World leaders and diplomats have for many years dictated their vision of what a Palestinian state should look like. They have had their opinions on what solution is best to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They have also had many suggestions as to how better Palestinians can achieve their statehood, such as the use of non-violence methods, which incidentally Palestinians have always tried to incorporate in this struggle. Diplomacy is important, yet their “advice” and suggestions do not reflect but their sheer lack of understanding the realities that Palestinians have to endure.
On the fourth anniversary of the Intifada, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, came out with resolve and certainty against it. According to him, the uprising has not achieved anything for the Palestinians. What is more, Powell had the audacity to say that it is the sole reason behind the lack of a solution. In other words, Palestinians have only themselves to blame and should accept the subjugation that his speech implies.
Again, the victims of the fifth largest military in the world are responsible for what befalls them, as if the only reason why Israel is conducting its wide-scale operation in Gaza this weekend is to curb “terror”. The conflict is presented in its simplest, black-and-white form to the masses, which raises the question as to whether these supposedly intelligent, rational individuals running the world, actually understand the complexities of the situation here. The issue here is not terror, but the occupation that has robbed Palestinians of their ancestral land and its resources, and has denied us the many basic human rights that we are entitled to. There are two parties to this conflict and as soon as Israel is assigned its fair share of responsibility, there will be a stalemate for an eternity.
Palestinians have always had a reluctant faith in diplomatic negotiations, but it has become increasingly evident, that try as they may, our own political representatives have been unable to follow the act of American and Israeli politicians. Marginalized and incapacitated, Palestinian officials go where they are summoned and yet come back empty handed. It would be great if they refused to engage in any form of negotiations until our representatives are guaranteed that something substantive will happen to change the situation on the ground.
Unfortunately, the weak cannot impose conditions on the stronger parties and are thus cornered into going to meetings that they know are probably not going to be for the best interest of the Palestinian people. Diplomatic relations need to be maintained, nonetheless, but world speaking tours, media appearances and newspaper space by any one of the many outspoken Palestinians, have done more to advance the Palestinian cause than any diplomatic meetings have done.
Those who heard British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw saying at the conclusion of the Labour Party Conference earlier this week that the Palestinian Authority must “rein in terror groups, who continue to cause such carnage and misery to Israeli families”, can only assume from his message that the only thing that Israel is guilty of, is targeted killings. No mention of the fact that in many targeted assassinations, innocent Palestinian civilians are killed, maimed or left orphaned. And no mention of Israel’s oppression of an entire people, justified by fighting “terror”, while it is in fact a colonial occupation that recalls the shameful history of Europe’s past.
It is time that the world recognized that Israel is the dominant power in this conflict and should be treated as such. It is not enough that Straw demanded of Israel to stop targeted killings, halt settlement buildings in the West Bank and re-route the “security” barrier, as if these are victimless acts. It is time for firm action to stop Israeli aggression that has killed 3,659 people since September 2000, not to mention the scores more who have fallen during this weekend’s incursion on Gaza.
Clichéd condemnations of Israeli military operations are not enough, such as today’s Dutch Foreign Minister, Bernard Bot’s, unless accompanied by specific actions that would pressure Israel into rethinking its strategies. One thing that can be done is reviewing Israel’s preferential trade agreements with the European Union, as Denham called for in an article published in Friday’s Guardian newspaper.
While speaking of justice for the Palestinian people, nothing has been done to implement any UN resolution thus far. The International Court of Justice ruling in July was a positive outcome, but like any of the many other documents, it has been bound and filed somewhere to collect dust. Security Council resolutions that would enforce Chapter 7 are needed today, whereby Israel is progressively forced to implement them or face sanctions or other consequences. Otherwise, 50 years from now, the world will still be churning out resolutions, and politicians will still be talking about a peaceful settlement in the Middle East from the safe distance of their offices. Diplomacy has its role, but it has not proven itself so far, so how can Palestinians trust and hope that negotiations and diplomatic relations will end in the resolution of this conflict?
Believing in Jerusalem
Date posted: May 27, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.
Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.
Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.
The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.
The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.
What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.
Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.
The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.
That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Let Mohammed rest in peace
Date posted: May 20, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.
The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.
My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.
Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.
Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.
That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Recognition and justice is our demand
Date posted: May 13, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.
This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.
It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.
But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.
We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
