« Shabbat Shalom | Main | Oh well »
February 10, 2008
In the wilderness
Apparently, many Arabs seem to believe that Palestine is our one and only tragedy. Often when we campaign for other things, a lot of people angrily write us back with, “What about Palestine?”
What about it? Is it not enough that it has hijacked every single news hour, every single newspaper, every other conversation, every other blog? Of course it is worthy of this attention, what is happening is horrible and people need to stay aware. But there is so much more than awareness here - there is a consistent obsession with this Palestinian conflict that so many Arabs love to collectively rave about, despite not proposing or doing anything to help solve this problem or the Palestinian people in general.
Secondly, when fellow Arabs are racist against Palestinians, I don’t see anyone being revolted by it. Like the numerous Arab Facebook groups wanting Palestinians out of their territory. And who could forget the Kuwaiti author who once wrote that most Palestinians are backstabbing and are thus deserving of death?
Almost no outcries from the public. Why? Because apparently, Arabs are only wronged by the “enemy.” We’re so perfect and precious to ever wrong ourselves.
Finally, an honest assessment of arab-think:
I am sickened by the question, “what about Palestine?”
Please remind me, how many rallies took place in defense of innocent Darfurians? How many newspapers demanded action and justice against honour crimes? How many news networks revealed what the Baha’is are suffering through in many of our countries? How many people cared enough to focus on foreign workers in an attempt to abolish the widespread slavery in the Gulf? How many people in this region cared to network with Afghans who come from a country where many people are without electricity, an education, basic rights, an opportunity to communicate with the world, where the life expectancy is below 40?
How many people stood up and echoed the voices of the voiceless? Must one obsess with Palestine in order to be taken seriously?
Over the years, I've been known to mock MidEast Youth for the same kind of thinking that Esra'a bemoans, and I have taken quite a bit of heat for it. I did not expect the article to be very well received, but to my surprise, a good bit of the followup comments are somewhat agreeable, even if still peppered with that very same obsessive thinking. And, the honest evaluation in at least some of the comments surprised me:
Unfortunately it has gone as far as being an obsession, and sometimes even a diversionary tactic used by our governments when they want locals to focus on something other than their own human rights abuses.
Is there hope? Perhaps there is.
Posted by LindaSoG at February 10, 2008 09:14 AM
Comments
I gave up a long time ago Linda. When hatred is taught from infancy through adulthood, with hatred being the topic of the world's classrooms. Where the largest political body in the world does nothing to prevent the spread of hatred and actively promotes it under the guise of humanitarian relief through their inaction and lack of accountability. The alleged peacekeeping body that cannot even prevent their own peacekeepers from the practice of theft, slavery, rape and murder, even cannibalism.
It's like our congress stating racial differences have been abolished and healed, all the while playing the race card of pitting one american against another to curry favor at the voting booth, we tip toe around being politically correct afraid to speak out because we might offend some ones sensibilities. I see no clear delineation between our's or their practices of teaching hatred, they sanction the practice through 'religion', we do the same , they have a national policy of segregation , so does Congress. Until the practice of treating one group as superior to another instead of as equals ends nothing will change. Instead of propping up those practices through aid programs respective nations and peoples need to become self reliant and integrated as one society. It will not happen as long as there are Ahmajined's, Farrakhan's, Jackson's, Sharpton's, Clinton's or Obama's who promise inequality over equality and defend their positions as racial, religious or patriotic. Leaders set the example, the rest follow their lead. Are not the policies and practices of Berkeley or Toledo any less Fascist in nature than the fascist religious practices of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan or Syria, or the past racist-religious fascism of Nazi Germany? The result is the same.
A good place to start would be the abolishing of the hyphenated_american bullshit. I reckon I'm a non believer but I still have hope.
Posted by: Jack at February 10, 2008 05:35 PM
Sigh. Yannow, according to my Miami-Dade County Voters Registration, I am "white, non-Hispanic." Quite frankly, it pisses me off to be classified as a non-anything, but what can I do?
This is my fourth year here Jack, and it's disheartening to realize that I am still writing about the same issues, the same people, the same places, the same things.
Not much has changed for the better, and in many instances, things have gotten worse over time. It's hard not to give up, and I fight that feeling nearly every day.
But like you, I have hope for the future, although I fear that things will get much worse before they get much better.
I am so distressed at the possiblities for November because I see nothing good, nothing positive, nothing to give me hope that there may be a move in the right direction for this country.
Change will come, but not on our timetable.
All we can do is do what we do, and hope!
Posted by: LindaSoG at February 10, 2008 07:14 PM
November certainly won't bring us any real confidence in solving important issues around the world. And these voices in the wilderness will be lost if an appeaser is in the White House.
For me domestic issues are in the back seat and I hope we can at least tread water on the International fronts as Europe continues its decline and China and Russia begin to flex their muscles... and that's not to mention the lunatics running Iran and Pakistan and the corrupt UN poised to take more wealth and power from the US.
So which candidate is likely to do the least damage when the risk is all out world war? No, things don't look pretty
Posted by: Oceanguy at February 10, 2008 08:36 PM
Thanks for the link....
Posted by: Gila at February 11, 2008 11:55 AM