Flipping through a book of I.D.s from each country and territory in the world we keep around at my job (the number one capitalist and pro-American entity: a bank), I look for a picture of a Palestinian I.D.
It is a thick book with multiple pictures from each country, detailing the special feature each I.D. has, used to make sure we do not get a fraudulent I.D. I see Israeli I.D.'s of course. So I keep looking and searching through pages. Maybe it’s under “territories”, or maybe they have a section for occupied territories? I find nothing. I commented:”There is no Palestinians I.D. in here.” My co-worker, who has been to Israel and is an ultra Christian, quickly responds “no country, especially the U.S. will declare Palestine as a legitimate state.” I have nothing to say to him. The land I am from, the I.D. I possess (which I believe is the most important piece of paper I hold) are illegitimate according to the banks and apparently to any legal institution in the United States.
Then an idea gets to me, I am sitting at work getting paid, and paying a huge amount of my paycheck from this #1 capitalist exploitive institution for taxes which contributes to delegitimizing what little there is left of a “Palestine”.
I have been told to look at the bright side of life. I’ve been told to be happy with what I have, and my favorite is “you’re in the land of the free; you cannot get freedom like this somewhere else.”
It’s hard for me to see the freedom when I have no choice but pay to kill my own people. It is fascinating when people tell me about freedom; in fact I am not sure if they even know what this phrase means.
On a daily basis I pay to oppress, kill and demolish the lives of people I care about. I do this by paying taxes. I am a Palestinian who pays to enhance Israel’s “security”, which means kill and oppress more Palestinians. I do this by living, working and going to school in the United States.
The U.S. takes my money that I work hard for and I have no say in where it goes. If your answer to me is to “vote” because the United States of America is a “Democracy” I’ll tell you two things.
One: I cannot because 15,000 dollars and 8 years later I am still a legal immigrant with no voting rights. I was a happy child 8 years ago living in Kuwait, but Kuwait was not so happy we were there-- as Palestinians after the Gulf War, there was no future for us there.
Two: Is the U.S. really a “Democracy” or is it a system which makes sure the people are heard but does nothing for them. And if some positive change is attempted, one person can veto it and it is all over. So looking at the situation now (and if you are still convinced that it is not that bad!) you can say something like “what about all the benefits you get from paying taxes?”
You mean like a street, the police, and welfare for the poor and public education? Ok, well…Education is downhill, I get no welfare, but yes I am thankful for a street and police (except when the LAPD beats us during student protests).
I get no financial aid and until today I work for a little over minimum wage to have about $400 a month, and to pay for the greatest military powers in the world: US and Israel.
The pain, the pain that I feel for not being able to do anything about this while I am in the United States. The only way out is to leave the country, to be lost on earth.
One Lebanese singer sings,”You ask me why I am out of my country living alone, in my land I suffered, so what can I do.” I’ll revise it and say, I lived in the world and was happy, but my country suffers because of me, so what can I do?
Sara Nasrallah is a student at California State University at Northridge.
Thanks, Sara, for your heart-rending wisdom.
I hope you’ll let me and many others born in the U.S. say with you, “Free our people.” As Phil sometimes calls, “Let my people go.”
The US is an oligarchy that buys the votes of the ignorant to sustain its hold on power.
…and coerces the average rube into believing that
one party is better than the other. I think they’ll be room for other political parties, as polls show that the majority of Americans are unconvinced of either party. But, when a third party is born, expect it to get the full trashing of the media and both political parties. They’ll use some guilt by association principle and claim the new leaders are radicals or bigots. you’ve heard it all before…
Sara, I know it’s small comfort but some Americans really resent the same thing you do as taxpayers. We absolutely HATE that we are paying for the dispossession and misery of your people. We do not believe our own government represents us or our America’s highest values; we know that our government does not care about our security. We are wise to the fear mongers. We do what we can but mostly our voices are simply ignored by politicans and the maintream media. We are not rich enought to bribe the politicians by political donations. Neither key political party represents us.
when is a politician going to propose that each taxpayer has an ‘opt-out’ option for wars of imperialism?
What a populist message it would be, and you’d see a high poll approvals.
Does anyone know what percentage of our federal tax dollars go to military spending?
53.3%
link to commondreams.org
That works out to fact that the U.S. government has been spending about seven times as much as China, thirteen times as much as Russia, and seventy-three times as much as Iran. And our government is increasing such spending. One way the US government hides this absurd spending is by including the Social Security Trust Fund in the contrast balance.
Meanwhile millions of Americans live in poverty, as this European video shows: link to dailymotion.com
Thanks for the figures. If you’re interested in German history and antisemitism, this account tells of Willhelm’s issues on the matter. Valentini pointed out that, if the Jews left or were expelled from Germany, the German economy would be set back some hundred years.
The Kaiser and his Court
I like Stephen Colbert’s take on it – he told israeli ambassador Michael Oren that maybe the solution is for Palestinians to Go back where they came from!
….that was a great ending for that show. What a final punch to finish him off. Oren appeared dumbfounded. I wonder if he is going to have to grovel and show Hamas cartoons, like Jon Stewart’s lame attempts at balancing his show. Colbert proved he’s got more grit than Stewart at that moment.
Sara,
I share your frustration, anger, sadness.
Nothing will change when you get voting rights though. This system, all of it, is a joke.
We, the Palestinians , are still looking for our stolen ID. I face the same problem each time I want to register at a website . Our ID had been stolen and we have to pay to get it back. Being an American citizen, you have to practice a great deal of patience to get your rights in a society, most of its people are still deceived by the Israeli propaganda .
thanks for posting here sara, keep speaking out no matter how frustrating it is. keep writing.
Sara,
So true. Is the U.S. really a “Democracy” or is it a system which makes sure the people are heard but does nothing for them.
The US has become a country I want to leave.
It’s tragic that Americans have more power over the lives of your people than they have themselves. But that being the case, it’s fortunate for them that you are here! Even without voting, you can do a lot to advance the Palestinian cause (BDS!) and spread the message to empowered people. In America our dialogue needs more Palestinian voices, and I am glad to read yours here.
Sara, you might be interested in this:
At 14:40 here: link to edwardrynearson.wordpress.com
Freedom in Murka is on a sliding scale. At the top are the US Marines, the State Dept, Raytheon, General Dynamics…their “freedoms” include mass murder, corruption and fraud; those on the bottom are free too: free to stand outside the gates and shake their fists.
It’s a win-win.
Hey kids, cheer up! Israelis are the 8th happiest people in the world. Americans are the 14th happiest, not too shaby? (Why are we giving Israel so much money?)
Naturally (?) the Scandavian people are the happiest, and the Africans are least happy.
link to jpost.com
More good news! Newsweek has rated the 22nd best country in the world and the best one in the Middle East! And the USA comes in at #11…
link to jpost.com
O00ps, that’s Israel at #22 & #1 in the Middle East.
I know this is small comfort, Sara, but recent polling seems to indicate a fall in the popularity of Israel around the world:
link to israeli-occupation.org
We’ve got to keep working on exposing The Big Lie about who the victim is in Palestine.
Adam has posted an article on this survey now.
link to mondoweiss.net
Linda ~ yes, bit by bit – we are together effecting change. It feels glacial, but it is happening.
You don’t say whether you are a U.S. citizen or not. If you are, then the Americans are “your people”.
But that doesn’t give a reason why your taxes should pay for killing your Palestinian relatives.
Bill Bennet was just on talk radio relling a caller the whole world’s intelligence community thought Iraq had WMDs. This was his response to the caller’s POV, which was that the American people were defrauded into war. So it goes. He has a large faithful audience of duped Americans. How does Benner dare to say this in light of all the contra data available on the internet and indeed, even in some MSM articles?
After reading this my heart is eternally broken.