| Alpha | | Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2004 9:07 am Post subject: The Rape of Palestine |
| US support of Israel doing the following is the root of the US terror problem as conveyed by James Bamford in his new book ('A Pretext for War'):
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 22:09:10 -0700
From: "Jeffrey Blankfort" <jblankfort@earthlink.net>
Subject: The Rape of Palestine
Letters from Palestine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rape of Palestine
By Jess Ghannam
Gaza, Palestine
Sep 30, 2004, 11:23
Yet again, Gaza is under siege. Israeli Destruction Forces have their
tanks, bulldozers, and troops in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, Jabaliya
Camp,
Khan Younis, and Rafah. Another 46 Palestinians have been murdered and
86
permanently injured. Homes have been destroyed, olive trees uprooted,
and
families torn asunder. Palestinians die a small death every time an
olive
tree is uprooted, every time a Palestinian is killed, and every time a
family is displaced. These Israeli sieges are systematic, calculated
and
opportunistic. The aim of these sieges is to promote the Zionist
Project
(sometimes referred to as “Occupation”) to completely cleanse Palestine
of its indigenous Arab rooted-ness, culture, and history. According to
this colonizing project, the land of Palestine should be free of
Palestinians and any reminder of its Palestinian past, present, and
future. The resistance to this project is, however, fierce, steadfast,
and continuous.
I was recently in Gaza for almost 2 weeks and witnessed the many faces
of
resistance, struggle, and freedom. I saw the faces of Palestinian
children coming home from school with back-packs filled with books and
homework--smiling, laughing, holding hands and saying, "see you
tomorrow,
my friend". I saw the families of these children welcoming them home
with
love in their eyes, despite their fears and anxieties. I saw
Palestinians
going to work, passing through hours of dehumanizing checkpoints trying
to eek out a living to support their families. I saw weddings in the
evening (about 18) and funerals in the morning (about 20). I heard the
call to prayer and the Friday sermon calling out to the families of the
brave defenders of Palestine who paid the ultimate price. And life goes
on. Our rooted-ness in Palestine goes on. Our history goes on.
Palestine
goes on, and on, and on....
It is obvious to everyone here that the main target of the Empire is
the
Arab World. The Imperial Project is to control the natural resources,
markets, and labor force of the Arab World and to extend
American-Israeli
domination in the region. Palestine is, however, the thorn in the side
of
the Empire. The center of the resistance to the Empire is in Palestine,
and the epicenter of that struggle is in Gaza. When we resist in
Palestine, we are resisting for our brothers and sisters in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Haiti, and Venezuela and for all people resisting imperial
aims, globalization, and the ugly ravages of structural adjustment
programs. Israeli occupation of Palestine is a kind of structural
adjustment program. Palestinians no longer enjoy the fruits of their
labor nor live off of their land. When you go into markets in Gaza and
the West Bank the shelves are full of the Israeli products, the
products
of our occupiers. The same process is happening Iraq and Afghanistan
and
has happened already in Mexico and Latin American. This is Imperial
freedom and democracy, the kind of freedom and democracy that are
brought
to the indigenous people of the Arab World. It is an imposed freedom
with imperial strings attached to it. Freedom, as every oppressed
person
knows, is not brought to you, it is taken. This is the nature of
resistance and struggle in Palestine, a taking back of our freedom,
dignity, and right to exist on our own land.
How many times will Palestine be raped before the world takes note and
opens its eyes? You see, when Palestine is raped, all oppressed people
are raped. And when Palestinians resist dispossession, dislocation, and
dismemberment from their rooted-ness, they are resisting the Imperial
dreams of their American/Israeli colonizers who wish to control the
Arab
World and beyond. The struggle for freedom in Palestine is the same
struggle of all oppressed people for freedom and dignity. Do you
believe
in justice and freedom? If you do, then you have to go all the way.
There
is no partial justice. Without genuine justice and freedom in
Palestine,
there cannot be freedom and justice anywhere in the world.
Finally, I wish to speak to the inability of some people to go all the
way with justice, specifically to the so-called progressive movement,
the
so-called left, and to all activists who cannot find it in themselves
to
go all the way with justice in Palestine. This is directed to the Noam
Chomskys, the Michael Lerners, the Medea Benjamins, and to the Leslie
Kagans of the world. This is to the Tikkun Community, UFPJ, JVP, Global
Exchange and to all those individuals and groups who can speak about
justice and freedom in Iraq, but not in Palestine; who can speak about
justice and freedom in Haiti, Venezuela, Sudan, and every where else in
the world, but not in Palestine. It is time to confront your abject
political analyses. It is time to confront your denial and racism. It
is
time to confront your moral hypocrisy. You are complicit in the rape of
Palestine.
I invite you to come to Gaza with me and look into the beautiful brown
eyes of Reema, a 7 year-old Palestinian child living in the Jabaliya
refugee camp and tell her and her family that they are not entitled to
justice, freedom, and the right to return to their village that is only
5
km from where they now live. Your abject sense of morality and justice
and vacuous political analyses are empowering the empire. Can you go
all
the way with justice? If not, remember one thing—where there is
occupation and injustice there will always be resistance.
© Copyright 2004 by AxisofLogic.com
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