Journey to Jenin – A poem I preformed

The hills rolled by like waves frozen in time
Dear Palestine
I sigh at the mention of your name, for it is the enigma of my mind
Many a civilization rose and fell
And it is just ourselves and ruins that have been left behind

And the powers still rise to this very day
This time, it is the settlements that eat your hills away
I see them now, high walls and red roof tops
Followed by gates, checkpoints and signs that tell me to “stop”
The message is clear, I’m no longer welcome here
These places house fanatics, and I’m not talking Al-Qaeda
But American Jews, dreaming of Judea and Samaria
Living in the Biblical era
They walk around with their Uzis and M-16s
Shouting in Hebrew, “mauvit l’Aravim!”
“Death to the Arabs” – that’s what it means

I stop my thought to find that we approach Jenin
A city green with life, of stone and mortar like any other
Only it is known as “the capital of suicide bombers”
Just another corner of history
Which makes the holy land the unholy to me
We are horrified by their ability to take innocent lives
But I think of how they lost the will to live
And gained the will to die
Desperate men who lost sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers
And then got preyed on by shady vultures
Saying “if you die for our cause, your family will never go without bread”
The choice becomes theirs, to watch their families starve
Or to embrace death
“Never mind” the bullets, bombs and bulldozers they faced
What they had was by no means an ignorant hate

And within a house in Jenin I saw a portrait
A son and a mother, both shot dead by an Israeli sniper
And I say in my head “O’ Palestine, you drink too much blood and not enough water”
Four year old child or fully armed soldier
You drink it all the same
Arab, Jew or the blood of any other
And I saw graves where this blood bore fruit
On the walls a sombre question, “what did we do?”
It was in Jenin’s refugee camp, I remember now
Of how the homes were once bulldozed into the ground

I dwelled a while before we continued our journey
To a friend’s newly built home, with beautiful scenery
At the balcony, I stared North into the distance
For just beyond that hill over there lay Tiberius
The Sun set in the East and rose in the West countless times
Until I was back to that fateful day
In 1948 when my family was driven away
My grandfather had just finished a home by the lake of Galilee
And I know that it is a place I may never see
I pictured all of them going to Lebanon and Syria
Among the mass expulsion, war and hysteria

To some, a war of independence, to us a catastrophe
Pride makes enemies
When it concerns race or nationality
That powers that be intervene, and interests meet
The boot stamps down on the neck of the weak
I’m tempted to simply say “such is the way”
Yet I persist in repeating “not today, not today”

And the enigma remains, Palestine, why can’t I let it go?
Why is it that people lust for you so?
And a gentle breeze took me back to the present
My journey, just for now, had ended

Dear Tiberias

Dear Tiberias

It has almost been 64 years since we have last seen you. I don’t know much about you, but I want to thank you for being a home to my family for countless generations. I have only seen pictures of the city and the little that remain of our village of al-Shajarah; it has been completely wiped off the map and forgotten. The closest I have been is to the north of Jenin, with nothing between me and you but a border. I am sad to say that we have not fared well. While some of us started new lives with citizenships from other countries, many of us still remain in neighbouring refugee camps. In half a century we have experienced uprisings, massacres and invasions. What remains of Palestine is a dying land, carved up by Israeli settlements, checkpoints and so called military zones, it is disappearing before our eyes no matter what we do.

I was fortunate enough to live in a country like Britain, a second home to me now. But I still feel powerless in the face of what seems like an unstoppable force. The citizens of Israel look down on us from the moral high horses, claiming pity for the refugees for being used by the Arab “leaders” of other countries to stir hatred. Yet they shut their ears and eyes, not daring to admit a single mistake in their violent and war filled history. They look at their suffering and say ‘no, no we could not have been this terrible ourselves, there must be another reason’. Others among them do everything they can to discredit our existence and our identity and I am afraid that these attitudes are not waning or abating in the slightest.

But we are all human, and I look at our own past and what we did, wondering how desperate we have been driven to commit such acts. Black September in Jordan and the Black September group in the 1972 Munich Olympic games. The plane hijackings, assassinations, paranoia and suicide bombings. To the Western world that is all the matters, they do not see the woman in the streets of Sabra and Shatila standing among the dead bodies of her children, screaming ‘MY BOY! MY BOY!’…I can still hear it today.

And after all of this, after all of this I do not know what to do. Do we try and get what we can of historic Palestine? Or do we abandon it and join Israel, fighting for emancipation like the South Africans and Black Americans? Either way it is a long road ahead…

Good bye, Tiberias. If only we had known that we will not see you again after that fateful day.

Sincerely, one out of millions.

Remember the Nakba.

Waltz with Bashir – further thoughts

In my so called review of Waltz with Bashir, I brought up some comments made on another review from the website Electronic Intifada, here it is again:

The question of who was doing whose dirty work is not so easily answered, however Israel was nobody’s sidekick when it invaded Lebanon. The film does not show us the Israeli shelling of Beirut that led to 18,000 deaths and 30,000 wounded, the violations committed against civilians, the destruction of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance. And what about the fact that the Palestine Liberation Organization and armed resistors had been evacuated more than two weeks before the massacres, and that it was the day after multinational forces left Beirut that Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon made it known that 2,000 “terrorists” remained in the camps? The focus of Folman’s quest for responsibility in Waltz with Bashir hones in on lighting the flares as the Phalangists “mopped up” the camps. That two months before the massacres Sharon had announced his objective to send Phalangist forces into the camps, that the Israeli army surrounded and sealed the camps, that they shelled the camps, that snipers shot at camp dwellers in the days before the massacres, and then having given the green light to the Phalangists to enter Sabra and Shatila, the Israeli army prevented people from fleeing the camps — all of this is absent in Waltz with Bashir.

In my eyes, a documentary is ideally a blend of investigative and accurate journalism mixed in with multimedia, be it using a camera to capture real life footage or, as in this case, using animation to record these events.

The aim of journalism, as many people believe, is to search for the truth. Some may believe that there is an objective truth to everything, others may believe that finding the objective truth is an impossible task. Personally, I agree with the latter, since the prejudices that crawl within our sub conscious constantly will tend to twist our perceptions, and these perceptions can be further twisted by our memories as time passes. But there is no reason for you to take on my view, and there is very good reason for you to go away, research and make your own judgements.

The above comment from Electronic Intifada makes one thing clear. When it comes to reporting the Lebanon War, Waltz with Bashir fails to mention many crucial events that even the most prejudiced of people cannot miss. But one has to keep in mind that the object of truth for Waltz with Bashir was not who the victims of the war were and what happened, but rather, it was why Ari (the protagonist), forgot everything about the war and in particular the massacre which he witnessed (and was an accessory to). The answer, of course, emerges and that is because he associated himself with the complacent Nazi guards in the concentration camps (as one theory goes) and the shock made his mind block this memory. Even at the very end of the movie, it is projected that the worst that the soldiers did was kill a few civilians by accident and unsuccessfully try to stop the massacre by contacting their higher ups. Nothing is mentioned about heavy shelling or preventing people from escaping during the massacre, but it is a fact of history.

Now I want to ask. Since the very act of simply firing flares to light the way for murderers during the massacre caused Ari to go into shock and completely forget everything, how do you think he will react to talking about how they had to prevent victims from escaping the horrific event? The entire a film is a product of his own perceptions and an interesting one at that. If the Israeli government, and even most of the Israeli people, refuse to take responsibility for events such as The Nakba which happened even before that, or if they do not dare but talk of the Lavon Affair in hushed voices, what do you expect?

I will make it no secret that my mother, and her side of the family, unfortunately witnessed and experienced this horrific war too. Their perceptions are radically different to Ari’s because they were in a different position. They and their fellow refugees have experienced injustices that outweigh the traumas that Ari and his friends suffered in the war, far outweigh them. That is why, if the object of truth was indeed the War itself and the injustices therein then it is essential to include the views and perceptions of the oppressed. However, for this particular film this was not that case.

I have arrived at the conclusion, that as a Palestinian who is aware of the other parts of history behind the Lebanon war, that I ought not to merely complain about this film’s inaccuracies, but realize that it is an insight into the mind of an Israeli soldier. Not only do they see as as faceless and nameless rabble, but they also see themselves as morally superior at every turn of event, finding difficulty in taking responsibility for any action they may commit. So let us go to them, let us let them know that of the 6+ million Palestinians scattered throughout Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the rest of the world, we are not faceless and we are not morally inferior.

A graphic novel and film review – Ari Folman’s “Waltz with Bashir”

This is a graphic novel, but I will also put it under my “books I reviewed” list because I don’t think I would be reviewing many other graphic novels.

Summary:

Using a unique blend of animation and story telling, this documentary is based on the real life story of Israeli soldier, Ari Folman. And it has now been converted into a graphic novel.

One night, a friend of Ari calls him over for a drink and tells him of a nightmare that he had, a nightmare spawned by the Lebanon War of 1982, where Israel invaded during the Lebanese Civil War from 1975-1990. On that same night, Ari starts to have recurring dreams, seeing himself and his friends back in Lebanon, back in Beirut at the site of a horrific massacre that took place in Sabra and Shatila; Palestinian refugee camps next to the capital city . It is only then that he realizes something striking; Ari has no memory of participation in that war as a soldier whatsoever, and so he goes on an inner (and outer) adventure to seek out his friends and find out the truth. It is only after he returns from visiting a friend who now lives in Holland that his memory suddenly unlocks, and he remembers the war…and the massacre which was committed by a Lebanese militia and in which he saw himself as an accessory.

The Review:

Israel, as a country, is very political. So it came as a surprise that when I watched this film and read the graphic novel, that there was no mention of politics whatsoever. This story is a purely human story, it is a story about people and not politics, about the internal thoughts of one of many soldiers involved in a massive war. It is a fresh take on documentaries, since a documentary involving conflicts, civil wars and countries such as Israel or Lebanon, are almost obliged to have a mention of politics. But Ari Folman does not need this component, what he needed and used were simply his memories and perceptions, and those of his friends who were with him during that war.

One aspect that I found quite amazing was while watching the film itself, and the graphic novel really can’t do it justice. It is the animation, which has a smooth and unique feel to it. One would wonder why Ari Folman used animated cartoon as a medium for such a project, but it turned out to be perfect in creating the ambience that surrounds dreams, a heavy element in this story, and it was a manageable budget for him as a film maker. The art style itself is melancholic in a sense, with heavy use of shadows. But it also captured the facial features of everyone very well, giving them their character.

Talking of ambience, the music is another amazing aspect which the graphic novel can do no justice (obviously). Composed by Max Richter, the music the environment it creates is so memorable that I still listen to it to this day. From the opening scene (which is confusing, and that is the only clue I will give), to the end scene, it is gripping and effective.

However, there is one thing that bugs me, and here it is phrased so eloquently from a review from electronic intifada:

The question of who was doing whose dirty work is not so easily answered, however Israel was nobody’s sidekick when it invaded Lebanon. The film does not show us the Israeli shelling of Beirut that led to 18,000 deaths and 30,000 wounded, the violations committed against civilians, the destruction of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance. And what about the fact that the Palestine Liberation Organization and armed resistors had been evacuated more than two weeks before the massacres, and that it was the day after multinational forces left Beirut that Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon made it known that 2,000 “terrorists” remained in the camps? The focus of Folman’s quest for responsibility in Waltz with Bashir hones in on lighting the flares as the Phalangists “mopped up” the camps. That two months before the massacres Sharon had announced his objective to send Phalangist forces into the camps, that the Israeli army surrounded and sealed the camps, that they shelled the camps, that snipers shot at camp dwellers in the days before the massacres, and then having given the green light to the Phalangists to enter Sabra and Shatila, the Israeli army prevented people from fleeing the camps — all of this is absent in Waltz with Bashir.

I must stress that if you want an accurate view of the Lebanon invasion in it’s entirety, then don’t just rely on Ari Folman’s views and perceptions. Read a history book and look at multiple sources from multiple sides. This story is purely from his point of view,  that much is made clear when not a single Palestinian in the film is given a name or a face. Not a single one even speaks, and the women at the end who scream amongst the dead bodies are not even subtitled. I would say that is quite accurate of how Israelis see us, just how we see Israeli soldiers all monotonous in their uniforms, devoid of personality and, at times, compassion.

With that said, I will give one spoiler warning, but this is purely to prepare you. While the film/comic is an animated style cartoon, Ari Folman inserts real life images of the Sabra and Shatila massacre at the end (both the film and graphic novel) just to pull us back to reality. After watching the film at a friend’s house, and seeing those images as well, it really left me with a lot of emotions running through my head. I remember leaving the house with dark clouds in the sky, and it left me with a very sombre impression. Me being Palestinian affected me considerably, but no matter who you are, this tale of friendship, discovery, guilt and violence will move you.

I really would give this five stars, and even more if I could.

A dispatch from "the only democracy in the Middle East"

Reblogged from the first casualty:

Via Haaretz:

When the director of the International Writers Festival in Jerusalem wants to convince international authors to attend the festival despite pressure to boycott it, she often trots out the fact that an opening speaker in 2010 criticized Israel in his comments. But now the festival is instituting a new requirement: Opening speakers must show their speeches to management in advance - in an effort to avoid another speech like that one.

Read more… 183 more words

Israel is ruled by a liberal and progressive civil court, while the Occupied Palestinian Territories are ruled by an oppressive military court. The vileness of this military court is spilling into Israel proper. And as Palestine slowly disappears and around 2 million Palestinians are left stateless, one can only wonder what will happen if a two state solution is never reached.

“Israel, the Middle East’s sole democracy”

Haaretz has released an article concerning the pro-Palestinian fly-in activists who have been blocked from travelling to Israel. Another article, published by Maan News Agency, mentioned that Israel sent a letter to those pro-Palestinian activists who have been denied entry in Israel on their way to Palestine. Here is what it says according to them:

You could have chosen to protest the Syrian regime’s daily savagery against its own people, which has claimed thousands of lives,” the letter read. “You could have chosen to protest the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on dissent and support of terrorism throughout the world.”

“But instead you chose to protest against Israel, the Middle East’s sole democracy … We therefore suggest that you first solve the real problems of the region, and then come back and share with us your experience. Have a nice flight.

Now let us say, for purely argument’s sake, that Israel is a fully functioning democracy. I am not even going to dispute that here, but there is something that is very worrying about this kind of attitude.

Firstly, it reminds me of Europe during the colonial times. “We are civilized, they are not, we are showing them the way and we have a right to”, this way of thinking has not really changed as you can see from this letter, as it has a very similar angle. So I would like to ask a few questions…
1. So if it is wrong for Syria to take thousands of lives, what about you Israel? Can you remind us what happened from before your creation until now? What of Qibya, Deir Yasin, Haifa and Tantura? What of the King David Hotel bombing and the Lavon Affair? Can you remind us of the casualties in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and the Sabra and Shatila massacre as your minister of defence stood and watched? What about the first and second Intifada, followed by operation Cast Lead in Gaza? These are only from the top of my head, Israel, but I would love an answer.

2. If it is wrong to crack down on dissenters, can you tell me why you won’t let professors like Norman Finklestein and Noam Chomsky into Israel? If Israel is meant to be a Jewish democracy and a safe haven for Jews, then why can’t Norman Finklestein, whose parents were holocaust survivors, come back? Is it because you have a larger Zionist political agenda? Don’t you remember how in the first Intifada, you would sent little children to military court just for carrying a Palestinian flag? What about the peaceful protests in Palestinian villages and the 180 deaths committed by your forces in the past year? Can you tell us about your treatment of Arab members of your Knesset/parliament?

There are a lot of questions, I know, but I genuinely want to know the answer. But I noticed how many people who use the argument of Israel being the only democracy don’t deny the atrocities I mentioned among others, atrocities that are historical fact. It seems that people are placing democracy on a pedestal, something to sacrifice everything for unquestionably, something infallible…it kind of begins to sound very similar to the concept of a partisan God.

But here is the thing. We despise dictatorships because people can’t make any decisions, it is just down to one man or one political party taking every single matter into their own hands. However, if people are fooled by straight up lies , then what happens? A dictator is a person or a group of people, and the common people are people too. What use is democracy if you lie to the average voter, make them irrationally fear something or is completely misinformed or deceived by a certain policy? If the government was willing to lie to us about something, how can we ever trust them again, as voters, and how can we function properly?

Am I asking for a total reform of democracy? Maybe I am. Am I saying I have an amazing solution? No I am not. But what I definitely want is the worship of “democracy” to be taken down a notch. If you pride yourself on being a liberal democracy, then you should not close your ears to this article and be open minded about it, lest you be a hypocrite.

A walk in Hebron

I went to Palestine about three years ago (2009), and one of the cities I had a pleasure of visiting there was Hebron. I don’t know why I am writing about this now out of all these times, but here it is:

It was a Friday, the equivalent of a Sunday in the 80s back in Britain, it was dead. I and a couple of friends who were locals were showing me around. The centre and hub of the city was eerie, with all the shop shutters drawn over, some with bullet holes in them that dated back from the second Intifada of 2000, at another door, I saw a crudely drawn star of David. It’s intention was not to profess the artists faith, but to show “the other” that they were there to stay. The settlers have been here, and they could come at any time.

The old cobblestoned road I and my companions walked through was the line itself. To our right were the settlers, who had taken over the top half of many of the dwellings there, and to our left were the remnant of the Palestinian population. As we got closer to the settler’s area, I noticed that above me, there was a cage roof in the open with litter strewn all across it. Before that was put up, the settlers would throw down their waste, whatever it was, at the Palestinians to drive them out, and they were succesful. It took a moment to realize that I was walking under their rubbish bin; literally:

Elsewhere, I saw a soldier standing right above me on a roof top, holding his big gun and squinting in the sunlight. A wild though crossed my mind. If a settler was to gun me down, or start stoning me like an animal, will he actually do anything?

This is the soldier that was standing guard. They are officially there to keep order, but actually there to protect the settlers. Understandable I guess...

To be frank, it was upsetting and enraging, but we carried on to our destination; the mosque of Abraham (or Ibrahimi mosque), and to the Jewish people, cave of the patriarchs. We couldn’t just walk in of course, there were Israeli military checkpoints:

The military checkpoint just outside he entrance to the mosque/cave of the patriarchs

I didn’t know what to expect, but to my luck the soldier at the first checkpoint was laid back and not much of a problem. At the time I presented my British passport since my Palestinian ID had not been made yet, and I remember him looking confused then asking me
‘What brought to this country?’
To which I smiled innocent and clueless, saying with an air of being a foreign touris
‘Holy land’

The guards at the second checkpoint, just buy the door, where not as communicative and more silent. I stood with my hands against the wall, they frisked and searched me with a metal detector then slightly tapped my backside
‘Yalla’ meaning go.
Inside, I noticed security cameras all around the prayer room, and then I remembered. Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli military doctor and a radical, stormed into these rooms and gunned down as many Arab Muslims who were praying as he could. He even through some grenades while he was at it. I had a feeling that they wanted to keep an eye in case a revenge attack is planned instead of for the protection of the Palestinian Arabs there. And in a room just next door, was the Jewish section of the building; glancing through a heavy glass window and metal bars, I saw a Rabbi give a lecture to students. People who would probably want to pick a fight or kill me.

The feeling of powerlessness is overwhelming, not just in Hebron but all of Palestine. When I and my companions where about to go round a roundabout, a settlers car went zooming past, almost crashing with little guard (we recognized it because number plates are colour coded). The driver, ‘Alaa, was of course angry, but his friend, Yousef, said that we can’t actually do anything.
‘He is a settler!’ he said, ‘he can do what he want’.
The thing was, Yousef was part Slovakian. His golden goatee and bright blue eyes are not very Arabian characteristics. But he is a resident. He too has an ID, he too gets searched at checkpoints. He talks perfect Arabic, walks like a Palestinian, he is a local, he lived here all his life.

And the feeling of powerlessness seeped back into mind, and it is seeping back in now.

Arabs and Philosophy

I walked through the streets of Hammersmith, sporting my suit and a small, neat Palestinian flag pin on the lapel of it. I turned this way and that into some side streets and I come to the road I need to be at. After walking past a few downtrodden, small offices I get to my destination; the Palestinian “embassy” or  delegation.

I breath in and press the button. A loud buzz and click comes in response and I step through, and it was like going into Narnia.

One minute I was in London, the next I am in an office block in Ramallah, Palestine. Pictures of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas hang either side of the reception desk and all of the furniture is of Arabian style, a little bit over the top, but Arabian nonetheless. It had a faint smell of pipe smoke. As I approach the receptionist I automatically speak English, for some reason or other, and so I carry on instead of switching to Arabic because that would make me seem weird.

‘Sorry, she is off sick, and the person she asked to take the interview is busy.’

Arabs I thought, we are so disorganized and chaotic. I came all the way, preparing for an interview for some volunteer work at this little office, and there is no one. I am at a loss, I take out my phone to see if I can phone the interviewee, but her number just goes to the office’s switchboard, damn it!. Just as I am about to turn around and head out in defeat, a deep, throaty noise catches my ear.

‘MARHABA!’

I say hello in return to the big, burly man that just turned up. The receptionists face contorts in confusion as I suddenly start speaking more or less perfect Arabic. Before I know it, I am sat down at an office just behind the reception, in front of yet another man I never thought I would meet. I don’t know if it was the mess or just the atmosphere of them speaking in Arabic, but I kept on being reminded of my father and the office he works at in Ramallah. We exchange names and a firm handshake, and then he leans back, conversational and friendly.

‘So Ziyad, what do you study?’

‘Journalism…and philsophy’

I say philosophy quietly, like I am brushing it under the carpet, but he catches that word nonetheless and raises an eyebrow ‘Philosophy eh?’ This is it I think, this can either go two ways. He is, at best, going to make a joke about it, or at worst, take the piss for his amusement. ‘Philosophy is very important, you know’. OH THANK GOODNESS! I think as I breath an audible sigh of relief, that sigh where I don’t have to deal with questions like ‘so what do you do? think?!’ or simple statements like ‘it is a waste of time’.

Considering that the Arab world technically saved the Ancient Greek Philosophy of the likes of Plato and Aristotle, why is it that Arabs today only seem to tolerate it or outright despise it? Now I am saying most Arabs, as my interviewee clearly approved and generalising a group of people under one statement is never literally true.

For one, Philosophy today is essential to get someone to think critically and “outside the box”. Not just for random ideas, but for entire policies and practices of society. From the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to Siddhartha, they all began with critically thinking about themselves and the society around them. They did not follow the status-quo just because they were told to, they thought and reformed, and their ideas influenced many people in the future. They may have had a gift, or they may have been talented, but the point is that not everyone today will be capable of doing it unless they learn a subject that touches upon philosophy and practices philosophy. Coming up with “thought provoking” quotes is not philosophy, but making statements about the very fabrics of reality; be it the existence of God, morality, politics, the purpose of human life, the meaning of human language or whatever, now that is philosophy.

If you want me to be honest, I feel that the Arab world is highly lacking in Philosophy and critical thinking. And something should be done about it.

Israel and Palestine; what next? A talk by OneVoice – part 1

First, background information:

OneVoice is an organization, not a charity or a political party. When it comes to their aims it is that of the basic two state solution that many people around the world are adhering to; that a viable and independent Palestinian state be established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with the capital as East Jerusalem.

How it operates to bring this about is a different storie. The organization is subdivided into different branches; OneVoice Palestine based in Ramallah, OneVoice Israel based in Tel-Aviv, OneVoice Europe based in London and OneVoice USA based in New York. These branches do not necessarily work  together but work in parallel instead. They tend to focus on the issues in their own societies that they can work on to progress towards a two state solution. The organization trains youth leaders from the ages of 20 – 35 in public speaking, community mobilization and conflict resolution. The following is a talk that was held by OneVoice which I attended where they brought along a Palestinian and an Israeli to discuss the kinds of activities they had been doing back home.

The talk:

Rami from OneVoice Palestine:

Rami is a Palestinian who studied rural and agricultural engineering and is from an area close to Jenin, in the North of the West Bank. His activist side immediately showed when he was checking whether our refreshments were made in Israel (there was hummous there after all) and that was another point to raise about OneVoice. Asides from the parameters of the two state solution set above, everyone was left to their own methodology, whether you boycotted anything or not was up to you. But I digress.

Before the Oslo accords of 1993, Rami explained how he, and many other Palestinians, felt that they had no future in the occupied Palestinian territories. After the Oslo accords, their hopes were raised up, they began to envision an independent Palestinian state, but then, as  before, their hopes were crushed. He moved out of Palestine and went to Europe during the second Intifada of 2000, but after losing a friend who became a suicide bomber and seeing other close ones in the midst of the conflict he joined OneVoice.

He and other members of OneVoice went all over Palestine, from refugee camps to Universities, from villages to East Jerusalem, to ask them what he was asked, “what are you willing to do to end this conflict?”. They collected 350,000 signatures, each one representing the advocacy of the two state solution. Many people huff at that and say that a signature was just a signature, but in the case of Israel and Palestine during and post the second Intifada it was important, as the likes of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert claimed that there was “no partner” on the other side of the negotiations, that no one on the other side wanted peace or a two state solution.
In 2008, OneVoice Palestine held a competition called “Palestine 2018″, in which young children drew and expressed in whatever way what they envisioned an independent Palestine will be like. They spread their films on YouTube and other social networking sites  as an attempt to demolish the myth that no Palestinians wants peace.

Another activity was based on an Israeli land law. That if any land in the West Bank is not clearly owned (i.e. cultivated) for a period of time, then it becomes Israel’s, which they can then use to build illegal settlements. With these being seen as a massive threat to OneVoice and their cause, Rami helped plant some trees on some land that was due to be confiscated.  They then established a committee to look after the trees and that prevented the confiscation in the end.

Smadar/Dari from OneVoice Israel:

Dari is a resident of Ramat Gan, a city in the Tel-Aviv district of Israel. She had joined the Army as part of her compulsory service during the height of the second Intifada. Having come out feeling frustrated and helpless at the subsequent stalemate of negotiations she studied conflict resolution and joined OneVoice. She herself refuses to buy settlement goods or even set foot in them.

She explained how Israeli society is very polarized when it came to the issues of Palestine between “leftists and rightists”. While OneVoice did have definite premises of a fully independent and contingent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as the capital, they managed to surprisingly attracted supporters from all over the political spectrum who have eventually reached the same consensus as OneVoice.

In 2008 they also went around with a petition to sign for a two state solution. A common reply was a refusal to sign because “Palestinians would never sign for such a thing”. Thanks to Rami’s work above, they were able to provide evidence that more than 350,000 Palestinians want a two state solution too. I saw how this particular strategy has done its best to break the political (and somewhat physical) barriers between Israelis and Palestinians, and point out to both of them that the common man does want peace and that, as history teaches us, the politicians and the governments are most likely messing things up.

The comment about the politicians, especially on the Israeli side, is important considering that Israelis pride themselves on their democracy. So OneVoice created a “Two state solution inter-parliamentary group” in the Knesset/Parliament of Israel. Just one month ago, the settler movement tried to quietly pass a bill to allow the establishing of illegal outposts in the West Bank, and this group managed to publicize this issue and stop the bill as a result as, in their view, it was detrimental to any progress towards peace.

The 2007 Arab peace initiative was also something that was quiet in Israel and almost unheard of. So to publicize and make people notice that the “angry Arab neighbours” were looking for peace too they dressed someone as a Saudi King, who would ride in a limo, then get out and shake hands with the random public. After questions were asked about what the heck was going on, they would explain. This was also a good way to get media attention, a very influential medium in countries like Israel.
Anything that was taboo as well, such as, in some areas, talking about the settlement issue, was discussed in meeting held by OneVoice. Giving people the confidence to talk about these issues openly.

What made me realize is important for the movement is, asides from giving hope, to put a human and reasonable face to the opposition. Instead of the Palestinians or Israelis in this organization pointing fingers at each other, they have focused on present issues, pressuring their own leaders and looking at how their own society can be improved when it comes to arriving at a two state solution.

More to come in part 2…

Israel’s long gone friend

“Certainly, by 1999, Sharon is said to have openly spoken of the proposed wall to former Italian prime minister Massimo D’Alema, during a brief visit he made to Italy. Even more significantly perhaps, it was the first time Sharon had reffered to it as ‘the Bantustan plan’ “ 

“Israel and Taiwan had been the only countries that had sought to take up business relations with the Bantustan ‘governments’” 

“According to an article in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, both Sharon – then opposition leader – and Sofer talked at the conference [Herzliya - on the Arab demographic danger] during which the professor outlined how the West Bank should be cut into three sections or ‘cantons’. One canton would stretch from Jenin to Ramallah, the third from Bethlehem to Hebron and a third smaller area created around the city of Jericho. [...] Sofer was to stay in touch with Sharon until his election as prime minister, and subsequently insisted that the final map outlining the route of the separation wall was almost identical to his original blueprint” 

From David Pratt’s Intifada; the long day of rage, pp. 226 – 227

How many times do things have to happen before they are not repeated again? Or are we doomed to say “never again” until the end of our very days? The enemy, this hate, is before us once again. And we shall bring it down like South African Apartheid has been brought down. Israel shall follow the path of its long gone friend, but that is only certain if we all take action and the international community breaks its silence.