Why Can't the Palestinians Do As the Israelis?

Several observations in response to the Jerusalem Post article concerning the Palestinian Authority building in Area C:

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=282825&fb_source=message

#1. "illegal land grabs"  The Israeli press has the audacity to call this an illegal land grab when they know darn well that Israel has been doing it for decades.  In America, we have a saying: "What is good for the goose is good for the gander." If Israel can illegally land grab so can we.

#2. " Allocation of final sovereignty in Area C was to be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords and the Bush Roadmap of 2002."  Israel has determined that this means that Israel can build in Area C and not Palestinians.  They stall final "determinations" so that they can continue to build and build while not allowing us to build.

#3. "state lands" I have written that Israel already considers Area C to be Israeli state land. They have no intention to give this up. Although the Jerusalem Post article readily admits that "final sovereignty in Area C was to be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority" it is Israel that has the exclusive right to build on this land. Hogwash!  Read my article at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/02/apartheid-israel-policy-to-retain-area.html

#4. If anyone does not think that Israeli bulldozers purchased with American aid dollars from Caterpillar Corporation will not demolish these buildings then the Israeli propaganda campaign creating the world gullibility conscience has succeeded.  Long live Rachel Corrie!

No Talking Endlessly

A Facebook member contacted me with the following message: hello---can you say something about achieving peace both for Israel/Palestinians and over all area -- or are you just anti-Israel? I see you are educated…. so you should be working for a solution

My reply:

I am not anti-Israel.  I was one of the first Palestinians to call for the recognition of Israel.  In1980 I championed the recognition of Israel at college campuses and within the Palestinian community in Chicago. I attended the White House Rose Garden peace signing ceremony on September 13, 1993 and witnessed the famous handshake between Rabin and Arafat. 

I have always been and continue to be an advocate for peace.  Yet, I like many peace-loving Palestinians have become disillusioned by Israel's constant talking but not really talking.  They want to talk but never conclude the "talks" and all the while they want to illegally confiscate more Palestinian land and build more illegal settlements and transfer more hard core machine gun taunting settlers into these settlements.  Their justification for this is that the Palestinians have given up Area C in the Oslo Agreement.  This is hogwash. 

They cut down our olive groves and then Israeli supporters justify this by saying that "terrorists" hide in the trees.  This is hogwash. 

When I ask Israeli's to explain the discrepancy between laws that differently effect Palestinians and Israelis and how they cannot call Israel an apartheid state, they have no explanations. They have no explanation for Jewish only roads; no explanation for colored license plates for Palestinians; no explanation for a wall that divides farmers from their farm land; no explanation for surrounding towns with barred wires and checkpoints out of those towns that allow residence ingress and egress at only certain times of the day.  In one such town, an elementary school is outside the wall and the guards at the 3pm crossing when children are released from their school purposefully choose to not open the gates leaving the children alone to wait until the evening crossing before they can return to their families and homes. This is a direct policy that builds frustration and hatred and ultimately aims to continue the status quo--occupation.

No one can explain to me that why Israel always asks the Palestinians to return to the "negotiating table" when Israeli soldiers carry out a direct and humiliating policy to destroy the human will of the Palestinians.  No one asks the Israelis why their leaders continue to frustrate and subjugate Palestinians into complacency.  No one asks Israel to stop its policy to dehumanize Palestinians and establish a policy to build an atmosphere of confidence in the future.

The future is in numbers. Peace will be established when Israel realizes that the will of the Palestinians people cannot be destroyed; that they cannot continue their apartheid practices especially when in 2016 it is expected that the population in Palestine and Israel will be such that Israelis are the minority.

The problem with a lack of peace is that the Israeli political system gives too much power to its minority parties.  In all the 64 year history of Israel, there has been only one Israeli government that had a majority in its Knesset.  All the other Israeli governments have been run by coalition governments that are beholden to right wing minority parties that do not want peace because these parties wield the ongoing threat to switch their allegiance in the Knesset in a no confidence vote thus bringing down the ruling party.  (See my article Soul Searching Leads to Peace http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/soul-searching-leads-to-peace.html  which explains how the Israeli political system is a hindrance to peace. ) 


The only way for peace to be achieved is through a One State Solution.  It is not an impossibility.  South Africa has proven that. Despite the decades of White Rule in South Africa the Black population, through the heroic efforts of Nelson Mandela, reconciliation between the people of South Africa, thought to be unattainable, was achieved successfully. Recompilation can be achieved in the Holy Land.  

I still have hope for peace. I will always have hope for peace.  I want to live with Jews, Muslims and Christians in prosperity in the Holy Land.  I want to work for a solution but I cannot and will not talk for the sake of talk if it will lead to a never ending talks.  


A One State Solution is the only thing to "talk" about. 

Pressure Upon Israel Could Resolve Iranian Nuclear Issue

             The crisis over the Iranian nuclear aspirations is really quite simple to resolve if there is political will to resolve it. The issue is not the threat of whether Iran will use a nuclear bomb against Israel but rather whether Israel will continue its hegemony over the Middle East, especially over the Palestinians.   Additionally, the hypocrisy that the West adopts visa via Israel and every other Middle Eastern country is overwhelming to the people of the region.  Putting a little pressure upon Apartheid Israel can solve many of the Middle East problems.

           

The belief that Iran will use a nuclear weapon against Israel as an offensive strategy is foolish.  It is inconceivable that any country will use a nuclear bomb against another in an offensive manner. President Harry S. Truman used the nuclear bomb against Japan because he perceived that an invasion of Japan will result in an excessive amount of US casualties. Additionally, President Truman used the atomic bomb knowing full well that there would be no retaliation as no other country had the capability to retaliate with nuclear power. This is not the case today.

            It is highly unlikely that Iran would strike Israel for several reasons.  First, Iran would be committing suicide as Israel has an enormous nuclear capability to strike Iran back with much more devastation. Thus it would be suicidal for Iran to strike the first blow.  Second, the proximity of millions of Muslims around Israel, including Iran, would cause such devastation from the atomic burst that Iran will not benefit strategically within the Muslim world.  Third, the proximity of Jerusalem, a holy site for Muslims, to any potential target within Israel makes striking Israel with nuclear weapons theologically impractical. 

            The hyperbole rhetoric emitting from Apartheid Israeli leaders against Iran is aimed to deflect news coverage about its apartheid practices against the Palestinians.  To seek the sympathies of the West, Apartheid Israel falsely portrays itself as a goldfish in a sea of piranhas. The real fact is that Apartheid Israel is the great white shark in a small pound of fat cat fishes.   As the only nuclear power in the Middle East, Israel continues its hegemony over the Middle East with unchecked arrogance.  In 1981 and 2007, Apartheid Israel attacked Iraq and Syria, respectively, in an unprovoked attempt to prevent them from developing nuclear capabilities.  Additionally, while the US and the West demand inspections of North Korea and Iran’s nuclear facilities, nothing is said about Israel’s nuclear power plants which, according to exports, have produced hundreds of nuclear weapon warheads.

            Apartheid Israel would like the West and Russia and China, as they are UN Security Council permanent members, to believe that Iran will use nuclear weapon to “wipe Israel off the face of the earth.”  In fact, Iranian President Ahmadinejad never said this statement and this translation is completely wrong.  But Israel knows that perception is reality and putting this perception into minds makes it the “perceived truth”—but this is not always the “truth”.

            President Ahmadinejad, during the speech in which he is accused of wanting to “wipe Israel off the face of the earth,” used the words words “rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods” which mean “regime occupying Jerusalem.”[1] Ahmadinejad was advocating a regime change in Israel.  But Apartheid Israel does not want the world to know this and the American press does not want to investigate Israel in fear of retaliation from the powerful Israeli lobby.  To be fair, this wrong interpretation came not from Israel but from Iran itself.  However, when Iran tried to correct the wrong terminology, the quote spiraled out of control.  Of course, Apartheid Israel made this wrongly translated term the center of its propaganda campaign to deflect coverage of its apartheid practices.

            The West’s domination over the Middle East through its proxy Apartheid Israel and the support of Arab dictators and kings who repress the people’s human spirit to be free and democratic continues to make the region unstable.  Further, the discrepancy in policy towards Arab countries and Apartheid Israel leads many in the region to wonder how America and the West could be so hypocritical.  Apartheid Israel can occupy Palestine for over 40 years and no military force is sent to remove the occupier.  Yet, Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait could not be tolerated for one day as the US and Britain rallied the world around Operation Desert Storm in 1990. Apartheid Israel has imprisoned over 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza and bombed the population relentlessly in the 2008-2009 onslaught without a whisper from the US and the West.  Yet, the world comes to the aid of the Libyans during their Arab Spring revolution to oust Muammar Gaddafi.  The 1.5 billion Muslims cannot understand why they are treated different than the 15 million Jews.

            What further perplexes many Arabs is that Israel is a nuclear power that has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). While Pakistan and India have also not signed the Treaty, they have both publicly stated that they do have nuclear warheads.  Israel, on the other hand, has been purposely deceptive as to its nuclear capability.

India has pledged a no first use policy unless it is attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons.  Additionally, India has expressed its commitment to non-proliferation but stated that it considers the “NPT as a flawed treaty and it did not recognise [sic] the need for universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment."[2]  India has cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by entering into agreements to inspect its facilities.

Israel will not cooperate with the IAEA. When called upon to open its nuclear facilities in September, 2009, Israel’s chief delegate to the IAEA conference responded “Israel will not co-operate in any matter with this resolution."[3]  Why haven’t Western countries called upon the UN to impose sanctions against Israel for its refusal to have its nuclear facilities inspected?  Why is this double standard for Israel tolerated?

Striking a balance between Iran and Israel can be one way to make Iran more cooperative and to abandon any military component with its nuclear ambitions. Having Israel submit to inspections of its nuclear capabilities and to make it pledge a no first use policy similar to India will give assurance to Iran and all Middle East countries that the West is willing to deal fairly with the people of the region. Additionally, the West needs to exert pressure on Israel to resolve Palestinian statehood aspirations by ending decades of occupation. Failing diplomatic pressure, sanctions upon Israel should be on the table.

Fair dealing in the Middle East is the only thing Arabs want to see. They do not want the West to adopt a pro-Arab policy.  Arabs want a fair policy in the Middle East that treats every country and every religion equally and with dignity.  If this was the policy, the issue with the Iranian nuclear ambitions would not be an issue.  The lack of fairness in Western Middle East policy, however, is driving the region into another major war.  Pressuring Israel to act the way the West demands Iran to act would solve the Middle East problems.

            The question is whether there  is a political will to pressure Israel?


2/25/2012 update:  I just read this article by Allan Hart, author, and found this statement quite interesting to this article: 


"From recently de-classified documents we now know that in a memorandum dated 19 July 1969, Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser, warned President Nixon that the Israelis “are probably more likely than any other country to actually use their nuclear weapons.” And as I mentioned in my post of 30 January with the headline Is Israel on the road to “self-destruction”?, Golda Meir said in an interview I did with her for the BBC’s Panorama programme when she was prime minster that in a doomsday situation Israel “would be prepared to take the region and the world down with it.”"

(© 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.)

---

[1][1] ‘Wiped Off The Face of the Earth’ The Rumor of the Century, Arash Norouzi, May 26, 2007 http://antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025

[2] India seeks Japan's support, calls NPT 'flawed' By IANS, Sat, Mar 24, 2007

http://www.whereincity.com/news/3/15197

[3] Israel pressured on nuclear sites, Aljazeera, September 18, 2009, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2009/09/2009918173136830771.html

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).

Apartheid Israel Policy of Fear

                                      Sunset in Salfit as Maram lives in fear

                In a previous article I compared my daughter and Maram who were born 17 days apart, one in Palestine, one in Chicago.  Maram and I have become good Facebook friends and she is teaching me many things about life in Palestine.  Recently, she shared with me her desire to be married but instead of seeking love as a reason to be married, I was perplexed to hear her say that all she wanted was safety from the marriage.

As a Palestinian, I should not be so puzzled at Maram’s desire to seek safety in a potential husband rather than the universal quest for a soul mate to love.  But I am.  Maybe I have become insulated living in America ever since I was 6 years old.  Maybe I really do not understand the freedoms that I have and the freedoms that Maram and the 4.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza lack.

Maram tells me she cannot love if she does not feel safe.

I am trying to grasp the meaning of the word “safe”.  Does she mean the yearning desire for the human spirit to be free?  Does she want to live without fear? 

In the United States we can drive to the next town through many different routes without having to go through any military checkpoint.  In Palestinian towns a 25 foot apartheid wall or a electric barred wire fence surrounds the perimeter leaving only one exit controlled by apartheid soldiers.  Ingress and egress to the town is controlled by an apartheid military checkpoint. 

It must be exhausting on the human spirit that a simple trip to the next town has to take so much mental effort.  Americans cannot comprehend this. We just get into our cars and drive and as long as we obey the laws and driving speed limit, we will not have any encounter with the police. In Palestine, confronting the apartheid soldiers is a daily event. 

Americans do not have a fear of going to the grocery store and be subjected to a gun pointed at our face by an apartheid soldier.  In Palestine that fear is ever present.

Americans do not have to fear that an apartheid soldier will come knocking on our door in the middle of the night and take our father or brother to jail.  We do not have soldiers in the street.  Except in emergency situations and only upon a probable cause that s crime is being committed, police officers cannot enter our homes without a proper search warrant executed by a Judge.  In Palestine, apartheid soldiers come to Palestinian homes at all hours of the day, ransack the home and take away any member of the household to prison controlled by a military court system in Apartheid Israel that has a conviction rate of 99.7%.

In America, every person arrested is assumed innocent until the government proves him guilty. In Apartheid Israel, Palestinians are assumed guilty without a chance to prove their innocence. Political prisoners can be endlessly detained under administrative detention without a trial.

No one in Palestine is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  Almost every Palestinian who enters the military court system in Apartheid Israel is guilty, guilty, guilty.  I know a Palestinian attorney in Jerusalem who once bragged that he has a perfect 100% record—all his clients accused of wrong doing by Apartheid Israel have been found to be guilty.

To be subjected to being snatched out of your home with your children present and to being arrested on the street by apartheid soldiers has its fear built in to the Palestinian mindset.  Apartheid Israel has a policy to instill fear in Palestinians.  The more fear Palestinians feel, the more likely they would want to leave Palestine.  The more Palestinians leave Palestine, the fewer remain on the land.  The fewer the Palestinians, the longer the Israelis remain a majority.  The more the Israelis are a majority the longer Israel can maintain their apartheid system.   It is expected that the population of Palestinians in Israel, West Bank and Gaza will outnumber Israeli Jews by 2016. Apartheid Israel is trying to prolong that date by instilling fear in Palestinians so that they will leave Palestine.

Fear is a part of daily life in Palestine. I personally do not see it, do not feel it and do not live it.  But that does not mean that I do not understand it.  Thanks to Maram she is helping me understand what if feels like to live in Palestine. Our conversations are simple.  I do not ask her direct questions about fear or any other subject. The subject of wanting to seek safety in a marriage, to live without fear, came out naturally. 

Naturally, I want Maram and all young ladies in Palestine to one day soon to live without fear and seek the wonderful feeling of love that builds a husband and wife relationship into a life of happiness.  Exposing the Apartheid State of Israel is my contribution to making that day come sooner. 

((c) Fadi Zanayed.  This article may be republished or sited as long as the author and site are included as the reference.) 

الكراهية والتفوق وعقلية الإسرائيلية

( 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.)                                           

الكراهية والشعور بالتفوق عنصران رئيسيان التي تحول دون التوصل إلى حل للنزاع الإسرائيلي / الفلسطيني. بعد 62 عاما من الفظائع التي تصيب بعضها البعض ضد البعض الآخر ، فإن الاسرائيليين والفلسطينيين هي تغلي بالحقد. خلال هذه العقود من حكم حجية على الفلسطينيين ، اكتسبت الإسرائيليين نوعا من الشعور بالتفوق. سوف تحصل على ما وراء هذه الصفات يستغرق وقتا طويلا وكثيرا قبل الشفاء سيكون هناك حقا شعور من الثقة والتعاون حتى بعد السلام التملص من أي وقت مضى يصل في نهاية المطاف.
الكراهية هي سمة مقلقة للغاية التي لا يمكن تجاهلها بسهولة. في حين أن التجربة اليهودية هو الكامل من الأمتعة المؤسف الكراهية التي لحقت بهم على مر التاريخ ، يبدو أن جميع قرون من الانتقام حتى المخزنة قد حان للخروج ضد الفلسطينيين.الفلسطينيون هم الذين يدفعون ثمن معاداة السامية في التاريخ.ويجري انتقم كل الكراهية التي يتعرض لها الشعب اليهودي على مر التاريخ في شكل الكراهية تجاه الفلسطينيين.
في عام 1948 حاولت الأمم المتحدة ، وهي الهيئة العالمية الجديدة التي تشكلت بعد حربين عالميتين مدمرتين التي شهدت طبيعة القبيح للكراهية والذاتي الصالحين بتفوق عرق واحد أكثر من كل الآخرين ، في محاولة لعكس الإيثار التاريخية لمعاداة السامية جرائم الحاضر والأجيال السابقة من خلال إنشاء دولة إسرائيل بناء على الأراضي التي كانت في الغالب أن للفلسطينيين. بينما كانت تلك المحاولة النبيلة وضمن المنطق لإنشاء الأمم المتحدة ، من أجل حل ومنع النزاعات في أنحاء العالم ، فإنه المخمرة الكراهية الحالية بين الاسرائيليين والفلسطينيين.
في حين أن الأمم المتحدة حاولت لتعليم العالم بأن طموحات هتلر الألماني التفوق العنصري كانت خاطئة تماما ، لم يكن هذا الدرس تغرق في التفكير الإسرائيلي. الاسرائيليون يعتقدون أنهم متفوقون على الآخرين ، وخاصة الفلسطينيين. ما إذا كان هو التوراة التي تعطي للشعب اليهودي هذا الشعور أو يرون أنفسهم على أنهم أكثر ثقافة وغربية من الفلسطينيين والاسرائيليين لم يتعلموا من التاريخ ، وبالتالي يتم تكرار التاريخ السلبية التي ارتكبت ضد اليهود على الفلسطينيين.
قبل وبعد إنشاء إسرائيل ، كان واحدا الفظائع التي يرتكبها طرف واحد هوانتقم من جانب آخر الفظائع. بغض النظر عن الذين ارتكبوا الهجوم الأول ، وتصاعد دورة دائمة من العين بالعين عقلية تخرج عن نطاق السيطرة. الراسخة في هذه الحلقة المفرغة هي عقلية الاستعمار الغربي الذي يحتاج لاستغلال "دونية" الناس لتحقيق مكاسب اقتصادية وسياسية. قرون من الشتات اليهودي داخل المجتمعات الغربية التي استغلال الشرق الدول الغربية كانت هي القاعدة ، أي هيمنة الأوروبيين جنوب أفريقيا والهند ، وضعت في نفسية الإسرائيلية التي تشجع على الاعتقاد لا أساس لها في الأخلاق من سيطرتها على الفلسطينيين.
الهيمنة الاستعمارية وعقلية والايديولوجيات القديمة من القرن العشرين ، وأوقات سابقة. حتى الآن ، فإن إسرائيل على التشبث لنظام الفصل العنصري في السيطرة على الفلسطينيين لا يمكن تحمله طويلا. في حين كشفت الثورة التكنولوجية وقبل سيطرة اليهود على الصحافة وسمحت اسرائيل لاخفاء أي وقت مضى توسيع استعمارها للأراضي الفلسطينية ، والتوسعات الاستيطانية ، أي في عصر جديد من الانترنت حيث كل شيء في أي مكان يمكن أن تبث إلى العالم على الفور لإسرائيل ما هو حقا AN - نظام الفصل العنصري الذي لا يختلف عن "غراند الفصل العنصري" مخطط لعام 1960 التي تنفذها الأقلية الأفريكانية في جنوب أفريقيا ليؤكد الانفصال الإقليمية والقمع العسكري.
في سياق حل الصراع ، ويجب على الفلسطينيين عدم السماح للإسرائيليين أن يشعر متفوقة. وكميا عندما تتفاوض اسرائيل من اجل الافراج عن احد جنودها للأسر المئات من السجناء الفلسطينيين على قيمة أكبر من اسرائيلي فلسطيني. هذا خطأ.وبالمثل ، عندما الفلسطينيين يسمح لإسرائيل تشريح أراضيهم إلى مناطق وتسمح اسرائيل لمنحهم صلاحيات محدودة والسلطة تشعر بالانزعاج المساواة بين الشعبين. الفلسطينيون هم مثل الأطفال ، مطالبين "الفضائية الخاصة" مثل الطفل ، مطالبين "الفضائية له / لها" من أحد الوالدين. ليست هناك علاقة الأم / الطفل بين الاسرائيليين والفلسطينيين ويجب على الفلسطينيين وقف يتصرف مثل الأطفال.
هذا التفوق الإسرائيلي علم النفس هو في قلب الصراع. بيان المهاتما غاندي بأن "ثقافة الأمة تكمن في قلوب وروح شعبها" يصف الشعور بالتفوق الحالي ضمن عقلية الإسرائيلية. عندما يشعر متفوقة ثقافة واحدة لأخرى ، الكراهية يتطور. التمييز يلي.يتم تطبيق القوانين وتفسيرها بطريقة مختلفة عن ثقافة واحدة على حساب الأخرى.
الإسرائيليون بحاجة إلى أن يفهموا أنهم بحاجة إلى التوصل إلى اتفاق مع مشاعرهم ، مع الاحتلال غير المشروع والسيطرة على الفلسطينيين ، تماما مثل البيض في الولايات المتحدة جاءت الى اتفاق مع قرون من التمييز ضد الأميركيين من أصل أفريقي والأفارقة مثلما جاء إلى اتفاق مع نظام الفصل العنصري في جنوب افريقيا.
يجب على الإسرائيليين أن تتصالح داخل "القلوب والنفوس" من اجل انهاء الاحتلال لفلسطين.

(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).

Thank You for Your Comments Santorum

I do not know what all the uproar over Republican Presidential Candidate Senator Rick Santorum’s statement about Palestinians.  I believe that it is a win-win situation for Palestinians.

            Before Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich made his historically incorrect statement that Palestinians are an “invented” people, Santorum makes the following argument:

1.   Since Israel acquired the West Bank through war, a war which he erroneously states          

       the Arabs were the aggressors, then the West Bank is Israeli land;

2. Therefore the people in the West Bank are Israeli; and

3.   There are no Palestinian people.

He then states that land acquired through war should not be given back.  He further states that the United States did not give back and will not give back Texas to Mexico as the US acquired Texas through war. What Santorum does not understand is that the law of conquest has long been abandoned in international law.  During World War II, under Santorum’s logic, the Allied forces could have occupied and made Germany and Japan conquered territory—but did not. The land was given back to the German and Japanese people.

            For the sake of argument, let us assume that Santorum’s logic is correct; that the people on the West Bank are all Israelis.  Would it not logically follow that Santorum will have to acknowledge that either Israel is an apartheid state or it should allow all its “citizens” the right to vote?

            Let me explain my logic.  If all the people on the West Bank are Israelis then Santorum has to explain why Israel cannot be called an Apartheid State as it is treating its “citizens” under two different legal systems. The Palestinians (Non-Jews) living in the West Bank who Santorum calls Israelis are ruled under a different set of laws as are the Israeli settlers who are occupying lands on the West Bank.  There are roads in the West Bank that only Jews can use.  Non-Jews cannot use them.  License plates in Israel identify the owner as a Jew or Non-Jew. Non-Jews cannot live in the illegal settlements on the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Only Jews can “settle” the settlements.  Non-Jews are isolated into enclaves and are ruled by military laws.  Jews can carry guns and rifles and use them against Non-Jews.  Jews can uproot olive groves owned by Non-Jews without any retribution by the Israeli army.

            These different set of laws in the West Bank in which Israel governs its “citizens” as Santorum defines them, leads to the logical conclusion that Israel is an Apartheid State and should be known as the Apartheid State of Israel.

            Now, if Santorum is saying that the people of the West Bank are citizens of Israeli land, it is logical than as citizens, all the people should be given a right to vote in Israeli elections. If this is what Santorum is thinking, than he must advocate a one state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?  But this is not the case, Palestinians (I cannot keep using Non-Jews) are not allowed to vote in Israeli elections. Does it not follow that when citizens are not allowed to participate in the laws which govern them that they have a right to overthrow that government? Let me remind Santorum about the following famous words from the United States Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…

            It would follow from Santorum’s argument that as “citizens” of Israel, Palestinians have a right “to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

            So the uproar over Santorum’s statement as stupid as it is, only benefits Palestinians.  The logical interpretation is that either Israel is an Apartheid State or the two state solution is dead.

I believe that both interpretations are right. Israel is an Apartheid State and the two state solution is dead. 

I cried, will you cry! بكيت، وسوف تبكي!

I cried, will you cry!   بكيت، وسوف تبكي!

Sadiq: “It is hard to live in fear”

            Just like me, Omar left Palestine after the Six Day War in 1967.  I went to America and he went to the United Arab Emerites (UAE).  He was 14 and I was 6.  But this story is not as much about him or me as it is about his son Sadiq—well maybe about them both.

     

           Omar was a hardworking Palestinian man who wanted the best for his children but also did not want them to lose who they really are—Palestinian. He kept Palestine in his heart and the hearts of his three sons. 

            Omar longed to go back to Palestine, just like most if not all Palestinians living in the diaspora. This opportunity came rather unfortunately.  In the UAE Omar was a foreman of a governmental agency in the municipality of Abu Dhabi.  When his agency was privatized, the new owners quickly turned its Palestinian labor force to Asian.  Why? Asians are a cheaper labor force.  The UAE had no more use for Palestinians.

            So Omar, aged 53 in 2005, tried to look for a job in the Arab Gulf states but he was unsuccessful. Sadiq describes this as “2rza2 inkat3t”—the luck was cut off.

Longing to go back to Palestine and wanting to keep Palestine alive in his sons’ hearts, he went back to his village, Qusra, Palestine, located southeast of Nablus, to build a home for his family.  And he did.  Omar wanted to spend the last years of his life in Palestine.

Two years ago in the early morning hour of 5 am as Omar was going to work, he suffered a heart attack due to the depression about the plight of his people and the financial worries of borrowing to build his home.  Lack of a medical infrastructure because of the occupation, I am sure, contributed to his early demise. At the very young age of 57, Omar became another victim of Apartheid Israel.  You see any Palestinian who dies before the creation of a Palestinian State is a victim of hope usurped by the lack of peace.

            Sadiq, Omar’s oldest son, is a 25 year old young man who is in his last year of studies at the University of Najah in Nablus studying   psychology.   Having lived the first 19 years of his life away from the occupation, adjusting to it now has been difficult.  He has a hard time understanding others and they have a hard time understanding him.  He says the conflict is within his self-being.

            He wants to become a respectable person, wants a life without dependence on others and no need to borrow money to live.  He wants to earn a respectable living and have enough money to take care of his family.  He wants a nice wife and a better life for the coming generation.  Now though, he believes that the days are dark—2yam Sooda.

I naturally ask whether he has any hope.   His answer is yes and then tells me that those who live outside of Palestine have it better than those who live in Palestine.   I try to relieve him by telling him the economic conditions are hurting many people but then I realize he may not be speaking about the economy but rather about the freedom inherent in the human spirit.  He tells me that for those who want to come back to Palestine it will be very difficult. Therefore he wants to leave.

While I believe the people of Palestine should continue to be steadfast and stay on the land of Palestine, I find it difficult to tell him to stay. 

His freedom of movement is limited.  Before Salem Fayyad became Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, the checkpoints from Qusra to Nablus dotted the roads forcing Omar and others to use the hill roads (tareq algbal ) to get to Nablus.  What usually took 15 minutes to get to Nablus from Qusra, took 5 hours--unimaginable for any American to comprehend and accept.

His spirit is controlled.  He wants to provide better living conditions for his future offspring but in Qusra life stays the same under the cruel occupation.

His only alternative for a meaningful job is in Apartheid Israel after he graduates next spring; but being 25 years old he will not be able to travel through the checkpoints for a job.  Apartheid Israel restricts the movement of Palestinians between the age of 16-49 from entering for work.  He will need to obtain forged Israeli identity documents.

Before that however, he needs to cross into Apartheid Israel through the back roads and yes sewers.  Paying 500 shekels, Sadiq will be able to sneak through sewers, bypass roads and tunnels to get to the other side of the Apartheid Wall.  He will be able to join his brother and work as an investigator, mentor teacher or with aid agencies.  This way he can support his mother and younger brother who is also attending college.

Sadiq next makes a profound statement that takes me aback.  He says “It is hard to live in fear.”  Fear of the apartheid soldiers coming knocking at your door at any time of day or night.  In the book Kafir Boy, a book about living as a Black boy/man in Apartheid South Africa, I thought I knew what living in fear was.  But to hear it from a person that I can more readily identify with, a Palestinian, that statement hit me like a ton of bricks.

Sadiq turns to the violence that the apartheid settlers are committing upon the people of Qusra and upon the agriculture around the town.  Apartheid soldiers aid the settlers in their terror escapades. 

He provides a website for an article dated September 24, 2011 about the death of Essam Aoudhi, a son of Qusra, who was shot by apartheid soldiers protecting apartheid settlers in their vicious burning assault on one of the olive groves around Qusra.  Essam was shot at very close range according to Dr. Sameh Abu Zaroh, a doctor at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus.  Others were also injured   Read the article and look at over 25 pictures from this incident. http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/essam-aoudhi-martyred-in-defense-of-qusra/.

Sadiq sends me another website which contains a slide show of pictures of what apartheid Israeli settlers are doing to the Palestinians in Qusra. It is a slide show of pictures about what the apartheid settler  are doing.  Although most of the pictures are heart ranching, one picture moved me to tears.   It is of a young woman whose one side of her face is burned while the other side is intact showing how beautiful her face really is.  I am told that apartheid Jewish settlers committed this horrific deed.  See the pictures at: http://www.google.ps/search?q=settlers+destroy+mosque+in+qusra+village&hl=ar&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=dSn7TpuOIojY8QPegb2vAQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=568&safe=active

As I peruse these pictures and see what the apartheid Israeli settlers are doing: destruction of  Qusra Village mosque; chopping of the olive groves; the offensive Hebrew writings on the buildings of Qusra; the agony on the faces of the villagers; the old lady hugging the olive tree (read my poem:  The Olive Tree Howls For Justice http://poetrybyfadizaanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/olive-tree-howls-for-justice.html) ; the pictures of martyrs; the gunfire of apartheid soldiers; the apartheid Jewish settlers being protected by apartheid soldiers; an apartheid settler throwing a liquid at a Palestinian lady as he passes her by on an otherwise empty street; and the bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes, I reflect upon Sadiq’s statement, “It is hard to live in fear.” 

This is exactly what the apartheid Jewish settlers want the Palestinians to think.  I am writing this article in the comforts of the University of Chicago Hospital as I am accompanying my 47 year old brother for a medical test relating to his cancer.  My brother is getting the best of treatment.  It is easy for me to say from this venue that the people of Palestine should stay on the land.  It is easy for me to tell them Samood, Samood, Samood—Resistance, Resistance,Resistance.   However, this is the only answer that I can give and the only answer Sadiq’s father, Omar, knew, for he went back to Palestine for his children to keep Palestine in their hearts.  I wish I had Omar’s courage.

While I say Samood, I am doing everything I can to expose the Apartheid State of Israel so that one day soon Sadiq and all my Palestinian brothers and sisters can be free of fear.

( © 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.)