On the Palestinian struggle

Palestinians really are resilient people. They were forced out of their homes, had their lands stolen, had to watch others take over their beloved olive trees and tear them to the ground. Those of the diaspora go through their entire lives feeling displaced, like aliens living in far off foreign lands. Those that are in the Occupied Territories fight for their right to exist on a daily, no, an hourly basis.

No, the old did not all die, and the young will never forget, Golda Mier. If you expect Palestinians to "forget" your horrendous and despicable crimes against them and against humanity, then maybe it is high time you forget the holocaust. How does that sound? Delete it from history, turn it into a taboo subject and let us see what becomes of you then. It just baffles me how Israel managed to skew history, how it managed to change so much of it. How did you get away with all of that? How did the Global community allow it? I'll tell you how, they did not want you in their country, so they made you somebody else's problem.

If one would only read history books, from different sources and authors, they would realize that during the holocaust gypsies, handicapped, short, dark-skinned and even Arab people were tortured and killed. Yes, Arabs have had a taste of the holocaust as well. They then welcomed you to their land, shared their bread and salt with you and overnight, Israel was created and nothing was the same ever again.

Earlier this week, Newt Gingrich publicly and without an ounce of decency, claimed that Palestinians were "an invented" people. He claimed that Palestinians are nothing but an extension of the Ottoman Empire. I say? Bull Shit. If that is the case, then we are all "invented" people. Does he actually think that America was there since the beginning of time? What about England? Israel? Lebanon? Saudi Arabia? All countries are relatively new. A Country does not define a nation, a nation is what defines a country. It is the shared set of beliefs, traditions, cultures, psyche, history, language and so much more that make up a nation, which in turn becomes a Country. Palestinians do have their own language and their own culture, Mr. Landau, no matter how much you wish otherwise. They forget that the word Palestine comes from the word Filistines, which is the name of the people that lived there for centuries upon centuries. They forget that Palestinians have a distinct dialect, have a unified culture and heritage. They forget such important details oh so easily.

You ask why Palestinians hate the Israelis so much, you call them terrorists and anti-semetics. However, who is the anti-semite here? Palestinians do not fight Judaism, no matter how hard the media tries to push for that. They fight the occupation. they fight for their right to live in the same country where their ancestors lived. They fight for the right to return. They fight for freedom. They fight for humanity. They. Fight. For. Humanity. Israel kills both Muslims and Christians daily. The USA has waged a war against terror which, at it heart, fights Islam. Who is anti-semetic now?

Yesterday, a 28 year old Palestinian male was murdered in Palestine by Israelis. Why? Good question. he was using a teeny, tiny slingshot.  A slingshot that would not even leave a mark on a tank. A slingshot that will not save him in the face of a gun. A slingshot is what got him murdered. Please do not talk about terrorism, about human rights, about peace until you revise your ways. Israel has so much to answer for, and the USA has to answer to even more as it is its biggest and greatest supporter. Human rights... puh-leeeeeez. These two countries can not even define the words right. Terrorism? These countries keep terrorising others time and again, without any justification or truth. Remember the Qana massacre of Lebanon in 1996 where Israel massacred a whole village filled with women, children and old people... not to mention UN employees. Did they have to answer to that? No. Were they held responsible? No. What about the Jenin massacre of 2002? Israel is still denying that, despite the many  evidence against it. The USA invaded Iraq even though it never found those weapons of mass destruction. So many American lives have been lost in this so-called "war against terror" and for what? Lies and more lies? At least Palestinians do not go invading other people's countries. At least they do not go in there waving a big ass gun and pointing it at your little kids, all the while screaming at them to give them a certain name. They do not rape your women, they do not kill your unborn children. They fight the occupation, not the civilian people. They fight to live, you fight to kill Israel. That is the difference.

Palestinians will fight for their right. One day, the world will wake up and support them. Palestinians have the greatest weapons at their disposal: the truth, and hope of a better future. No one can take that away from them, not even ignorant asses that are dressed up in suits playing politics.

Please check the links for a clearer idea of what I am talking about.

Palestine

Palestine:



"Meen Irhabi"/"Who is the Terrorsit?" by Dam:



"Born Here" by Dam:

Tsk, tsk... the shame!

I am really upset about the civil war that errupted between Hamas and Fatah in Palestine. Like it is not enough that they are being targetted and killed by Israel, they have to do it to themselves. What I do not understand is this: Why do they not unite, defeat the occupation, get their land back, and THEN fight over the power that they do not presently have???

This is too depressing... too shameful...

59 years...

... it has been, and yet, here we are fighting for what is rightfully ours. Today marks the 59th anniversary of the Palestinian "nakbeh" or exodus. Today 59 years ago, millions of us became refugees, stateless, with nothing but a hope and a memory -for a few some- to cling on to. We were driven out of our homes, lands and towns. We were stripped of our dignity and of our identity.

Yet, here we are, struggling, fighting, refusing, objecting against what has happened to us.

We will win eventually, we shall return one day.

I am drained,

tired, fed up, unhappy and confused. I also hate my period, have I ever mentioned that before? It turns me into this walking hormone-machine. It sucks.
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I just watched episodes 1-17 of season 3 of Grey's Anatomy. Very dramatic, wonder what else they have in order for them to create a season 4. Seems to me that anything that could ever happen, has already happened. Unless, of course, the chief turns gay or something because his wife doesn't want him, his mistress died, and the "ladies" don't look his way. Something to look forward to knowing, I guess.
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I went to a poetry reading by Mahmoud Darwish tonight. It wasn't as good as I expected it to be. He also presented himself as someone who is full of it, so I did not like him. Too bad, he has great poems.

On Palestinian nationalism...

My friend Mimi asked me last night what is it with Palestinians only wanting to marry Palestinians? She argued that my father is Palestinian, and yet he married a Lebanese... so why am I so insistent on my guy being Palestinian. As I was explaining to her, I realized that t all has to do with nationalism.

I want to marry a Palestinian, because I want my kids to have the Palestinian identity, I want to raise them 100% Palestinian. I want them to stand up for her, call for her, bleed for her, and cry for her. I want them to know that they come from a country that is suffering from being raped onetime after another. I want them to raise their voices and state that they are Palestinians. Obviously, no one knows what the future holds, but I would prefer for them to grow up knowing that their father is from there, their ancestors are from there. I want them to be as passionate about it as I am. I want them to be more active as well. I want to raise them to be able to recite both narratives -Arab and Israeli- by the age of 10. I want them to be able to shut any Zionist up by the age of 12. I want to instill in them the need to fight for her, even if they never saw her, touched her, saw her moon or smelled her beaches.

I guess I want to do all that because I feel that it is the least we could do for her. We should insist on Palestinian nationalism being engraved in our children, even if they reject it at first, only because if we do not, she will be forgotten. She will have no one to look out for her, to feel for her, or to scream for her. In time, people will forget that she needs someone to hold her up high, that she needs to lean on someone to stay upright. People will forget how much she has bled, how hard she fought to hold on, how badly hurt she was. In time, she will be lost, and that could never happen. We have to keep fighting for her, we have to struggle for her, and it is our duty to raise generations that will do that.

Golda Meir once said "The old will die and the young will forget". My reply to Meir? Go screw yourself. The bond we have with the land, even though most of us have never even seen a glimpse of it, is one that travels by blood. It will never fade away, it will not be easily forgotten. History has taught us that!!!

Late night ramblings...

A total stranger hugged me today, only because I moved closer to hear what her friend was telling me about some stupid drunk girls that were running around in the middle of the street. She hugged me... like a full hug. There i was, standing on the footsteps leading up to second cup, with my friends inside, and this random person hugs me... and it was nice. Why can't people just be spontaneous, do what they want, when they want. I asked her why she hugged me and her reply? "you are friendly, as simple as that". A complete stranger saying I am friendly... I am going to miss Montreal, with its random people, its hippies, its activists, its weirdos, its bums, its sunshines, its rains, its snows... I am going to miss all that so much.

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I was thinking today, 17 days and that is it. I will take one last look at my room, one last glance at my door, lock it and walk away knowing that I will not be returning to it any more. Knowing that that is it... no more. The end. I will never wake up to see my flag hanging from the wall first thing in the morning, I will never have people randomly dropping by and screaming at me for never locking my door. I will never... so many things. Why is it that the leaving here is so much harder than the actual coming here? When i came here I was 17. It was the first time I ever leave to live on my own to be my own person. I left a life of luxury and came to live here, where you are responsible of doing everything all by yourself. You have to pay the rent, the bills, clean the house, do the laundry, cook -or at least make sure you eat- and so on. I had never even seen what a bank statement looked like until I came here. I remember my mom sitting me down and explaining to me how to write out a cheque. Cheques??!!!! I thought everything worked with plastics and plastics only. I remember looking at my mother as though she was crazy, as though I thought it impossible to spend money in any way other than either cash or credit cards. I remember my first bill... I called up dad and asked him where the hell was I expected to pay it. I remember my first mail... it was a bank statement that I never opened... Why should I, I thought? I know I have money... looking back, these past 4 years have been an adventure I would never trade for anything. These past 4 years made me the person I am today. I may not be perfect, I may not be affectionate, may come off as too strong or independent, but I am me and that is what counts.

I not only learnt how to pay bills or what a convenience cheque books are, but I also learnt a lot about my heritage, about my Palestine. I am more proud than ever to be Palestinian. I was proud before, but living in an Arabic country, you are kind of disconnected from all of this. My parents did try their best to get me involved in the whole issue, but I was too self-involved at the time. i went to the shows just to see the performance, never listened to the speeches or the poetry. I went to the dinners for the socializing opportunities, never for the reason they were held. Looking back, I am a little ashamed of the way I was. I should have been more active, I should have done my research, I should have gone out of my way... but I did not. Living here changed everything. i had to do my own research, I had to find my own passion and had to follow my own road.

Ayayayayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Montreal... I have so much to thank you for. I am going to miss you like no other.

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Could someone answer this for me?

IF the Palestinian-Israeli talks ever go through, and they agree that the Palestinian state should have the 1967 boarders, where does that leave me, a person who is from the 1948 boarders? What happens to my right of return and where do I return to?

Seriously?

The Israelis want to talk peace now. Stupid Olmert has the nerve to say “We, the state of Israel, will agree to the evacuation of many territories and the settlements that we built there. This is extremely difficult for us, like the splitting of the Red Sea. We will do it for real peace,” AS IF!!!!!! Those settlements are built on STOLEN LAND! Those territories are STOLEN!!!!!!


UGH!!!!!!!

You can read allllll about it here.

I agree

This actually makes sense...

On what is irritating me now

You know what I absolutely hate? I hate the way the news belittles peoples lives. I hate it when they report about deaths as though it was an ok thing. I mean, yeah, to die is part of life; however, to be killed is not. I was just ready this article on aljazeera international and what irritated me in the use of three little words: some 80 people. SOME? Seriously? you can not even take the time to do the research and come up with the right, accurate number? SOME? What? those people's lives are so insignificant that we no longer need to know?



Of course, if they were Israeli, Americans, British, Canadian etc it would never be some. it would be an exact number. It could also be followed by their names and a more thorough explanation of what had happened. But they are not. They are Palestinians. Palestinians living a fucked up life every day, not knowing whether or not they will live to see the following day. They live in such nasty and rotten conditions, it is a miracle a plague has not erupted yet. But still, they are not westerners, so why should anyone care? Why should the world take one minute to say a prayer for their dead, to weep for the children's' lost innocence, to cry for the broken families, to check on the poor and weak, to ask after the lost and disappeared, and to fight for their rights. Why should anyone bother? Palestinians are at the bottom of the human race chain. Who cares? I say, I care. I weep, feel, cry... I do and I am sure there are others like me out there. We just have to be heard and that is what we shall do... I will not rest until my voice is heard... I can not.