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.

ARE ISRAELI SOLDIERS TERRORISTS?

Several days ago, a Palestinian youth turned 17 years old; he died on his birthday.  While at the Occupier's Checkpoint in ElKhalil, Palestine, the Occupying Soldiers shot him dead with numerous bullets. They then spewed the propaganda that the Palestinian youth had a toy gun and pointed it at them.  How implausible is this story by the occupiers? 

First, where is this toy gun? Wouldn't the occupiers show the toy gun with the story to make their case believable? Second, how can a Palestinian youth, born and raised with fear in his heart from the occupying soldiers, be that unsophisticated to allegedly brandish a toy gun against an occupying soldier?  The toy gun was conjured up by the occupiers as they stated he got it because of his birthday.  Now, had the occupiers said he brandished a real gun,  that may be more acceptable. Years of built up frustration against the occupying soldiers could lead a Palestinian youth to try to kill his occupiers. That I can believe, but to say he had a toy gun--that's crazy. 

Now in a discussions with various Occupying soldier supporters, I raised the hypocrisy of how the recent Oregon Mall shooting was not labeled a terrorist act but would have been so if that same act occurred in a Tel Aviv mall. The definition that was offered by the Israeli supporters for terrorism was "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act."  I suspect that this was copied from some authoritative source.

Using this definition, I raised the question can you agree that the purpose of the Israeli soldier is to instill fear in the civilian Palestinians?  Then I asked, given this definition, whether the Israeli occupying soldier that killed the Palestinian youth in ElKhalil, Palestine would be considered a “terrorist?” 

It is undisputed that in the 45 years of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza (I consider Gaza still under occupation) the Israeli occupying soldiers (and the Uzi taunting illegal settlers) have caused “death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants,” i.e. the Palestinian population. I challenge anyone to argue otherwise.

What is then the purpose of the Israeli soldier?

Before I answer this question, let me say that if Israel could have morally annexed the West Bank into Israel, they would have enacted such legislation decades ago. They have not because they have no legal standing to do so.   They want to annex the West Bank into Israel and have employed the systematic illegal policy of confiscation of Palestinian land, claiming that the land is “disputed.”  But no one is buying this argument.  

Another tactic that Israel is employing, and this is where the Israeli occupying soldier comes in, is to force the Palestinians to leave the West Bank—at least as many as possible.

What tactic does the occupier employ?

Fear! 

The intent of the Israeli occupying soldier of the West Bank is to instill fear, i.e. intimidating a population or compelling…to do or abstain from doing any act." The intent is to instill fear into Palestinians to control them and to make their lives so miserable that they would do an act that they would not normally do, i.e. leave the land.

Therefore, it is logical, given the definition of terrorist given to me by Israeli supporters, that the Israeli occupying soldier is a terrorist.  He/she is there to do one thing:  to control the Palestinian population, to intimidate them, to make their lives miserable. 

How is this accomplished?

The West Bank is dotted with hindering and dehumanizing military checkpoints manned by occupying soldiers that purposefully subject Palestinians to harassment and demoralization.  It is a systematic daily policy that is carried out 24/7, 365 days a year.  At any given time, even in the middle of night, Israeli occupying soldiers can knock down the front door of any Palestinian and search and seize whatever they want and haul away any Palestinian to jail under the pretext of administrative detention.  If this is not fear, a constant fear every second of every day of a Palestinian’s life, I do not know what fear is.

Thus, if fear is the purpose of the presence of the Israeli soldier in the West Bank, he must be a terrorist.  

Communicating With Catholics

                I just realized that by putting the word Catholic on my Facebook status, my status gets posted to the Catholic Facebook friend’s activity page where there are 411,000 members.  As a member of the Catholic Facebook page, I, a Christian, now have the ability to communicate my Palestinian message to other Christians.  I suppose that there are many other Facebook pages that I can do the same to.

                Such out of the box thinking needs to be part of the Palestinian agenda to expose the Apartheid State of Israel.  We need to find different ways to inform the world that Israel is daily inflicting a brutal campaign of fear to rid Palestine of Palestinians.  So I turn to my fellow Christians to say the following.

Apartheid Israel has imprisoned the 4.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza with an Apartheid Wall or electronic barbed wires.   Palestinian towns are imprisoned in enclaves with only one entrance and exit point controlled by apartheid Israeli soldiers. The gate is open for short periods of time during the morning, afternoon and evening.  Some days, in the apartheid Israeli soldier forgets to open the gate for the afternoon opening and children coming back from school have to wait outside the town gates until the evening opening.

                Many Catholics may not realize that a Catholic synod, a special council of church members that holds regular meetings to discuss religious issues, stated in October, 2010 that Israel is the root cause of all the Middle East woes.  The final statement of the synod listed the occupation, the apartheid wall, the numerous military checkpoints, the huge number of political prisoners, and the Israeli policy of fear which disrupts everyday Palestinian life as the main reasons behind the exodus of Palestinian Christians.  It also stated that these continuing Israeli aggravations are the cause for attacks on Israel.

                The Catholic synod even stated that Christ nullified God’s promise to the Jews.  While the purpose of this blog is political rather than religious, the implication of this statement is both political and religious.  The religious and political cover Apartheid Israel uses to retain, occupy and plunder Palestinian land can be negated if Catholics grasped the concept that Christ’s New Covenant made Christians the inheritors of God’s   promise. Instead the Christian religious right misunderstands Jesus’s teachings when it supports Israel’s domination of Palestinian land. This in turn is a direct contradiction of Jesus’s teachings when such policy strengthens Israel and contributes to the exodus of Christians from the Holy Land.

                But my purpose in writing this blog is not to get too deep into a religious dissertation but rather to call upon Catholics to understand what is happening in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. I want Catholics reading this message to understand that Israel is not the democracy it says it is. I want Catholics to understand that Israel is an Apartheid State.  I say this because Apartheid Israel has laws that allow Jewish communities to screen new applicants, a legal way to exclude Palestinians from mixing with Jews. Apartheid Israel has roads that are for the exclusive use of Jews. Does this sound like the Whites Only bathrooms and drinking fountains of the American Southern States?  Palestinians have to have a different colored license plate to distinguish them from Jews.  Is this not racism? Is this not an Apartheid system?

                The percentage of Christians is dwindling tremendously in Jerusalem and in Palestine.  Christians are losing a presence in the Holy Land for which it will take decades if not a century to build back up. Can Catholics sit idly by and close their eyes to what is happening in the Holy Land?  Can Catholics allow Israeli atrocities and policy of fear to drive Christians completely out of the Holy Land?

                Communicating to the Catholics and other groups in this way needs to be part of the Palestinian agenda.  We have a just cause that needs to be communicated.  

(© 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.)

التواصل مع الكاثوليك

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. محدودة كما هو قدرتي على قراءة اللغة العربية،أنا لا يمكن أن تضمن دقة الترجمة)

أدركت ذلك تماما من خلال وضع كلمة الكاثوليكية على الفيسبوك وضعي ، ويحصل على نشر وضعي إلى صفحة الفيسبوك نشاط الكاثوليكية الأصدقاء حيث هناك 411000 عضوا. كعضو في صفحة الفيسبوك الكاثوليكية ، وأنا ، وهو مسيحي ، والآن لدينا القدرة على التواصل رسالتي الفلسطينية لمسيحيين آخرين. أفترض أن هناك العديد من صفحات الفيسبوك أستطيع أن تفعل الشيء نفسه ل.

                من مثل هذا النوع من التفكير يحتاج إلى مربع تكون جزءا من جدول الأعمال الفلسطيني لفضح دولة الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل. نحن بحاجة إلى إيجاد طرق مختلفة لتعريف العالم بأن إسرائيل هي إلحاق اليومية حملة وحشية من الخوف لتخليص فلسطين من الفلسطينيين. لذا فإنني أنتقل إلى المسيحيين زملائي أن أقول ما يلي.وقد سجنت اسرائيل الفصل العنصري الفلسطينيين 4.5 مليون نسمة في الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة مع جدار الفصل العنصري أو الأسلاك الشائكة الإلكترونية.مسجونون المدن الفلسطينية في جيوب مع مدخل واحد فقط ونقطة الخروج التي يسيطر عليها الجنود الاسرائيليون الفصل العنصري. البوابة مفتوحة لفترات قصيرة من الوقت خلال فترة ما بعد الظهر ، صباحا ومساء. بعض الأيام ، والجندي الإسرائيلي ينسى الفصل العنصري لفتح بوابة للفتح بعد ظهر اليوم والأطفال يعودون من المدرسة إلى الانتظار خارج أبواب المدينة حتى افتتاح المساء.



                قد لا يدرك الكثير من الكاثوليك ان المجمع الكنسي الكاثوليكي ، ومجلس خاص لأعضاء الكنيسة التي تعقد اجتماعات منتظمة لمناقشة القضايا الدينية ، صرح في تشرين الاول ، 2010 ان اسرائيل هي السبب الجذري لجميع مشاكل الشرق الأوسط. البيان الختامي لسينودس سرد الاحتلال ، وجدار الفصل العنصري ، والعديد من نقاط التفتيش العسكرية ، وعدد كبير من السجناء السياسيين ، والسياسة الإسرائيلية من الخوف الذي يعطل الحياة الفلسطينية اليومية حيث أن الأسباب الرئيسية وراء هجرة المسيحيين الفلسطينيين. وذكرت أيضا أن هذه مفاقمة الاوضاع الاسرائيلية المستمرة هي السبب لشن هجمات على اسرائيل.



                المجمع الكنسي الكاثوليكي وذكر ان المسيح حتى يبطل وعد الله لليهود. في حين أن الغرض من هذا بلوق هو سياسي وليس ديني ، والآثار المترتبة على هذا البيان على حد سواء السياسية والدينية. والفصل العنصري بغطاء ديني وسياسي يستخدم للاحتفاظ اسرائيل ، احتلال ، ويمكن أن تبطل نهب الأراضي الفلسطينية اذا الكاثوليك اغتنامها المفهوم القائل بأن المسيح العهد الجديد جعل المسيحيين ورثة وعد الله. بدلا من ذلك اليمين المسيحي الدينية يسيء فهم تعاليم يسوع عندما كانت تدعم هيمنة اسرائيل للاراضي الفلسطينية.هذا بدوره يشكل تناقضا مباشرا من تعاليم يسوع عند هذه السياسة يقوي اسرائيل ويساهم في هجرة المسيحيين من الأراضي المقدسة.



                ولكن هدفي في كتابة هذا بلوق هو عدم الحصول على عميق جدا في أطروحة دينية بل ندعو الكاثوليك لفهم ما يحدث في الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة. أريد الكاثوليك قراءة هذه الرسالة إلى أن يفهموا أن إسرائيل ليست هي الديمقراطية تقول انها هي. أريد الكاثوليك أن نفهم أن إسرائيل هي دولة الفصل العنصري. أقول هذا لأن الفصل العنصري اسرائيل القوانين التي تسمح للجاليات اليهودية الشاشة المتقدمين الجدد ، وسيلة قانونية لاستبعاد الفلسطينيين من الاختلاط مع اليهود. الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي والطرق التي هي للاستخدام الحصري لليهود. هل هذا الصوت مثل الحمامات البيض فقط ونوافير مياه الشرب في الولايات الجنوبية الأمريكية؟ الفلسطينيون ان يكون لديك مختلفة وحات ملونة لتمييزهم عن اليهود. أليس هذا عنصرية؟ هذا هو نظام الفصل العنصري لا؟



                نسبة المسيحيين تتضاءل بشكل كبير في القدس وفي فلسطين.المسيحيون يفقدون وجودها في الأراضي المقدسة والتي ستستغرق عدة عقود إن لم يكن من قرن من أجل بناء احتياطيا. ويمكن أن نقف موقف المتفرج الكاثوليك وإغلاق أعينهم على ما يحدث في الأرض المقدسة؟ يمكن أن تسمح الكاثوليك الفظائع الإسرائيلية وسياسة الخوف لدفع المسيحيين خارجا تماما عن الأرض المقدسة؟



                التواصل للكاثوليك والجماعات الأخرى في هذا الطريق يجب أن يكون جزءا من جدول الأعمال الفلسطيني. لدينا قضية عادلة لا بد من إبلاغها.


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

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.) 

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.)