Palestinian Responsibility: Deafening Silence And
Negativism
16 July 2010By Mazin Qumsiyeh
(PS for other
languages try http://translate.google.com <http://translate.google.com/>
:-)
Web link to this article athttp://www.qumsiyeh.org/palestinianresponsibility/
It took over 10 hours to cross from Amman, Jordan to
the Ghetto of Bethlehem, a distance of 60 miles. From
the first moment on the bridge from Jordan, we begin
to be immersed in Palestinian suffering. The 19 days
outside of Palestine are not possible for most
Palestinians. Yet, this was
not a vacation and I gave many talks and spent lots of
time in cars, trains, and planes. During the travel
time, we can have time to think and reflect on many
things and this short assay on Palestinian
responsibility is a fruit of many hours of this.
During this trip I met many Palestinians, far more
than before. Many were dedicated activists and others
attended our talk out of curiosity or a sense of
obligation. In Jordan we stayed with close friends
(Palestinians originally from Hebron). We interacted
with many others of all backgrounds.
We even had a chance to briefly visit one of the many
proliferating malls inAmman (this one is called 'Mecca
Mall'!). The mostly Palestinian population, like the
rest of the society in Jordan, is divided between the
'haves' and the 'have nots'. I was reminded of my
visit with the Wheels of Justice bus tour to New
Orleans months before the catastrophe of Katrina
Hurricane and flooding. There in the deep South in
richest country on earth was also a city that is
deeply divided economically.
The hundreds of customers whether in a rich mall in
Amman or New Orleans have the same 'choices':
Starbucks, United Colors of Benetton, and MacDonalds,
trendy shops with latest lingerie and other fashions.
The reality of life just 30 km to the west in the
occupied areas is as alien to those Palestinian
shoppers as it is to their American counterparts. I
thus pondered on our collective human responsibility
to address injustice. Nowhere else in the world today
is there a more obvious example of massive and blatant
injustice of ethnic cleansing, colonization, murder,
and distortions of reality than that associated with
creation and maintenance of a 'Jewish [Zionist]
state'.
That this process was initiated and promoted by
Europeans and later Americans leaves the people of
these countries with the duty to act to rectify this
injustice. Many take this very seriously. I was
touched by the passion and dedication of many Italians
to the Palestinian cause. But ultimately, the main
responsibility for Palestinian liberation and
wellbeing falls on us Palestinians.
In my visit to Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, I
was saddened to see the basically inhuman conditions
of life. Yes, we must blame the Lebanese government
for this but we also must look in the mirror. How many
Palestinians who are of the 'haves' category are
actually caring enough withdeeds (and not mere words)
about their fellow Palestinians. While we seek and
appreciate solidarity and joint struggle with all
people, we must rely on ourselves first and foremost.
I just finished a book on history of popular
resistance in Palestine. That there are millions of
Palestinians in Palestine despite all the Zionist
effort is testament to the efficacy and depth of this
resistance and caring. That millions more who were
forced to leave refuse to forget where they came from
indicates the fallacy of the notion advocated by
Zionists of 'the old will die and the young will
forget.' But keeping the attachment and acting
strongly to defend your right are two related but
separate issues. And those who are truly dedicated to
act for the cause in any nation remain a minority that
we should try to
grow.
How many people get involved and how many dedicate
their life to the struggle can be the deciding factors
in the success of any liberation movement. Success can
come using mixtures of different tools. No two
liberation movements follow the same paths. Lessons
can be drawn from Places like Algeria, Vietnam, and
South Africa but these stories are different and
liberation in Palestine will be different when it
comes (some would say if it comes). I believe we have
significant and unique opportunities to move forward
positively. Here are just five of hundreds of reasons
for my optimism.
1. The International civil society is emerging and
mobilizing in unprecedented large numbers to help
challenge the oppression and colonization in Palestine
(think of the growth of social media activism,
websites, International Solidarity Movement, Free Gaza
Movement, Freedom Flotilla etc.).
2. The Zionist project represents the antithesis of
morality and justice in such a blatant way that no
caring and decent human being can ignore. It is
obvious to all that it is wrong to ethnically cleanse
a country of its native inhabitants in order to bring
people of a particular religion andcreate a state of
such immigrants with a set of racist laws to ensure
hegemony. Thus, it carries the seeds of its ultimate
destruction within its own ideology. Its persistent
war crimes and crimes against humanity (in
Deir Yassin, Nablus, Jenin, Gaza, Lebanon,
international waters etc) are but the natural symptoms
of the pathology.
3. The Zionist project is now recognized
internationally (despite the massive propaganda
efforts) as a destabilizing force not only locally but
internationally. From its inception in the 19th
century, political Zionism survived only by creating
divisions and wars. But people are tired of conflicts
and wars. Wars also used to have little cost to the
Zionist movement. In the last few years, the cost of
war has risen and Zionists cannot wage wars without
some blow back hitting them where it really hurts
(think Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza in 2008/9).
4. The growth of the boycotts, divestments and
sanctions (BDS movement) has been phenomenal (visit
bdsmovement.net for details). The Israeli government
is frantically trying to suppress this but they always
end up promoting itby their own arrogance of power.
The arrogance of power that allows Israel to lose
Turkey as an ally or to forge passports of 'friendly
countries' will lead them to lose what few allies they
have left.
5. For every act of murder or destruction, for every
attack on a human rights activist, Israel creates many
folds more resistance. The murder ofRachel Corrie
generated thousands of Rachel's and her story is now
known by millions (Google gives 1.9 million hits).
After the attack on the flotilla of 6 ships, we will
now have 60 ships arriving in September. Each of the
hundreds of activists who were unjustly kidnapped in
International waters, mistreated, and stripped of
his/her belongings is now a lifelong activist for
Palestine.
We cry over the Bassem AbuRahma (see videos at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlbzuZ_50mU and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F91H8sR64Ro ) and
thousands of other innocent
Palestinian victims of Israeli crimes. We cry over the
many internationals
who lost their lives such as Rachel Corrie (see
http://www.rachelcorrie.org/) and the victims of the
Mavi Marmara (see
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaza/?saved=1).
To honor these martyrs for this good cause, we must
turn tears into action and shatter any remaining
'deafening silence' and negativism among our people
(and here I meanPalestinians and other fellow human
beings). We do see corruption,defeatism, and lack of
self confidence among many people (Palestinians and
others). We must challenge these human frailties but
this can only be done by putting out positive actions
and examples. As we learn from basicphysics, only the
pluses can neutralize the minuses. The good news is
that we see more and more pluses and more and more
people deciding to get off the proverbial couch and
get into the fields. Here the harsh winds blow, the
vultures circle, the dogs bark, but the caravan of
freedom moves on and we are getting good company and
making great friends along the way.
"Some people are always grumbling because roses have
thorns. I am thankful that thorns have
roses."-Alphonse Karr
See also this related article 'Of Cowardice and
solidarity'
http://qumsiyeh.org/ofcowardicedignityandsolidarity/
Italian famous tenor Joe Fallisi who we met in Italy
had created operatic songs for Palestine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4KkVDVooHs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te0aqfMKdOw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H3OF_UgCck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkxq_tHIJhc
As always, you are welcome to visit us in Palestine
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD A Bedouin in Cyberspace, a
villager at homehttp://www.qumsiyeh.org <http://www.qumsiyeh.org/>
Professor, Bethlehem and Birzeit UniversitiesChairman
of the Board, Palestinian Center for Rapprochement
Between People, http://www.pcr.ps
©
EsinIslam.Com
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