Hi everyone. In light of recent incidents and escalating violence in Israel-Palestine, I just want to state that Ive been to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, and Tel-Aviv and will voluntarily recount my own experiences to anyone interested in hearing about the trials and tribulations I witnessed and encountered first-hand. As an American citizen who was rudely awakened by the appalling reality the U.S. and Israeli governments and media outlets have so assiduously tried to conceal, I humbly offer these limited experiences as I know the conflict can seem so confusing--and so layered--that informing oneself seems a daunting and intimidating task. I know how easy it is to shrug it off and claim its complicated, but let me just say this: The longer the illegal (yes, illegal - under international law) occupation persists, the more land thats stolen, the more agriculture thats sabotaged, the more homes that are razed to make way for illegal settlements, the more water sources that are hijacked, the more transportation thats disrupted, the more exportation of goods thats compromised, the more Palestinians detailed indefinitely in Israeli jails for petty crimes, the more limited the Palestinians access to their pre-Nakba homes becomes, the more heinous acts committed by the citizens and police force of the ruling power thats backed unconditionally by the U.S.A.......the more settlers start resembling terrorists, the more the U.S. and Israeli governments (and numerous multi-national corporations) become complicit in the violations of human rights, in perpetuating a terribly ironic ethnic cleansing, in perpetuating violence, xenophobia, hatred.....and the less grey and more black and white the once-complicated situation becomes. As a citizen of one nation who grew up in another, I still cant grasp the notion (or raison dêtre) of nationalism--let alone patriotism--and I can only say it seems dangerous to unequivocally support anything with power, be it a politician, religious leader, national regime, institution, ideal, or trope. That said, I hope none of you is offended as thats certainly not my intention. I can only utter the truths I know, the truths Ive experienced first-hand. At the end of the day, were all whirling around through ever-expanding, infinite space on a mass of atoms, at the mercy of so many circumstances and question marks, faced with only one certainty (i.e. clinical death) and unable to verify what happens next, so it just seems so sad that the ways humans have devised to reconcile themselves with this unavoidable fate--in addition to the great human flaw: greed--are inspiring territorialism, causing pain, and condoning senseless bloodshed. To what end?
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 12:09:30 +0000
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