and therefore is a part of Israel.  As such, Apartheid Israel taxes the Palestinians without representation.

            While other conditions point to an obvious apartheid system in the way Israel is treating the 4.5 million Palestinians under its occupational control, this one aspect of Apartheid Israel’s tight grip on Palestinians cries out for social justice.  By controlling and collecting the customs rate and the Value Added Tax on goods imported into Palestine, Apartheid Israel controls the Palestinians ability to use these funds for public services such as electricity, health care, public service salaries, public works and other government run agencies. This has never been more to the point when in 2006-2007 Israel withheld the collected taxes from the Palestinian National Authority because the Palestinian people democratically elected a Hamas run government.  This financial blackmail was used again this past autumn when Apartheid Israel withheld collected taxes as a punishment for the reconciliation attempts between Fatah and Hamas.

           

            This control of revenues by Apartheid Israel is absolutely absurd.  The fact that Apartheid Israel has used the control of these funds to twice punish the Palestinians for actions that it did not approve of is unacceptable. Palestinians must rise up against this strong-arm scheme to manipulate it into what Apartheid Israel wants. 

This situation is desperate by itself.  However, the situation in Palestine is much worse. With the hundreds of checkpoints that control every move of the Palestinians; the destruction of thousands of acres of olive groves; the siege of Gaza; the daily policy of fear inflicted by apartheid Israeli soldiers; the continued confiscation of Palestinian land to build illegal settlements; and the apartheid system of government run by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza where there are two different laws for two different peoples, the situation in Palestine has become more desperate than ever. 

But does this desperate situation require a Palestinian to set himself ablaze for the world to take notice that Apartheid Israel needs to be exposed?  The human spirit resonates within every human being; it did not live in the hearts of the American revolutionists and then die off. No! It lives in every human being. Americans need to understand that as long as the human spirit in any people around the globe is not free, we are all not free. 

(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)

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[1] Jobless protesters set themselves alight in Morocco, Euronews, English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeXAChwt4w;     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMfqVtO1UcIخمسة Euronews عربي مغاربة يحرقون انفسهم احتجاجا على البطالة      

[2] Rania Abouzeid, Time Magazine Friday, January 21, 2011 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2044723,00.html

أيتعين على فلسطيني أن يشعل الناربنفسه ؟

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة الترجمة.)

                حالات اليأس يدعو إلى اتخاذ إجراءات يائسة. في المغرب ، و 5 طلاب ، واحتلال وزارة الدفاع لمدة اسبوع ، حددت لنفسها النار بعد ان سكب البنزين على أجسادهم عندما قامت الشرطة لن تسمح بدخول المواد الغذائية والبناء. كانوا يحتجون انعدام فرص العمل ، وخاصة لخريجي الكلية. [1]
       
               وقد أصبح هذا العمل اليائس قاعدة في الدول العربية بعد محمد البوعزيزي ، بائع التونسية ، تعيين جسده النار عندما صفع ضابط شرطة مذلة له ، وصادرت عربته الخضروات وتغريم ثم له ما يعادل أجر يوم. [2] والخضار وكان في العربة الرزق البوعزيزي. وأثار هذا العمل اليائس الربيع العربي وخلال 10 يوما بعد وفاته في 4 يناير 2011 حكم الديكتاتور الرئيس زين العابدين بن علي في تونس قد انتهت.
       
               الأميركيون يعرفون جيدا مفهوم هذه الروح البشرية ، وإن لم يكن إلى حد وضع نفسه النيران. حتى الآن ، ويحدد ما إذا كان أحد نفسه النار في تونس احتجاجا على قوانين ديكتاتور في عام 2010 أو حتى الفساتين مثل هندي ومقالب الشاي المستوردة من انكلترا كوسيلة للاحتجاج على الضرائب المفروضة الشاي من قبل الملك البريطاني في عام 1773 ، وروح الإنسان هو تعبير عن نفس المفهوم ، والرغبة في التحرر من كل أشكال الاستبداد ، بما في ذلك "ضرائب بدون تمثيل". ومع ذلك في أمريكا نسوا الروح الثورية ، بعد أن تحررت من إنجلترا أكثر من 230 عاما مضت.

            الأميركيون لا يفهمون أن روح الإنسان أن يكون حرا لا نهاية عندما تم التوقيع على إعلان الاستقلال في عام 1776. لا تزال تخضع الناس في جميع أنحاء العالم من قبل الملوك ، والرؤساء الطغاة مدى الحياة حتى يومنا هذا.روح الإنسان في أن يكون حرا فانه بحاجة ماسة الى الحرية في مصر وسوريا والمملكة العربية السعودية واليمن ودول الخليج ، وفلسطين ، فضلا عن العديد من الأماكن الأخرى في جميع أنحاء العالم.

            في فلسطين ، ودولة الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل تعمل على "ضرائب بدون تمثيل" نظام الحكم على الفلسطينيين. الفصل العنصري التي تجمعها اسرائيل الجمركية وضريبة القيمة المضافة على السلع التي تباع في نهاية المطاف في فلسطين. فمن الفصل العنصري إسرائيل وليس الفلسطينيين هو الذي يحدد معدلات الضرائب على الجمارك وضريبة القيمة المضافة فرض الضرائب وبالتالي على الفلسطينيين من دون أي تمثيل كفلسطينيين ليس لديهم الحق في التصويت في انتخابات الكنيست الفصل العنصري على الرغم من الاعتقاد المرشح الجمهوري للرئاسة السناتور ريك سانتوروم بأن الغرب يتم التقاط البنك الأراضي ، وبالتالي هو جزء من إسرائيل. كما والفصل العنصري مثل هذه الضرائب اسرائيل الفلسطينيين من دون تمثيل.

            في حين أن الشروط الأخرى إشارة إلى نظام الفصل العنصري واضح في طريقة تعامل إسرائيل الفلسطينيين 4500000 المهنية تحت سيطرتها ، وهذا جانب واحد من قبضة الفصل العنصري الاسرائيلي مشددة على الفلسطينيين تصرخ من أجل العدالة الاجتماعية. من خلال مراقبة وجمع نسبة الجمارك وضريبة القيمة المضافة على البضائع المستوردة إلى فلسطين والفصل العنصري وتسيطر اسرائيل على قدرة الفلسطينيين على استخدام هذه الاموال لتقديم الخدمات العامة مثل الرعاية الصحية والكهرباء ، والصحة ، ومرتبات موظفي الخدمة العامة ، والأشغال العامة وغيرها من وكالات التشغيل الحكومية. هذا لم يكن أبدا أكثر لهذه النقطة في الفترة 2006-2007 عندما اوقفت اسرائيل تحويل الضرائب التي تم جمعها من السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية لأن الشعب الفلسطيني المنتخبين ديمقراطيا حكومة تديرها حماس. وقد استخدم هذا الابتزاز المالي مرة أخرى هذا الخريف الماضي عندما الفصل العنصري اسرائيل حجب الضرائب المحصلة كعقاب لمحاولات المصالحة بين حركتي فتح وحماس.
       
            هذه السيطرة على عائدات الفصل العنصري من جانب إسرائيل هو مناف للعقل تماما. حقيقة أن إسرائيل استخدمت الفصل العنصري في السيطرة على هذه الأموال لمعاقبة الفلسطينيين مرتين عن الإجراءات التي لم توافق على أمر غير مقبول. ويجب على الفلسطينيين الانتفاض ضد هذا المخطط الذراع القوية لمعالجته في الفصل العنصري ما تريده إسرائيل.

          هذا الوضع اليائس من تلقاء نفسه. ومع ذلك ، فإن الوضع في فلسطين أسوأ بكثير. مع المئات من نقاط التفتيش التي تتحكم في كل خطوة من الفلسطينيين ، وتدمير آلاف الدونمات من بساتين الزيتون ، والحصار المفروض على غزة ، والسياسة اليومية من الخوف الذي يرتكبه جنود اسرائيليين الفصل العنصري ، واستمرار مصادرة الأراضي الفلسطينية لبناء المستوطنات غير المشروعة ؛ ونظام الفصل العنصري في الحكومة التي تديرها اسرائيل في الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة حيث هناك نوعان من القوانين المختلفة للشعبين مختلفين ، أصبح الوضع في فلسطين أكثر يأسا من أي وقت مضى.

          ولكن هل هذا الوضع اليائس يتطلب الفلسطينية لضبط نفسه النيران على العالم أن تنتبه أن الفصل العنصري إسرائيل بحاجة إلى أن يتعرض لها؟صدى الروح البشرية داخل كل إنسان ، وأنه لا يعيش في قلوب ثوار الأمريكية ومن ثم تموت. لا! أنه يعيش في كل إنسان. يجب ان يفهم الاميركيون انه ما دامت روح الإنسان في أي شعب في جميع أنحاء العالم ليست حرة ، ونحن جميعا ليست حرة.(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).[1] اضرم محتجون النار أنفسهم البطالة في المغرب ، يورونيوز ، الانجليزية http://www.youtube.com/watch؟v=BQeXAChwt4w ؛ http://www.youtube.com/watch؟v=IMfqVtO1UcI خمسة يورونيوز عربي مغاربة يحرقون انفسهم احتجاجا على البطالة
 [2] رانيا Abouzeid ، مجلة تايم الجمعة 21 يناير ، 2011 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0 ، 9171،2044723،00. هتمل

ييمكن للفلسطينيين تعليم اليهود الصفح

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة الترجمة.)

            مكبر الصوت في العديد من علق على WhenPalestineisFree # (عند فلسطين حرة). تويتد الأول ما يلي : "سأقوم WhenPalestineisFree # الدعوة الغفران. لن أكون مثل الصهاينة الذين يقتلون # # الفلسطينيين بعد تعرضهم للقتل في المحرقة #. "سعينا لتحرير فلسطين أن يكون العنصر البشري الذي يقول اننا لن نكون مثل الصهاينة الفصل العنصري. فإننا سوف يغفر ولكن تماما مثل يهود العالم ، ونحن لن ننسى لا.

            وتويت قرأت الفرح والسعادة وأعرب في الفكر لتحرير فلسطين. كتب hodanxo "لن يكون هناك يبتسم الاستعاضة عن الدموع ، والمحبة محل الكراهية والحرية في الماضي". SoumaiaHashad قال "أخشى أن أموت من السعادة". rolla_ramadan ببساطة ، "أنا لا أعتقد أنني يمكن أن تفسر كيفية سعيدة وأود أن يكون ".

            وأعرب مكبرات الصوت الآخر زوال إسرائيل والصهيونية. بينما أنا لا أعتقد أن هذا هو الشعور منتجة ، لا أستطيع فهم الإحباط. ترى أنا لا أريد أخوتي وأخواتي الفلسطينية للقيام الصهاينة على ما فعلت الصهاينة على الفلسطينيين.

            كان الهولوكوست حدثا مأساويا للغاية في تاريخ البشرية. يدرس البشرية التي ينبغي معارضة أي محاولة لارتكاب جريمة الإبادة الجماعية على أي شخص في جميع التكاليف. حتى الآن لم يتم غرس هذا الدرس في عقلية الصهاينة.في حين قالوا "أبدا" ، فإنه يعني فقط "مرة أخرى أبدا" فقط لإبادة اليهود لسنوات قليلة فقط بعد اكتشاف غرف الغاز في معسكر أوشفيتز ، وقادة المستقبل للدولة الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل الفظائع المرتكبة التي لا يمكن للمرء تصالح مع المحرقة التي ارتكبت ضد اليهود. كان النفاق في شكل الحقيقي لها.

            كما سيكون من النفاق بالنسبة للفلسطينيين لارتكاب أعمال عنف ضد اليهود عندما تقوم دولة فلسطينية تأتي إلى حيز الوجود ، وأنه سوف يأتي إلى حيز الوجود. نحن الفلسطينيين بحاجة إلى أن نتعلم من التاريخ والحاجة إلى إقامة عالم أكثر اللائق الذي نعيش فيه جميعا. نحن الفلسطينيين بحاجة إلى مساعدة جنسيات أخرى الذين يتوقون إلى أن يكون حرا. مثلما نحن الفلسطينيين يسعون إلى أن تكون خالية من التمييز العنصري إسرائيل ، ونحن بحاجة للحفاظ على حرية الدعوة للبشرية جمعاء.

            والعنصر البشري لابد أن يكون جزءا من النضال الفلسطيني ليكون خاليا من ممارسات الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي. وإذا لم يكن هناك العنصر البشري من نضالنا لم يكن يستحق كل هذا الجهد. إذا كان لنا أن الفلسطينيين يريدون ارتكاب الفظائع ضد الاسرائيليين بعد قيام دولة فلسطينية تأتي إلى حيز الوجود ثم فإننا سوف يكون هناك أفضل من الصهاينة الفصل العنصري الذي يرتكبون الفظائع ضدنا الآن.

            يمكننا أن الفلسطينيين لا يمكن الفصل العنصري مثل المستوطنين الذين يستخدمون سياراتهم لدهس الأطفال الفلسطينيين. هذا أمر سخيف. تتم هذه الأعمال يائسة من قبل الصهاينة الذين يعرفون أنهم لا يمكن أن يستمر أخلاقيا لنظام الفصل العنصري في فلسطين. بحلول عام 2016 يتوقع أن السكان الفلسطينيين في اسرائيل والضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة سوف يفوق عدد اليهود. أخلاقيا ، أخلاقيا وسياسيا ، والفصل العنصري الإسرائيليين يعرفون أنهم لا يستطيعون الاستمرار في نظام الفصل العنصري في الضفة الغربية ، لا يمكن أن يستمر الحصار على قطاع غزة ولا تزال تميز ضد 20 ٪ (أو أكثر بحلول عام 2016) من السكان في إسرائيل الفصل العنصري.ومن المعروف على نطاق واسع هذا. التركيبة السكانية تتحدث عن نفسها. عندما كنا الفلسطينيين أحرار من القمع من الإسرائيليين الفصل العنصري ، ونحن ، الفلسطينيين المضطهدين ، لا يمكن أن يصبح الظالم.

            وأعتقد أنه من واجب الأغلبية لحماية الأقلية لأن الأغلبية يمكن أن تصبح أقلية بمرور الزمن. في الوقت المناسب ، والفصل العنصري الإسرائيليين تصبح أقلية في التوصل إلى حل دولة واحدة. انه أمر لا مفر منه! عند هذه النقطة ، يجب على الفلسطينيين ألا تصبح نظام الفصل العنصري أنهم يقاتلون الآن للتغيير.

            يمكن للفلسطينيين أن يظهروا للعالم أن مفهوم التسامح هو عنصر قوي فقدت حتى على الإسرائيليين الفصل العنصري.بينما حاول اليهود لتخليص فلسطين من الفلسطينيين بعد تعرضهم لannulation القريب من خلال المحرقة النازية ، لا يمكن للفلسطينيين أن يعلم اليهود الصفح هو العنصر البشري الذي هو الحلقة المفقودة التي كان يمكن أن تمنع الفظائع التي ارتكبت في العقود السبعة الماضية.
 ثم يمكن للفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين على حد قول RobaSalibi "العيش بسعادة وبعد :)"
(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).

Palestinians Can Teach Jews Forgiveness

            On Tweeter many have commented on the hashmark #WhenPalestineisFree.  I tweeted the following: “#WhenPalestineisFree I will advocate forgiveness. I won't be like the #Zionists who kill #Palestinians after being killed in the #Holocaust.”  Our quest to liberate Palestine has to have a human component that says we will not be like the Apartheid Zionists. We will forgive but just like the Jews of the world, we will not forget.

            The tweets I read expressed joy and happiness at the thought of a free Palestine.  hodanxo wrote “there will be smiles replacing the tears, love replacing hatred and freedom at last.” SoumaiaHashad stated “I'm afraid I would die from the happiness.” rolla_ramadan simply stated, “I don't think I can explain how happy I would be.”

            Other tweeters expressed the demise of Israel and Zionism. While I do not think this is a productive sentiment, I can understand the frustration.  You see I do not want my Palestinian brothers and sisters to do onto Zionists what Zionists have done onto Palestinians.

            The Holocaust was a very tragic event in human history.  It taught mankind that any attempt to commit genocide upon any people should be opposed at all cost. Yet that lesson was not instilled in the mindset of Zionists. While they said “never again,” it only meant “never again” only to the annihilation of Jews for just a few years after the discovery of the gas chambers in Auschwitz, future leaders of the Apartheid State of Israel committed atrocities that one could not reconcile with the Holocaust committed against Jews. It was hypocrisy in its truest form.

            It would also be hypocritical for Palestinians to commit acts of violence against Jews when a Palestinian State comes into being, and it will come into being.  We Palestinians need to learn from history and need to forge a more decent world in which we all live. We Palestinians need to assist other nationalities who long to be free.  Just as we Palestinians seek to be free of apartheid Israel, we need to keep advocating freedom for all mankind.

            A human element needs to be a part of the Palestinian struggle to be free of the Israeli apartheid practices.  If there is no human element than the our struggle will not have been worth the effort.  If we Palestinians want to commit atrocities against Israelis after a Palestinian State comes into being then we will be no better than the apartheid Zionists which commit atrocities against us now.

            We Palestinians cannot be like the Apartheid settlers who are using their cars to run over Palestinian children. This is absurd. These acts are made by desperate Zionists who know that they cannot morally continue the apartheid system in Palestine. By the year 2016 it is expected that the Palestinian population in Israel, West Bank and Gaza will outnumber Jews.  Morally, ethically and politically, Apartheid Israelis know that they cannot continue the apartheid system in the West Bank, cannot continue its siege of Gaza and cannot continue to discriminate against 20% (or more by 2016) of its population in Apartheid Israel.  This is widely known.  The demographics speak for themselves.  When we Palestinians are free from the oppression of the Apartheid Israelis, we, the oppressed Palestinians, cannot become the oppressor.

            I believe that it is the duty of the majority to safeguard the minority because the majority can become minority over time. In time, Apartheid Israelis will become the minority in a one state solution. It is inevitable! At that point, Palestinians must not become the apartheid regime that they are now fighting to change.  

            Palestinians can show the world that the concept of forgiveness is a powerful element so lost upon the Apartheid Israelis. While Jews tried to rid Palestine of the Palestinians after they were subjected to near annulation through the Holocaust, the Palestinians can teach the Jews that forgiveness is the human element that was the missing link that could have prevented the atrocities of the past seven decades.

Then Palestinians and Israelis can in the words of RobaSalibi “live happily ever after :)” 

(  © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.) 

الفصل العنصري سياسة إسرائيل من الخوف

                 غروب الشمس في سلفيت ويعيش في خوف مرام          

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية لقراءةالكلام والقليل جدا، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة              الترجمة، وأنا لا تقدم سوىأنها على سكن لقرائي.)


                في المقال السابق مقارنة ابنتي مرام والذين ولدوا 17 يوما بعيدا ، واحدة في فلسطين ، واحد في شيكاغو. أصبحت أنا ومرام اصدقاء الفيسبوك جيدة وانها تدريس لي أشياء كثيرة عن الحياة في فلسطين. في الآونة الأخيرة ، قالت إنها تشارك معي لها الرغبة في أن تكون متزوجة ولكن بدلا من السعي إلى الحب كسبب لتكون متزوجة ، وأنا استغرب لأسمعها تقول انها تريد أن جميع والسلامة من الزواج.كفلسطيني ، لا ينبغي أن أكون في حيرة في ذلك رغبة مرام لالتماس الأمان في الزوج المحتملة بدلا من السعي العالمي لرفيقة الروح الى الحب. ولكن أنا. ربما أصبحت أعيش معزولة في أمريكا منذ أن كان عمره 6 سنوات.ربما أنا حقا لا أفهم بأنني الحريات والحريات التي مرام والفلسطينيين 4.5 مليون نسمة في الضفة الغربية وعدم غزة.مرام تقول لي انها لا تستطيع ان الحب لو أنها لا تشعر بالأمان.واني اسعى الى فهم معنى كلمة "آمنة". فهل يعني الرغبة التوق لروح الإنسان أن يكون حرا؟ فهل يريدون أن يعيشوا من دون خوف؟في الولايات المتحدة يمكن أن نتوجه الى مدينة المقبل من خلال طرق عديدة ومختلفة من دون الحاجة إلى الذهاب من خلال أي نقطة تفتيش عسكرية. في المدن الفلسطينية الفصل العنصري القدم 25 جدار أو سياج من الاسلاك الكهربائية منعت يحيط محيط ولم يتبق سوى مخرج واحد يسيطر عليها الجنود الفصل العنصري. يتم التحكم في الدخول والخروج إلى المدينة عن طريق حاجز عسكري الفصل العنصري.يجب أن تكون مرهقة على روح الإنسان أن رحلة بسيطة الى بلدة القادم أن يأخذ الجهد العقلي كثيرا. يمكن للأميركيين لا يفهم هذا. نحصل فقط في سياراتنا ومحرك ، وطالما أننا نطيع القوانين والقيادة الحد الأقصى للسرعة ، ونحن لن يكون لها اي مواجهة مع الشرطة. في فلسطين ، ومواجهة الجنود الفصل العنصري يعد حدثا يوميا.الأميركيون ليس لديهم الخوف من الذهاب الى محل بقالة والتعرض للبندقية مصوبة على وجوهنا على يد جندي الفصل العنصري. في فلسطين أن الخوف هو الحاضر من أي وقت مضى.الأميركيون لا يجب أن يخشى ان جنديا الفصل العنصري سوف يأتي يطرق بابنا في منتصف الليل واتخاذ الأب أو الأخ لدينا إلى السجن. ليس لدينا جنود في الشارع. ما عدا في حالات الطوارئ فقط وبناء على السبب المحتمل ان ترتكب جريمة ق ، يمكن أن ضباط الشرطة لم تدخل بيوتنا بدون مذكرة تفتيش نفذتها السليم قاض. في فلسطين ، ويأتي الفصل العنصري الجنود على المنازل الفلسطينية في كل ساعات اليوم ، ونهب المنازل وانتزاع أي فرد من أفراد الأسرة إلى سجن يسيطر عليها نظام المحاكم العسكرية في إسرائيل الفصل العنصري الذي يحتوي على نسبة 99.7 ٪ من الإدانة.في أميركا ، يفترض كل شخص بريء حتى اعتقل الحكومة تثبت ادانته. الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل ، ويفترض أن الفلسطينيين مذنبون دون فرصة لاثبات براءتهم. ويمكن احتجاز السجناء السياسيين رهن الاعتقال الإداري إلى ما لا نهاية من دون محاكمة.ويفترض أن لا أحد في فلسطين بريء حتى تثبت إدانته. تقريبا كل فلسطيني يدخل في نظام المحاكم العسكرية في إسرائيل الفصل العنصري غير مذنب ، مذنب ، مذنب. أنا أعرف المحامي الفلسطيني في القدس الذي تفاخر مرة واحدة أن لديه الكمال 100 ٪ عن الرقم القياسي الذي اتهم عملاء من الخطأ القيام الفصل العنصري من قبل إسرائيل وجدت لتكون مذنبة.يتعرضون لخطفه من منزلك مع أطفالك الحالي وإلقاء القبض عليهم في الشارع من قبل الجنود والفصل العنصري الذي بني في خوفها على عقلية الفلسطينية. الفصل العنصري اسرائيل لديها سياسة لغرس الخوف في الفلسطينيين. لمزيد من الخوف ويشعر الفلسطينيون ، وعلى الأرجح كانوا يريدون مغادرة فلسطين. لمزيد من الفلسطينيين مغادرة فلسطين ، وعدد أقل من تبقى على الأرض. كلما قل عدد الفلسطينيين والاسرائيليين لا تزال تعد الأغلبية. لمزيد من الاسرائيليين هي الأغلبية تعد اسرائيل قادرة على المحافظة على نظامها العنصري. ومن المتوقع أن السكان الفلسطينيين في اسرائيل والضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة سوف يفوق عدد اليهود الإسرائيليين بحلول عام 2016. الفصل العنصري اسرائيل تحاول إطالة أمد ذلك التاريخ غرس الخوف في ذلك الفلسطينيون أنهم لن يتركوا فلسطين.الخوف هو جزء من الحياة اليومية في فلسطين. أنا شخصيا لا أرى ذلك ، لا يشعر أنه وأنه لا يعيش. ولكن هذا لا يعني أنني لا أفهم ذلك. بفضل مرام هي مساعدتي على فهم ما إذا كان يشعر وكأنه في العيش في فلسطين.حواراتنا بسيطة. أنا لا أطلب أسئلتها مباشرة حول خوف أو أي موضوع آخر. موضوع الرغبة في التماس الأمان في الزواج ، والعيش دون خوف ، وخرج بشكل طبيعي.بطبيعة الحال ، أريد مرام وجميع السيدات الشابات في فلسطين ليوم واحد قريبا من العيش دون خوف والسعي لشعور رائع من الحب الذي يبني علاقة الزوج والزوجة في حياة السعادة. فضح دولة الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل هو مساهمتي في جعل ذلك اليوم سيأتي عاجلا.((ج) فادي Zanayed ، ويمكن نشر هذا المقال أو يقع طالما يتم تضمين البلاغ وموقع كمرجع).