I just read the tweeted words “Ask what you can do for Palestine, since Palestine cannot
do much for you at the moment” by docjazzmusic. How poignant this statement
really is especially after I received some heat from my last blog questioning
whether some Palestinians were proud to be Palestinian.
I received favorable and unfavorable
responses from my readers. The favorable
were very encouraging. Many requested to
be added to my mailing list and even suggested others who would like to receive
my blogs. The negative reaction came
from my Christian Ramallah Family which is typical as most are apolitical. This saddens me.
That apolitical attitude has been
inherited by many young adults of Ramallah, a Christian family numbering over
40,000 living in America. While I know
of some Ramallah young adults who do write letters to their Congressional
representative and write letters to newspapers, there are much more who just do
not care about Palestine. Many have adopted
the older generation’s mentality and have given up on any hope of seeing an
independent democratic Palestinian State.
I have tried on varying levels to
change this apolitical attitude to no avail.
I have reasoned with their conscience by stating that had our parents
and grandparents not been fortunate to receive visas to migrate to the United
States, we could have been exiled to Lebanon or Jordan and forced to live in refugee
camps. I have tried to persuade them “to
do something for Palestine” by attending demonstrations, rallies and activities
relating to Palestine. I have tried to post articles on websites in the name of
the Ramallah Federation only to have them deleted. How unfortunate that a post about an upcoming
Super Bowl Party can be posted but not one of my articles about Palestine.
Has it come to that point in our
assimilation in America that our youth want nothing to do with Palestine? Are
we that annoyed to receive a message that reminds us about Palestine but we
welcome a message about a Super Bowl Party?
There is a tremendous untapped power
in all Palestinian youth. The power in the combination of these youth and the various
social media on the internet is awesome.
The Palestinian leadership needs to harness and harvest this energy for
Palestine. Have we not seen how powerful
the Facebook and Tweeter were in the Arab Spring, especially in Egypt?
The Palestinian leadership needs to
establish a relationship between these social media active youth and
Palestine. A love for Palestine needs to
be established, not in just feelings, as we all love Palestine, but also in
action.
Simple interactive social activities
can get these youth to do something for Palestine. A Facebook page can be created whereby
Palestinian youth can write their favorite story told by their grandparents.
Another page can ask these youth to post pictures of grandparents to give
identity to our heritage. A love for Palestine needs to be established in
actions but first it takes leadership to harness and harvest our youth.
Actions on the internet lead to
education. When we repost videos and
images of Apartheid Israeli soldiers holding at gunpoint 8 and 9 year old Palestinian
children we educate all the friends. We need to create more actions.
What can you do for Palestine? Post a poem about Palestine, a picture of
your home in Palestine, or a simply message saying how much you love
Palestine. Keep Palestine alive in your
heart and on the Ramallah Federation Facebook sites.
(© 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.)
