[AS
ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO
READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP
SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully
Palestine]
"More journalists executed in Gaza. This time, the IDF admits it deliberately targeted them because one of them was a “terrorist.” As usual no evidence is provided. But killings after killings, truth-telling won’t die. We all bear witness of Israel genocide..."
On a nightly basis after September 11, 2001, so-called terrorism
experts who knew next to nothing about the language, religion, or
cultures of the region would appear on news broadcasts — indoctrinating
our friends, neighbors, classmates, and coworkers to treat our language
as suspicious.
We watched as those subtle and innocent nuances of our tongue were twisted into indicators of suspicion.
I remember hearing an Arab-American elder once explain to a curious
neighbor, “In Arabic, God is in every conversation.” At the time, I
thought it was a bit overdramatic. It is undoubtedly true that it is
hard to imagine an Arabic conversation where Allah is not uttered. Whether in our bismillahs, alhamdulillahs, mashallahs or inshallahs or our yallahs or wallahs,
God makes routine appearances. But these are not necessarily religious
conversations at all. Even the non-religious use these terms; it is just
the nature of how we communicate in our language due to its historic
ties to faith. It is also one of the many things that makes the Arabic
language beautiful.
And yet we watched as those subtle, innocent, beautiful nuances of
our tongue were twisted into indicators of suspicion. In an American
discourse so heavily imbued with anti-Palestinian racism and so rife
with Islamophobia, Palestinians or those who dare see them as human are
not allowed to have legitimate intentions or legitimate grievances. They
are to be constantly seen as suspicious. Even if they speak of human
rights, equality, dignity, they can never really be trusted to
mean those things because of who they are — sneaky shapeshifters with
deeply held, murderous, ulterior motives. It is quite remarkable how
much this echoes antisemitism throughout history, and that should
surprise no one. All forms of racism are connected.
A Shoe on the Other Foot
Imagine for a minute subjecting words or phrases in a different
language, or about a different people, to the same unfair treatment.
Consider the Hebrew phrase Am Yisrael Chai. The literal meaning
of the phrase is “the people of Israel live,” and there are plenty of
instances where the use of this phrase is mundane. However, the phrase
is routinely chanted by murderous Israeli settlers as they engage in mob violence against Palestinians
living under Israeli occupation. Recently, it has been shouted by
Israeli soldiers as they commit heinous war crimes in Gaza and shared
widely and proudly by those same soldiers on social media. Thus, one
could argue that Am Yisrael Chai is a genocidal slogan and must
be banned, and that all those who use it or have used it must be
criminalized and viewed with deep suspicion.
Surely, this is absurd. And yet this is the absurdity Palestinians
and those who support their freedom are constantly subjected to. Still,
too many cannot see the glaring double standard... READ MORE
[AS
ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO
READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP
SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully
Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]
Earlier this week (in the NYTIMES) Thomas Friedman wrote of power. In
his opinion Israel is already Jewish, and should make peace with
Palestine in order to secure Israel's future as a Jewish democracy.
Today Yousef Munayyer wisely points out (in the NYTIMES) the horrifying
fact that "Palestinian babies in Israel are
considered “demographic threats” by a state constantly battling to keep
a Jewish majority."
So far Israel's supposed Jewishness is and has been a dangerous
delusion. It could have played out very differently had Israel
welcomed home the Palestinian refugees sixty years ago, shaping a
Jewish state out of the rule of fair and just laws: Israel could have
and should have chosen to nurture freedom, justice and real democracy.
Despite sovereign Israel's past failures to respect international law
and the Palestinians' basic human rights a fully secular two
state solution to once and for all end the
Israel-Palestine conflict really is the best way forward for everyone's
sake: Tax payers here and
there should not be coerced into funding institutionalized bigotry and
apartheid walls that fragment families and impoverish communities.
"It's
a simple dictum, but one that many still have trouble accepting:
Israelis and Palestinians have to talk to each other if they're going
to get anywhere." Hussein
Ibish:
We Need To Talk
Refugees and the Right of
Return Palestinian refugees must
be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as
receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession
and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i)
resettlement in third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly
independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of
Palestine which became Israel) or (iii) normalization of their legal
status in the host country where they currently reside. What is
important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which
option they prefer a decision must not be imposed upon them.
UN Resolution 194 Article 11: [The
General Assembly] Resolves that the refugees
wishing to return to their homes
and live in peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at
the earliest possible date, and that compensation should be paid for
the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage
to property which, under principles of international law or in equity,
should be made good by the governments or authorities responsible;
instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation,
resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and
the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the
Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees and,
through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United
Nations.
%20Yousef%20Munayyer%20on%20X%20Remember%20this%20was%20the%20Israeli%20military's%20first%20response%20after%20murdering%20Shireen%20Abu%20Akleh%20in%20broad%20daylight%20repeatedly%20lying%20about%20it%20and%20then%20getting%20away%20with%20it.%20Doing%20Journalism%20was%20%5B...%5D.png)
.jpg)
