(caution this is long)
Eric,
I feel at a standstill. I am not moving forward. Career is only there to make money, to satisfy a standard of living, but in my case at least, is not the reason for my living. Though it consumes time, yes, and we may say causes distraction, these are only self-generated excuses. I really want to express subjects, before the run of time. As a Palestinian I feel my intelligence insulted, and who better than by myself. I would like to occasion the expression of my views to you as a Jew.
I think if we start a written ad hoc, non formal dialogue; spontaneous but converging upon a common theme, uncensored, and most importantly ongoing, it could form the basis for a study/a book, etc… We will keep it intellectual, creative and spiritual though it may swim in passionate tides. (If you wish, we could also modify the rules of engagement as we move forward in this process and as we see fit.)
I have known you as a friend who I have more in common with and enjoy the company of than possibly many Palestinian or Arab friends, not that I care either way for that purpose. I’ve had the opportunity to live most of my life amidst different cultures and developed a taste for picking certain elements from those cultures that I valued. Though I say this, and even though we are most likely (at least at this point in time) equally cynical of our own camps, in a situation of war we could be neighbors like some congenial Serbs and Kosovars, and find ourselves thoughtlessly pointing our guns against one another. It is unfortunate that we humans, with all of our ingenious unimaginable progress have not figured out a formula for peaceful coexistence or to what, in some processes of evolution have resulted in symbiosis instead of predator prey structure. Using the word “human” to aggregate the collective suffering of humans at the hands of other humans is rather over simplified and superficial for it assumes human more as a scientific, biological entity and leaves the cultural, historical and emotional elements out of the picture. This would be an obvious mistake to make from the preset.
I am not a politician and I don’t care to win people from my camp over, for egoistic purposes or otherwise. The emotionally charged and often whimsical herd mentality thoroughly disgusts me anyway. Chanting behind the slogans of a leader… And herd mentality afflicts crafty and brilliant people alike. If history was taught correctly, then we may have had to endure less of war because people would find out that the same slogans and arguments are equally used by your “enemy”. Though it is not a zero sum game from a humanistic perspective. The stronger wins that which the weaker is not able to defend. Until a point when the despair of the weak, very often in a reactionary mode, stops differentiating between life and death.
I say on one point I remain unquestionably clear and firm and beyond any shred of a reasonable doubt: taking someone else’s country, kicking its people out and setting up a new one in its place is unimaginable and in the very least repugnantly condemnable. Though I say I am Palestinian I’ve never lived in Palestine as my family was driven out of its home together with hundreds of thousands of other families in 1948. I was one of the fortunate ones who did not end up as a refugee and who’d received the opportunity to education and career and lifestyle. In fact many Palestinians would probably reproach me – the ones in the occupied territories, Gaza and refugee camps have suffered and endured and still suffer even more and that’s not including the feeling of humiliation and constant repression by Israel . Though I imagine, read and hear about it and deeply sour over it, I was never really put to the grind. I can imagine the feeling of being in a prison camp as the people in the West Bank and Gaza feel. And then the feeling of unpredictability which never leaves the soul to rest. Air strikes, military incursions, curfews (which mean basically: rush like ants to do your last minute shopping, get yourself and your children in the house and if you come out of the house after a certain hour risk being shot [half of the Palestinians killed by Israel in 2006 were civilian – The Economist, Jan 2007]. We may hit the power generators in Gaza as we often do and leave all you 1.2 million people in the dark at night and allow your food to spoil after a few days without refrigeration, oh and oops sorry no water either because – forgot (or actually I knew) that water requires pumping and pumps require electricity. Ya usually we do targeted killings but now we are employing the “G” thing.. you know it’s actually group or collective punishment but that doesn’t sound too cool…”) My friend in Gaza has four kids who live in fear. He tells me that his three year old is afraid to go to the bathroom alone even in broad daylight. I read that there are serious psychological problems inflicting Palestinian teenagers and some are peeing in their pants at night. Just the idea of having one’s home bulldozed is revolting! I don’t know how I would cope…
I read about the business side of things – here you have a normal business man interested in nothing more than money and economic growth waiting for his goods at check points for weeks until Israel decides to release them (as has been reported). In reality because of this, Palestinians are more inclined to buy their goods from Israel , even at a premium, to mitigate business risk and unpredictability. The very fundamental to business involves the transfer of goods, people, money and information. The first two are usually obstructed and the level to which they are obstructed gets worse with time, and the third one has also been stifled recently. Israel has also stopped the transfer of money to the Palestinians. If the Palestinian economy was a man, that man is being chocked at the neck with goring claws.
I can see the look of a Palestinian teacher so frustrated to see children not being able to attend school because of closures or bombings or because of rioting – her kids are in the streets throwing stones instead of heeding education, most probably the one thing left for them to improve their futures…
I once met a Palestinian man in Athens, Greece – a grey haired forty year old. He had just survived the sinking of the boat in which he was smuggled from Turkey to Greece . There were twenty people on the boat trying to get into Greece by being smuggled from Turkey and all died except him and another one. “I swam three kilometers to get to shore.” He looked quite skinny but was not the hot-blooded type. Actually very well presented. He had a bachelor of engineering degree from a German university and spoke German but finally ended up in Syria and the only way out was by being “trafficked”. Soon I learnt that he spent 6 months in Jail in Turkey for getting caught at some point. Why this fate? It is mainly because of being born a Palestinian: you never get status or a passport if you were transplanted to Syria , Egypt , Lebanon or Kuwait . There are about three million Palestinian refugees scattered over these countries and Jordan . Except for Jordan , these countries take the “noble” high-ground stance and flex and posture to say that as we don’t recognize Israel and do not accept what it has done to you, you need to go back to your country. If we grant you citizenship in our countries then it means that we have accepted Israel ’s actions against you.” As a result, virtually all of these refugees (except the ones that went to Jordan ) and their first and second generation offsprings have been stateless – some for more than fifty years – and without hope of getting normal citizenship. In all practicality, and arguably understandably so, it is often the case that the hosting country feels sorry for the refugees it embraces but is also annoyed by them as they could cause trouble and also sap the resources of their usually ailing economies.
And the story only gets worse inside the refugee camps.
While I respect all people in general, including Jewish people, and I enjoy the friendship of Jews, respect the achievement of others in their rank, also incidentally find quite some similarities with Palestinians and Arabs, I cannot as a human first and Palestinian second, I cannot but condemn and stand in opposition to Israel. It also appears that while there are decent people in both camps and perhaps equally indecent ones in both on an individual basis, in my opinion Israel as a democratic nation has been a hypocrite and an abuser, a lawless (from the perspective of international law and UN conventions) ruthless and brutal occupier doing all in its power to sustain an apartheid state. Even Nelson Mandela occasions to express a view of Palestinian condition equal to and worse than the state of blacks in South Africa at the height of the apartheid. At least at every juncture in recent history things kept taking a turn to the worse for Palestinians at the hands of Israel. In my opinion one of the diseases inflicting Israel is power: power corrupts regardless of culture or religion. I believe that if Palestinians were the stronger party perhaps they will be no more merciful to their opponent. I just regard this as a socio-psychological phenomenon that afflicts humans in general.
Sorry if all this bears heavy – but there is no way to avoid the heavy stuff. I just thought it important to give you a sense of what often simmers inside my head, not so much from an intellectual perspective but from a lower level humanistic one. This also doesn’t address how I feel about the “Western” and particularly “American” media’s portrayal of Palestinians and Arabs. It is also misleading to use the label “American” media because it is my belief (and if compelled would offer supporting evidence) that especially on certain topics, the media in the US is not democratic, not representative and not impartial – though arguably one might say there is no such thing as objectivity in any media: it is just inherently impossible. Nevertheless, it is still worthy of mention that American media is infested with spin doctors and demagogues appearing to speak on behalf of the “American people”. The Palestinian Israeli conflict is taken out of context. The concept of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is really trampled upon. The principle has been supplanted with selective truths.
What I would like to ask you at this point, if you don’t mind me doing so, is an open ended question. How do you feel about the Israeli/Palestinian issue and the Palestinian people in general, given that as I’ve known you, you are not a self-hating Jew. You’ve expressed to me your sense of connection with the Jewish culture and heritage and feel a sense of kinship with Jewish communities.
In your reply, please take the liberty to express any varying points of view of Israelis and Jews on the matter and adopt different sides of the political spectrum, though some you may not subscribe to yourself. Discuss at length as you may wish and if you want to avoid the topic all together and talk about something else – including any progress in Chess – then by all means;)
Sincerely
Ziad
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Ziad,
Your views on Israel are matched for the most part with mine. But it is hard for me because I am Jewish to face certain things without some defensiveness. I hope you can understand that. I grew up in a family that never questioned zionism. They probably still don’t. I’m the one who has been most critical, the one who wasn’t willing to say that we as jews are superior.
Interesting aside, the other night I went to shul for the mourner’s kadish (prayer). You know that I’m an atheist, but I go because I feel that if someone is mourning and my attendence at the service, which requires 10 jewish men, helps then I’m creating good karma. After the Hebrew part of the service the rabbi was discussing some rules regarding lost property and how the torah addresses what to do when you find something. The rules are different if you find something that belongs to a non-Jew!!!! I was stunned, and when I raised the question of how that can be the response I got was that Jews should treat other jews differently than they treat non-Jews. There is more to it, but you get the idea. Well, I’m not gonna buy that load of crap. That is an exact example of what is wrong with organized religion; superiority in gods eyes.
I’m honored that you took the time to write such a thought provoking letter, and I have huge respect for how you address your observations.
What do you want to do about these observations?????
Now, to reply to your open ended question on what I feel about the Israel/Palestine conflict and the Palestinian people in general, here goes.
I believe that Israel has tried it’s very best from day one to break the Palestinians of hope. I believe that going back to the inception of Israeli statehood with people like Jabotinskiy and Ben-Gurion, that the indigenous Arab population was seen as an obstacle to Israeli and Jewish hold of all of Israel, and I don’t know if anything has changed since.
The conflict pisses me off because it’s filled with shady characters who represent things that are anathema to progress, and nothing really gives me a sense of hope. I can’t begin to imagine what life in Gaza must be like. It is a tiny place that is essentially being suffocated from the outside world. They have no real natural resources, their daily existence is one of chaos and violence, and the world ignores it. That is what i mean about taking the victim status. Israel’s welfare is not being threatened by the Gazans who fire missiles. To say that Israel’s armaments are superior to those of the Palestinians is an understatement of mega proportions.
Best regards,
Eric
(Eric Silverman can be reached at eric.silverman@yahoo.com)