A Palestinian Speaks Posted: 1/3/2005 12:51:00 AM
Source: http://www.standwithus.com
FrontPageMagazine.com |
December 28, 2004
Ever since I was a child, I've heard a range of accounts of what happened
to the Palestinians and Palestine. Everyone knows the Jewish version and
the Arab version. But there is a third side, that of those who lived there
and still do -- the Israeli Arabs.
Some Jews want us out of Israel, and some Arabs believe that we are
an extension of the Zionists. Yet we Israeli Arabs keep our culture and
traditions. Mahshy, or stuffed grape leaves, remains our favorite meal.
We love Arabic music; we sing old folk songs, including "Wein aa Ramallah"
about a famous Palestinian city, and songs from all over the Arab world.
We are unique among the Arabs, though. We have vested interests on both
sides -- and are angry at both sides.
Israeli Arabs have lived alongside Jews for as long as this generation
can remember. We became Israeli citizens in 1948. Before that, the region
wasn't quite as divided. Families lived in an area that includes the West
Bank, Gaza, and Amman, and in other Arab cities in areas where borders
were created later. We were divided by boundaries set by the Europeans,
and those within the boundaries of Israel became "Israeli Arabs". Now,
these Arabs are the unwanted, unloved, illegitimate, and have become the
biracial step-child of the Middle East conflict. We have to apologize for
our very existence.
Misinformation surrounds the story of 1948. Palestinians who fled their
homes are angry, bitter and distraught. No one can blame them. Yet they
seem to have been taught who they are supposed to hate, who is the guilty
party and who should be punished for their problems. People's memories
are so short. It is easier to focus on one enemy – especially an enemy
who does not belong to the same "tribe" -- than to analyze a complex situation
such as the Palestinian refugee disaster.
It is not my intent to discuss who belongs in that tiny region called
Israel, but I will risk being shunned by my own community to set the record
straight. The question is: why did Arabs flee the area that became Israel?
After all, the ones who remained in their homes still live there today
and prosper.
The fact is that the Arab world warned the Palestinians against staying
with the Jews. They also warned them that Arabs were going in to fight
the Zionists and that the Palestinians should leave to avoid getting hurt.
Many Palestinians trusted these Arab leaders and left as instructed.
Those who had lived with Jews for a long time were not as easily convinced
of the danger, and these Arabs stayed home. Among them was my family, which
saw cars traveling the area. The cars contained Jews. They reassured Arabs
that they would not be harmed. Thus, we had a situation where Jews begged
Arabs to stay and live with them, while Arabs from foreign countries told
them to leave right away.
Palestinians have gotten the short end of the stick in Arab society.
It suits Arab leaders to keep this group in a state of poverty and conflict,
and to channel all resentment toward the Jews. You don't believe me? Ask
yourself why Jordan or Egypt or Syria never gave the Palestinians a country?
If I hear another non-Palestinian, especially an American Muslim, repeat
the phrase "over 50 years of the Zionist occupation," I'm going to burst.
Can no one actually read history? It’s not ancient history, just 1948-1967.
Who had that land? Even if Arabs want Palestinians to have "all" the land,
this is no excuse for denying them an independent state. And yet, we blame
Israel!
As a child, I watched a Syrian play about the war of October 1973. A
famous Syrian comedian played a young man who fought in the war and was
taken prisoner. After his release, he was detained by his own government.
At one point, the guards slapped him and he started crying.
“Why are you crying?” asked a fellow prisoner, deeply puzzled. “That
was only a slap. I've seen the enemies do much more to you, and you just
laughed it off.”
The comedian replied, “The enemy is an enemy, and I expect that of them.
Yes, a slap is only a slap -- but from a brother, it's a slap in the heart.”
Let's take this a step further. The Arab world pretends to care, watching
a young Palestinian get killed by Israel on TV, justifying Jew-hatred right
before they go to their cozy beds. This is the Arab world that has taught
Palestinians to fight, and yet it will not give them citizenship. Where
is that love -- or, for that matter, where is the passion used to justify
the Palestinian issue?
Let's go to the refugees. Arab governments first used scare tactics,
and then took whatever they could get from the United States and Israel.
Finally, they stuck Palestinians in camps with deplorable living conditions.
Why didn't they leave them alone in their homes? Why promise them refuge
and reward them with nothing more than prison camps? And, most of all,
why didn't they provide Palestinians with homes in the West Bank, Gaza
and the Golan Heights when Arabs had control over them?
Please do not speak of money. Palestinian refugees receive aid from
all over the world, and yet their living conditions don’t seem to improve.
The "hosting" governments siphon off some money to line their pockets,
and the Palestinian Authority -- or lack of it -- siphons off the rest
… and the poor people get nothing.
As a Palestinian, I ask the world to please stop exploiting our issue.
If you want a do a good deed, find your own. To the singers romanticizing
Palestinian suffering, it is not romantic. There is nothing dreamy about
it. Where’s the heroism in a small child throwing rocks at a tank? Either
warn the child to stay away or just shut up! How dare you do this to our
children? Does our suffering give you such good video footage and high
ratings?
To the average Arab citizen, stop crying crocodile tears for us. We
thank you for your kind feelings, but please, don’t offer us your pity.
To the Arab and Islamic governments, fix your own problems. Do not use
our misery to blind your subjects to domestic problems. Are you afraid
that the people will wise up, and stop hating Israel, and turn on you?
You, who have condoned so much hatred, may one day pay the price. You've
created monsters, and you won't be able to handle them. Worry about creating
jobs for your own poor people and educating the children, and leave us
alone. In short, to all those invested in driving our children to die,
please, stay away from us.
Russian version