As we start the new year, Id like to say a word about why I founded Humanity for Palestine, and where my own personal thinking is today Palestine... For most of my life, my understanding of Palestine was essentially informed by the us media. It was not something that directly concerned me or to which I gave much thought. It was during Operation Cast Lead, exactly 6 years ago, that I began noticing not only Israel excess and the extreme imbalance of death and destruction in the so-called conflict, but the fact that the Israeli government was brazenly lying and that the the US media was censuring facts that could compromise Israels image. This led me to begin to begin to do research and discover people like Ilan Pappe and Gideon Levy. I knew I had to visit Palestine myself and was fortunate enough to get the opportunity almost immediately, via a work assignment. Physically going to Palestine exposed me to just how much id been lied to all my life. I remember gazing at the guard towers that dot the landscape and wondering why I had the gates of Auschwitz etched in my mind yet had never seen this. The walls, bypass roads, flying checkpoints, and the entire infrastructure and bureaucracy of ethnoreligious oppression were all completely new to me. I worked and socialized only with Palestinians, only in Palestinian areas and the kindness, sensitivity and dignity of my colleagues and others I met in the face of the daily grinding oppression they were subject to, made me swear to do something someday to help. Everyone, including foreign aid workers, had the same stories of abuse and injustice, and the few Israelis I did meet - mainly soldiers and cabdrivers - seemed bigoted, closed-minded and propagandized, all the more so compared to my Palestinian colleagues. I realized for the first time that Israel did not want peace, and that everything they were doing was strategic, planned, multileveled, highly sophisticated, and all aimed at total domination of the land they believed to be theirs. I realized that security was only a cheap excuse for actions - like settlement building or theft of water - that have no conceivable justification in security. I also saw the despair of my Palestine friends, often couched In wry gallows humor, at a situation that they had seen grow worse their entire lives and which they felt powerless to affect. Finally, I saw that my last name made a difference; that Palestinians seemed relieved to meet a Jewish person who cared about their situation. My work visits pushed me to scour the Internet for more information and connect with others who cared. These conversations led to my first big dream for an action: the organization of a global music festival in Palestine - but my involvement mainly took the form of reading, discussion and the occasional post. I began to understand that the wrongs I was seeing were not knew, but intrinsic to the Israeli enterprise from the beginning, and that Zionism was a deeply problematic philosophy. Then came last June. I remember thinking on seeing the June 3rd announcement of the Unity Government: I wonder how Bibis going to react to react to this. 9 days later, I had my answer, as the hijacker murder was immediately blamed on Hamas with no motive or evidence and the Israeli government immediately launched an orgy of brutality and lies that quickly led to the most deadly and destructive attack yet. As the situation worsened I, like many others, was drawn down a rabbit hole of reading, posting, commenting and discussing online. I found more like-minded people and bonded with those I already knew I got my dose of ferocious hatred from so-called Zionists, but also support from many Palestinians. My friend requests mounted and my posts started going viral. 5 months ago today, I decided to create a separate group for my exploding, which soon became Humanity for Palestine. Humanity for Palestine was meant to be a jail break from the trap of social media, with its endless posting and commenting. We already knew enough to take action, so the idea was to focus our energies and time wisely so as to have the greatest possible impact. Because of the tremendous power imbalance in the conflict and Israels complete lack of incentives to halt its relentless drive to absorb the entire country and expel, inter, eliminate or simply ignore its indigenous population, it is clear that the decisive change must come from without, in the form of a global popular movement to force Israel to the table for a truly fair negotiation. As the current US political climate is such today that the President cannot even utter the words 67 borders without a withering backlash, it is going to take a lot to change the situation. I believe that awareness and education, so that many more can undergo the process of realization that I and others have undergone, is the key. I believe that Jewish people have a special role to lay in this; partly in countering the lie that this is a problem of Jews versus non-Jews; and also because Jewish people speaking out help make others feel more comfortable about criticizing Israel. I see the BDS movement as this generations anti-apartheid movement and victory as having the same liberating potential as that did, if not more. The Russell Tribunal on October made me realize that Israel is further engaged in what can only be described as a genocide and that, if it is left unchecked, Protective Edge will be followed by something even worse. While only the Palestinian people can define the specific form that a just solution will take, my personal preference is one state with equal rights for all, recognition of the wrongs done to the Palestinian people individually and collectively, and fair restoration for those wrongs, including compensation, reparations, and full Right of Return for all refugees. As equal rights on paper is only a first step, there will have to be measures to ensure that they are truly applied. I believe that the positive effect of such a solution could be tremendous, with a multiethnic, multireligious state having a salutary impact on the region and the world. Finally, I believe that successfully organizing and winning this single crisis that affects millions will help us prepare for the larger dilemmas ahead that will affect billions. Those are my thoughts. They are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect Humanity for Palestine. They are also evolving and could change, based on new events and information. Peter Cohen
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 16:41:45 +0000
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