Tragedies, genocides and massacres happen daily. When people hear about an injustice somewhere in this world, they usually condemn, voice objection or, unfortunately, remain indifferent. In one case, however, the victim of a genocide and daily aggression is always condemned and the aggressor cheered. This is the case with Palestine and the Palestinian people. It seems that most media outlets are happy to act as cheerleaders or at least protectors of the genocidal Israeli state as in the case of the Gazette’s last edition. [JP Gazette, Nov. 19 article “Extra questions surprise JP voters” and letter to the editor]
Whether people’s view of Israel is conscious or not, the population here is brought up to love and respect the European-Jewish colonial project in Palestine. Unfortunately, this project is nothing to be celebrated. It displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and continues to do so by pushing the rest of the native population into isolated ghettos that resemble large prisons. Palestinian villages are being demolished daily by herds of fascist Israeli police in the Nakab dessert in historic southern Palestine as other villages come under attack by nationalist religious settlers that burn olive groves, attack villagers and destroy homes. It is really sad to witness a population that suffered the same injustice with the rise of European fascism committing the exact horrific crimes.
An Israeli court recently pardoned an Israeli army unit after members confessed to forcing a 9-year-old Palestinian to open packages they thought contained explosives during the failed genocidal aggression against the Gaza ghetto that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians. No jail time was ordered, and their commanders praised their actions. Racism and disregard of humanity is the true spirit of the colonial European-Jewish project in Palestine. It is reminiscent of Nazism. Palestinians have every right to protect their land, their olive groves, their history, their culture and food traditions from theft. It is up to the Palestinians to pursue peaceful means if they wish or other forms of resistance as inspired by the Jewish resistance fighters in the ghettos of Europe among many other groups who fought injustice and tyranny.
The non-binding question that was on the ballot in some communities in and around Boston about the status of Palestinians within Israel failed to educate us about the injustice that happened and continues to happen to the Palestinians. It failed to address the root problem, which is the theft of land from the native population. In addition, the results expectedly showed deep hatred towards Palestinians, as more than 40 percent of respondents voted that Palestinians should not enjoy equal rights. This is not a surprise as the media is constantly spewing venomous anti-Palestinian propaganda.
The Palestinians are the native people of the land. They are the Canaanites, the true Israelites and the Philistines. They have a Semitic tongue and a dialect closest to Aramaic. Palestinians are Muslims, Christians and Jews. Jews were always welcome in Palestine prior to the colonial project and are welcome once the project has been reversed and its racist structure is dismantled.
Jawad Husein
Jamaica Plain