MODERATE PALESTINIANS SORELY DISAPPOINTED

I have always been an optimist. I have always advocated peace. I was one of the first Palestinians to call for the recognition of Israel. I did so in 1980 on the University of Illinois - Chicago campus (although I attended Loyola University) and was ostracized by Fatah, Jabha and other Palestinian student groups.  I held my ground and was one of the few Palestinians in the Chicago area that could go to any group’s events.

I welcomed the Oslo Accords and attended the White House signing ceremony on September 13, 1993.  I witnessed the famous handshake between Arafat and Rabin and felt a sense of relief that the long hard nightmare for my people might soon be over. 

Since Oslo, however, I and many moderate Palestinians have been sorely disappointed.  

• We have seen the settlement expansion in the West Bank more than quadruple.  
• We have seen thousands of Palestinian agriculture acres (olive groves) destroyed. 
• We have seen a separation wall built around our towns and villages leaving isolated enclaves that basically imprison Palestinians especially men between the ages of 18 and 40. 
• We have seen a voluminous number of humiliating military check points that disgrace and dehumanize Palestinians. 
• We have seen democratic Palestinian elections whose results were not accepted by Israel and an American President who told us that one of the results of the Iraqi invasion of 2003 was a democratization of the Middle East. 
• We have also seen since Oslo, (unfortunately) the introduction of the Palestinian suicide bomber and the assassination of an Israeli Prime Minister (by an Israeli terrorist) which, in essence, killed the peace process.  
• We have also seen the right wing religious fanatic groups who have increased their power and because they have been and are part of the past and current coalition governments in Israel, in my opinion, hold the entire Middle East hostage.  
• We also see the continued marginalization of the Palestinians 
• because of inter-fighting; 
• because the world cannot accept that the Palestinian people have elected one party over another party that is repeat with corruption and that has not produced the liberation it has said it will deliver; and 
• because the power of the purse is used to blackmail the Palestinian West Bank leadership to accept what the people will not allow them to accept. 
• We have also witnessed in 2008-2009 and now again the barbarity of the Israeli devastating and disproportionate onslaught against our brothers and sisters and our children in Gaza as the continued Israeli blockade causes severe economic conditions of food, water and medical shortages for which, we are told, the Palestinians cannot repel and for which the world flotilla aid campaign cannot break.

Because we have seen all these demoralizing aspects of the conflict, I, as well as many moderate (if not all) Palestinians, have abandoned the two state solution.  

• It is inconceivable that the 600,000 settlers in the West Bank will get up and leave.  This is not the Gaza Strip where 21 settlements illegally inhabited by 21,000 extreme Zionist settlers can be disbanded and the settlers removed.  
• It is inconceivable that the right wing ultra-conservative/orthodox parties within Israel will agree to give up Areas C especially since their power is increasing and especially since the recent poll in Israel tells us that the majority of Israelis have no problem living in an Apartheid like state.  
• It is inconceivable that Israel will abandon its policy to allow a Palestinian limited state within Area A and parts of Area B, on the one hand and another Palestinian entity in Gaza, as the Liberman Plan has so stated for Gaza. 

Inconceivability is only in the political realm.  In realty however, the numbers (population growth of the Palestinians visa via the Israelis) will force Israel to rethink its position.  My doubts are in succeeding Israel requests to endlessly talk to no end. The Israeli policy is "let us agree to agree in the future" but the future never comes because Israel always finds ways to interpret agreements by defining terms as it defines them. My pessimism is in endless talks that attempt to fill the glass with water but the glass is always half empty.

For Palestinians, the concept of a two state solution is illusionary. Since Oslo, succeeding Israeli governments have allowed the ever expanding settlements on illegally confiscated Palestinian land, thus creating “facts on the ground.” Israel has played its hand too long. Israeli leaders thought they could exhaust us into submission; that as long as they continued to build illegal settlements and continued to appease the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank while driving a wedge between West Bank and Gaza leaders, they could frustrate the Palestinians into accepting two Palestinian entities, one in the West Bank with Area A and part of Area B; and the other in Gaza.  Thus in essence, Israel has been trying for a three state solution.  Palestinians cannot and will not accept this.

By playing its hand too long, Israel has lost the moderate Palestinians. 

Moderate Palestinians are seeking other means to assert Palestinian fundamental rights. Moderate Palestinians wholeheartedly support the Palestinian request to join the United Nations General Assembly with pre-1967 borders but understand that this is only a prelude to a one state solution to the conflict. We also support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Israeli occupation. We welcome the emergency of a new generation of Palestinians who will pick up their stone and fight for the dignity and well-being of future Palestinian generations.  We also call upon the Palestinian factions to reconcile their differences and believe that the Palestinian house needs to be united immediately.  

(© Copyright 2012, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.) 

Apartheid Israeli Strife Over Outposts Growing

                The internal friction within Israeli society is immense.  This strife grows with each day. In the coming months the battle over the illegal outposts by apartheid Israeli settlers will intensify as Supreme Court deadlines to dismantle various outposts will become due.  Pitted against each other are the Chief Apartheid Benjamin Netanyahu, the apartheid settlers and various officials in the government and Knesset.  This battle is but one of many internal struggles that is destroying Israel and one in which I will express my thoughts.

                According to Wikepedia, an Israeli outpost is a Jewish community built in the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem) that was constructed between 1991 and 2004 without the authorization of the Apartheid Israeli government.  (Wikepedia did not use the term Apartheid to refer to Israel, I, however, use the term Apartheid Israel at every opportunity—because that is what Israel is—an Apartheid State.)  While Wikepedia excluded the outposts around Jerusalem, Palestinians, of course, include them as containing illegal outposts and settlements.  These outposts and settlements are built on privately owned Palestinian land.

                The difference between an outpost and a settlement is really insignificant to Palestinians.  While outposts are considered illegal by Israeli law as they are not authorized by Apartheid Israeli governments, settlements are authorized although also illegal under international law. Outposts are a prelude to settlements.  Outposts start off with a few families who live in caravans as they await infrastructure and financial support from Apartheid Israel and sympathetic individuals and communities both inside Israel and abroad, usually from the United States Jewish community.

                There are over 120 illegal outposts dotting the West Bank.  Palestinian land owners upon which these outposts have been built have, with the help of organization Peace Now, petitioned the Apartheid Israeli Supreme Court to enforce an order to dismantle the illegal outposts.  The Supreme Court has ordered the Apartheid Israeli government of Chief Apartheid Netanyahu to remove several outposts, some of whose deadlines are coming up in the next several months.

                The illegal outpost called Migron is set to be dismantled by March 31, 2012.  It is located southeast of Ramallah and northwest of Jerusalem.  Chief Apartheid Netanyahu has proposed a compromise to the apartheid Migron settlers in which he requested them to voluntarily evacuate the outpost and receive in return support to establish a community on nearby state land. Whether that “state land” is part of land Palestinians claim to be part of East Jerusalem upon which they want to establish the capital of Palestine is not clear.

                The apartheid settlers of Migron have rejected the proposal and demanded of the Chief Apartheid to authorize the outpost by legislation.  Of course, the authorization by the Apartheid Israeli Knesset would only make it legal within Israeli law but still illegal under international law.  Any evacuation of Migron, the apartheid settler’s claim, will cost the Chief Apartheid his job.

                Several Apartheid Israeli officials including the Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, want to legislate a solution with a compensation payment to the Palestinian land owners.  The problem with this “compromise” is that the land is not and has never been for sale.  Additionally, under International law, specifically the Fourth Geneva convention, Apartheid Israel has no legal jurisdiction to appropriate occupational land.   Israel is a signatory to the Fourth Geneva Convention and therefore is bond by its mandate. Thus any action taken by the Apartheid Israeli Knesset is null and void as to any Palestinian land.  Israel argues that the Palestinian Territory is not encompassed within the said convention but this argument is so ludicrous that it makes a mockery of the convention itself.

                Other illegal outposts are scheduled to be dismantled in the coming months.  The following illegal outposts around Ramallah, Palestine are scheduled to be dismantled:

Dreinoff Quarter (direcltly northeast)     April, 2012

                Jabel Artis (northeast)                                   May, 2012 partially

Gival Assaf (just south)                                July 1, 2012

                Amona (further northeast)                         End of 2012

                While these outposts are under orders to be dismantled, there are over 100 other outposts whose fates are not determined.   In fact, there are many other illegal outposts that the Apartheid Israeli government is trying to make into settlements despite the fact that the entire world has stated that they are obstacles to peace.

                Apartheid Israeli governments purposefully delay action in pending outpost demolition cases in order to encourage more illegal construction.  That is the conclusion of a Yesh Din report which was released in November, 2011.  “The report, which looked at 16 court cases, charged that the state’s failure to raze unauthorized settler homes and its initial steps to retroactively legalize them encourages such illegal building activity.” [1]

                When it comes to demolishing of Palestinian homes and buildings, however, the Apartheid Israel Army is quick to bring in its US made Caterpillar D9 armed bulldozers to do its treacherous job. Such demolitions are used to collectively punish Palestinian families for actions that they did not personally commit and to steal Palestinian land for annexation to build the Apartheid Wall or expand illegal settlements.

                While Chief Apartheid Netanyahu is looking for a compromise with the illegal outpost residents, his current position to dismantle the outposts will have little meaning.  Nevertheless, Chief Apartheid Netanyahu will spin this gesture as a confidence building measure towards the Palestinians.  What will be lost in this gesture is the fact that at the same time the Chief Apartheid will be moving to turn other outposts into settlements.    The Chief Apartheid cannot appease the Palestinians and the settlers at the same time.

                The battle within Apartheid Israeli society on this issue will be played out throughout the coming months.  It will tear Israel apart.

(  © 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] “’Stat’s failure to act encourages illegal contruction,’” Tovah Lazaroff, October 11, 2011, Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=241251

الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي الفتنة أكثر من تنامي البؤر الاستيطانية

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة الترجمة.) الاحتكاك الداخلي في المجتمع الإسرائيلي ما زالت هائلة. هذا الصراع يزداد مع كل يوم. وخلال الأشهر المقبلة المعركة حول البؤر الاستيطانية غير القانونية من قبل المستوطنين الإسرائيليين الفصل العنصري وتكثيف والمواعيد النهائية المحكمة العليا لتفكيك البؤر الاستيطانية المختلفة تصبح مستحقة. تقف ضد بعضها البعض هي الفصل العنصري بنيامين نتنياهو رئيس والمستوطنين الفصل العنصري ومختلف المسؤولين في الحكومة والكنيست. هذه المعركة ليست سوى واحدة من العديد من الصراعات الداخلية التي تعمل على تدمير اسرائيل واحدة في التي سوف نعرب عن أفكاري.
                وفقا لWikepedia ، موقع استيطاني إسرائيلي هو الجالية اليهودية التي بنيت في الضفة الغربية (باستثناء القدس) الذي شيد بين عامي 1991 و 2004 من دون تصريح من الحكومة الاسرائيلية الفصل العنصري.(لم Wikepedia عدم استخدام الفصل العنصري المصطلح للإشارة إلى إسرائيل ، ومع ذلك ، فإنني استخدام مصطلح الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل كل فرصة ، لأن هذا هو ما إسرائيل ، دولة الفصل العنصري.) في حين استبعدت Wikepedia البؤر الاستيطانية حول القدس ، والفلسطينيين ، بطبيعة الحالوتشمل هذه البؤر الاستيطانية غير القانونية والتي تحتوي على والمستوطنات.بنيت هذه البؤر الاستيطانية والمستوطنات على الأراضي الفلسطينية المملوكة للقطاع الخاص.

                الفرق بين مخفر والتسوية غير ذات أهمية حقا للفلسطينيين. في حين تعتبر البؤر الاستيطانية غير القانونية بموجب القانون الاسرائيلي وغير مسموح من قبل الحكومات الإسرائيلية الفصل العنصري ، وعلى الرغم من أن المستوطنات غير قانونية أذن أيضا بموجب القانون الدولي. البؤر الاستيطانية والمستوطنات تمهيدا ل. البؤر تبدأ مع عدد قليل من العائلات الذين يعيشون في بيوت متنقلة لأنها تنتظر البنية التحتية والدعم المالي من إسرائيل بالفصل العنصري والأفراد والمجتمعات على حد سواء المتعاطفة داخل إسرائيل وخارجها ، وعادة من الولايات المتحدة للمجتمع اليهودي.

                هناك أكثر من 120 مواقع استيطانية غير قانونية تنتشر في الضفة الغربية. أصحاب الأراضي الفلسطينية التي تقوم عليها وقد بنيت هذه البؤر ، شريطة الحصول على مساعدة من منظمة السلام الآن ، التماسا إلى المحكمة العليا الإسرائيلية الفصل العنصري لفرض أمر لتفكيك المواقع الاستيطانية غير القانونية. وقد أمرت المحكمة العليا الحكومة الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي نتنياهو رئيس الفصل العنصري لإزالة البؤر الاستيطانية عدة ، وبعض الذين المواعيد النهائية القادمة في الأشهر القليلة المقبلة.

                تم تعيين البؤرة الاستيطانية ميغرون غير قانونية تسمى لتفكيكها بحلول 31 مارس اذار 2012. وتقع الى الجنوب الشرقي من مدينة رام الله وشمال غرب القدس. وقد اقترح رئيس الفصل العنصري نتنياهو حلا وسطا للمستوطنين ميغرون الفصل العنصري والذي طلب منهم اخلاء البؤرة الاستيطانية طوعا وتلقي الدعم في العودة إلى إقامة مجتمع على أرض دولة مجاورة. سواء كان ذلك "أراضي الدولة" هي جزء من أرض يطالب الفلسطينيون أن تكون جزءا من القدس الشرقية التي يريدون بناء لإقامة عاصمة لفلسطين ليس واضحا.

                ورفض المستوطنون الفصل العنصري في ميغرون الاقتراح وطالبت من الفصل العنصري رئيس أن يأذن للمخفر عن طريق التشريع.بطبيعة الحال ، فإن الحصول على إذن من الكنيست الإسرائيلي جعل الفصل العنصري القانوني إلا في إطار القانون الاسرائيلي ولكن لا تزال غير قانونية بموجب القانون الدولي. فإن أي اخلاء ميغرون ، مطالبة المستوطنين الفصل العنصري والفصل العنصري يكلف رئيس وظيفته.

                مسؤولون الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي عدة بما في ذلك روفين ريفلين رئيس الكنيست ، وتريد تشريع حل مع دفع تعويضات لأصحاب الأراضي الفلسطينية. المشكلة مع هذا "الحل الوسط" هو أن الأرض ليست ولم تكن أبدا للبيع. بالإضافة إلى ذلك ، بموجب القانون الدولي ، وتحديدا اتفاقية جنيف الرابعة والفصل العنصري اسرائيل ليس لديها الولاية القانونية للأراضي المهنية المناسبة. إسرائيل هي إحدى الدول الموقعة على اتفاقية جنيف الرابعة ولذا هي السندات في ولايتها. وبالتالي أي إجراء تتخذه الكنيست الإسرائيلي العنصري هو لاغ وباطل وعلى أي أرض فلسطينية. وتقول اسرائيل ان لا يشمل الأراضي الفلسطينية في إطار الاتفاقية المذكورة ولكن هذه الحجة سخيفة بحيث يسخر من الاتفاقية نفسها.

                ومن المقرر ان المواقع الاستيطانية غير القانونية الأخرى التي ينبغي تفكيكها في الأشهر المقبلة. ومن المقرر البؤر الاستيطانية غير القانونية التالية حول رام الله ، فلسطين لتكون فككت :
Dreinoff الربع (direcltly شمال شرق) نيسان ، 2012
                جبل أرتيس (شمال شرق) أيار ، 2012 جزئياGival عساف (جنوبي) 1 يوليو 2012
                عمونا (شمال شرق مزيد) نهاية عام 2012

                في حين أن هذه المواقع الاستيطانية بموجب أوامر لتفكيكها ، وهناك أكثر من 100 البؤر الاستيطانية الأخرى التي لم يتم تحديد المصائر. في الواقع ، هناك العديد من المواقع الاستيطانية غير القانونية الأخرى التي تتبعها حكومة الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي في محاولة لجعل المستوطنات على الرغم من حقيقة أن العالم بأسره قد ذكرت أنها تشكل عقبات في طريق السلام.

                الحكومات الإسرائيلية تأخير الفصل العنصري في انتظار عمل هادف حالات هدم البؤرة الاستيطانية من أجل تشجيع بناء مزيد من غير قانونية.هذا هو استنتاج تقرير يش دين الذي صدر في نوفمبر تشرين الثاني 2011."إن التقرير ، الذي بدا في القضايا المعروضة على المحاكم 16 ، اتهم فشل الدولة في لهدم منازل المستوطنين غير المرخص ، والخطوات الأولية لإضفاء الشرعية بأثر رجعي لهم يشجع مثل نشاط البناء غير القانوني". [1]

                عندما يتعلق الأمر إلى هدم المنازل الفلسطينية والمباني ، إلا أن الجيش الإسرائيلي هو الفصل العنصري لتحقيق سريع في الولايات المتحدة التي قدمت جرافات كاتربيلر D9 المسلحة للقيام بعملها الغادرة. وتستخدم عمليات الهدم هذه لمعاقبة جماعية للعائلات الفلسطينية الإجراءات التي لم يرتكبوها شخصيا وسرقة الأراضي الفلسطينية لضمها لبناء جدار الفصل العنصري أو توسيع المستوطنات غير الشرعية.

                في حين أن رئيس الفصل العنصري نتنياهو يبحث عن حل وسط مع سكان البؤرة الاستيطانية غير القانونية ، ومنصبه الحالي لتفكيك البؤر الاستيطانية يكون لها معنى يذكر. ومع ذلك ، فإن نتنياهو رئيس الفصل العنصري تدور هذه البادرة بمثابة بناء الثقة تجاه الفلسطينيين. ما سوف تضيع في هذه البادرة هو حقيقة أنه في الوقت نفسه رئيس الفصل العنصري سوف تتحرك لتحويل البؤر الاستيطانية الأخرى في المستوطنات. لا يمكن للرئيس الفصل العنصري لا استرضاء الفلسطينيين والمستوطنين في نفس الوقت.

                وستقام معركة الفصل العنصري داخل المجتمع الاسرائيلي حول هذه المسألة من خلال الأشهر المقبلة. وسوف المسيل للدموع إسرائيل إربا.
(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغييرمحتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).[1] "" ستات الفشل في التصرف يشجع كونتراكتينج اند كونستركشن غير المشروعة ، "توفاه Lazaroff ، 11 أكتوبر 2011 ، جيروسالم بوست http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx؟id=241251

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.) 

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.)

The Olive Tree Howls For Justice

By: Fadi Zanayed

See the Palestinian lady hugging a tree

Not just any tree but an olive tree

See the olive branches cut to the ground

As an Israeli soldier stands around

See the bulldozer which did the massacre

The massacre of an olive tree acre  

Listen to the agony coming from her face

As the soldiers stands in disgrace

Listen to the tree as it stretches out its arms

As if it is calling out to God to see the harms

Listen to the wind as it blows in the sky

Howling injustice my oh my!

(  © 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.)