Total number of comments: 49 (since 2010-06-07 00:25:12)
chocopie
American, married to a Palestinian and mother to 2 Palestinian teenagers.
Total number of comments: 49 (since 2010-06-07 00:25:12)
American, married to a Palestinian and mother to 2 Palestinian teenagers.
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This is true. My father-in-law was a Palestinian laborer working in a port city British Post Office during 1948, and the Zionists were running weapons through the P.O. and stockpiling them on the premises. It was out in the open, people around him were talking about it, but naturally they assumed he didn't understand English.
Thank you for the poem.
We were visiting my husband's aunt in Canada, they have an orchard there, it was during Israel's attack on Jenin and the satellite news programs were turned on all day, everyone in the house on edge over the scenes of destruction showing on TV. My husband's aunt, usually a cheerful, hard-working person, was taking it especially hard and watching too much. Finally she broke down, and while her husband tried to comfort her she screamed in grief, "Those people made my mother live in a tent!!" What a wrenching experience to see and hear her pain. She was born in a refugee camp, I don't think she herself ever lived in a tent, but the trauma was still fresh while she was growing up.
Whenever I see pictures of the tents, that's what I think about. Most of us can't imagine the horror of being completely dispossessed, suddenly living in a donated tent while the world looks away. That woman in the photo is living through a nightmare.
That struck me too, that he is broadcasting Palestinian grievances. He apparently knows his audience. The commenters at the NYT would give him a hard time, but this is the WSJ and many of these commenters are doing him one better, and also using the opportunity to air their feelings about Arabs in general. Nice crowd. He's pulling out the old, nasty claims that aren't in such wide circulation these days, the old arid desert schtick, etc. Must be the signal for the crazies to come out and howl at the moon.
"Desmond"?
I heard that Rev. King borrowed a cocktail napkin and a ball-point pen from one of his jailers and knocked out that Letter From a Birmingham Jail in one lazy afternoon when he had some time on his hands. Might want to look into that.
Sheesh, a Palestinian releases a letter to his child and it's a disastrous propaganda stunt that's destined to back-fire, and must be a fake. Because obviously Palestinians can't write a letter. Let's add "writing letters" to the long list of things Palestinians shouldn't do to secure their political rights.
Exactly!
Korea for years suffered under a brutal Japanese occupation, and the attempt by Japan to obliterate Korean culture and independence. Ban Ki Moon should be ashamed at his failure to fully support Palestinian independence.
This is sickening. Such cruelty.
Can't believe they are still crowing over delivering that baby in Haiti. For gods sake give it a rest. How many Palestinian newborns died in the dirt at one of their lousy checkpoints and they are still bragging about delivering a baby in Haiti. The child's parents can just thank their lucky stars she was born during a natural disaster in Haiti rather than on the wrong side of an Israeli checkpoint in Palestine.
No disrespect to the innocent child, may she live long and happily.
Palestinians do have a homeland trip for youth, called Go Palestine, but of course it's different from Birthright because it's not free, it does not glamorize the military (the Palestinian trip does not include any meetings with military personnel, or straddling military equipment), and it is not ethnically pure (the program is designed for Palestinian youth, but anyone with an interest can attend, even if they're not from a Palestinian family).
My daughter attended last year and met other Palestinian kids from all over the world and in spite of her U.S. passport and her young age, experienced her first Israeli interrogation. Just to get over the border from Jordan to Palestine, she was interrogated for about 40 minutes by Israelis who grilled her about all her previous international travel, her family's history, her father's life history, job, and career, telephone numbers for everyone in her family, etc. Quite an experience for a high school girl who previously had only traveled with her family.
She had some amazing experiences, including helping to rebuild a Palestinian family's home (which was later re-demolished by Israelis), living with a local Ramallah-area family, and touring Hebron and Bethlehem, as well as other towns. They even went to Jerusalem and were allowed into Israel for a day trip, where they were denied entry to a public beach (but they got in anyway).
I recommend the trip, which is online at summerinpalestine.org
Says a lot that anyone would call this a non-event. When was the last time you risked your life to earn ten or fifteen bucks? If they shot him, there'd be some story about how he tried to speed past a checkpoint.
I went to see Fiddler on the Roof recently and it occurred to me that some theater company ought to mount the play with Palestinian villagers and Israeli soldiers.
Watching the play made me feel ill. However true the original stories were, in today's world the play looks like a barefaced lie. Today, we all know who would lament: "After a lifetime, a piece of paper and get thee out." Wouldn't Tevya be amazed.
Well, it's pretty bad but not as bad as what Obama does to Afghan people.
I guess Clinton thinks it's perfectly fine to kill them (and their children), but not to urinate on them.
Obviously they're quaking in their boots at the prospect of Israeli "justice."
Of course she was wrong. It's always wrong to take what belongs to someone else. If people understood that, we wouldn't need Mondoweiss. And no matter how long some Jews may have been eating what they call halva, does not make halwa "a Jewish thing" that other people couldn't appreciate.
I have seen recipes for Israeli bread, too. You know, that Israeli bread with the pockets that people have been making and eating since forever in the Middle East. I've also seen recipes for Israeli salad (fattoush) and Israeli couscous (maftoul). At a friend's daughter's bat mitzvah, some obnoxious woman came over to our table and made off with our halwa, telling me and my Palestinian table-mate that we wouldn't like it, it's a Jewish thing (the entire meal was Palestinian). (How did she know we weren't Jewish? I have no idea!)
In South Korea's case, their focus is on their own country's economic development (which has been spectacular in the last 60 years) and raising their standard of living. They will even hold their nose and ignore the plight of their captive brethren in North Korea rather than rock the boat, so I guess I don't expect them to take the economic and diplomatic hit that would come from supporting Palestinian rights.
There's a small but energetic and creative Palestinian solidarity movement in Seoul. This video showcases a really remarkable Palestine action which took place recently in the theater district, quite theatrical. Notice though that several of the activists are foreigners, not Koreans. link to youtube.com
Considering Korea's experience under Japanese occupation, it's disappointing to see their indifference to the occupation in Palestine. The only bright spot is at least they don't buy into all the anti-Muslim hysteria. You don't see or hear nearly as much of it in Korea, as compared to U.S.. Korea just does not seemed very tuned into the Middle East at all, so there's little evident interest, but also none of the hysterical aversion to Arabs or Muslims.
I commend him for speaking out.
I suspect a lot of these old guys are starting to see the writing on the wall. Anybody whose obituary is likely to connect him to JNF's ethnic cleansing and apartheid promotion is probably anxious to get on the right side of history before it's too late.
JNF is disgusting and people are shocked when they find out what it does.
As a Palestinian living under Israeli rule, here are your choices: throw a stone at an armored vehicle and get your face blown off or stay home quietly and sleep in your bed and get your house blown up on top of you.
Hope this is a wake-up call for some war-mongers in Israel and the US. Iran's defense spending is used for actual defense and they haven't frittered away their resources on occupation or multiple wars in distant lands. They are not exactly sitting ducks.
Married 16 years and she has to pass through a military checkpoint to visit her husband.
The character is called Handala, a ten-year-old refugee child, drawn by Naji al-Ali, a political cartoonist originally from Palestine before his family became refugees when he was ten.
Why a book? They are so last century. I think Philip has the right idea; the internet is where it's at, and it's because of the internet that Israel's days are numbered.
I remember the bad old days when I had to read books and depended on a subscription to the Journal of Palestine Studies for a monthly update on the news. Back then (1980/90s) I never met anyone who knew anything about checkpoints, land confiscation, arrest and detention without trial, or house demolitions.
People who want to know about what's happening in Palestine are on the internet. Book publishing has always been a very effective method for limiting the discussion and good riddance to it.
I loved this article! I was fascinated to learn about something I've never heard of before, and it's so inspiring. The first time I ever met any Palestinians was years ago when I went to a party in grad school and a couple guys from the West Bank were talking about their time in Israeli prisons when they were only teenagers! I was shocked by their stories and that's when I started to learn more about the situation in Palestine and Israel.
Considering the large numbers of incarcerated Palestinians, the self-education program is a brilliantly productive use of months and years that would otherwise be wasted. I'm married to a Palestinian man who is a tireless, life-long learner, as well as incredibly hard-working and professionally ambitious, and the thwarted potential of so many Palestinians living under occupation, blockaded, and imprisoned by Israel is painful to contemplate. Thanks for this amazing report.
Thank goodness in the US we only have about 2% of our population Jewish...OMG did I really say that? Sorry about the racist overtone.
Just kidding. That was for illustration purposes only. It doesn't just contain racist overtones; it's blatantly racist.
Don't worry, we don't want Israel to starve; we just want to put them on a diet.
Maybe they can get Veolia to go with them.
This is the Jewish state: forced transfer of civilian population
Sameeha, thanks for your story. I wish every Palestinian could have a chance to tell his or her story, so many amazing stories of steadfastness.
"There is no doubt that dozens of Palestinian civilians were killed. However..."
In the above excerpt, identify the noun, the subject, the verb, the adjective...very good; that is correct. Now, tell me the Zionist word.
That's right, the Zionist word is "However." One can identify the Zionist word by its placement in front of a long string of sentences that follows any reference to Israeli atrocities.
Any relation to our proudzionist777 ?
Lovely photo of Miss Pierce. I'll bet Israel's Jewish supporters are thrilled to find she's in their camp. Or they're in hers, as the case may be. Some day I do believe the Christians will chase the Jews right out of the zionist movement.
The "rest of us" are people who are appalled at the idea of bulldozing a family's house with all their possessions inside. The majority of the US wouldn't support that if they knew about it.
When people come home to find their house bulldozed along with all their worldly possessions, ruthieofamerica will staunchly defend the ones who did the bulldozing.
I know, it's mind boggling!!! I think it's funny you can't imagine how Palestinian kids are going to school with Jewish kids, and even Israeli kids. We don't live in Israel, that's a hint. Think hard!!
Actually, Mr. Proud, anonymouscomments has posted that Jews really can ride the buses in Ramallah! So don't feel hurt.
But I think the schools might still be segregated, and no Jews are allowed. So maybe you could fight for justice by trying to enroll your children in a Palestinian school, and perhaps Norman Rockwell will paint a picture of it for you. You could get together a bunch of people, Jewish and Palestinian, and you could all enroll your children in each others' schools. You have some Palestinian friends you could talk to about this, right?
I recommend it. My children are Palestinian and they go to school with lots of Jewish kids. It works really well, no problems that I've ever noticed. There are even some Israeli kids, and believe it or not even they behave. Of course, not in Palestine. Over there, Palestinians and Jews are separate. But it works fine everywhere else in the world, so why not in the Holy Land?
Freedom for Arabs only, just like in the Jim Crow era, when only blacks had the freedom to attend inferior black schools. Whites were not allowed.
If Jews in Palestine want the right to ride buses in Ramallah, live in Ramallah, go to school with Palestinians and marry them, they need to join the fight against apartheid.
If Jews just want to be left alone in their own colonies, and with their own services in Palestine, and not interact or cooperate or live equally with the natives, then no, they can't have that. They have to fight for their freedom to live equally with Palestinians. Jews are not any worse than Palestinian people. I know it seems that way because of Israeli violence, but truly, I do believe Jews are equal people and can be equal to Palestinians. Some day I believe Jews will achieve equality in all of Palestine.
In your little story, why only the Jewish Israeli passenger has a name? Palestinian activists have names too. Which activist? Name him/her.
Israelis don't bother with knives. They have guns so they just shoot Palestinian children. Sometimes when they're in a good mood and feeling generous they kidnap them out of their beds and put them in prison.
It is definitely colonialism. If you travel from Jordan into Palestine, you will be interrogated by Israeli officials (well, maybe not you, Richard, you're chosen, but we non-chosen, not sprung from a Jewish womb) and your passport will be stamped by Israel. You will not get a "Likud" stamp in your passport. Stop blaming everything on Likud, it gets old.
I wonder if that boy is really Palestinian, and if so, how the organization acquired rights to his image. Or maybe Zionists just consider Palestinians their property.
That's an American protest, not an Arab protest. Those are US college students and I presume nearly all of them are US citizens. I know it's a difficult concept to grasp: Arab ethnicity, U.S. passport, and an American sense of entitlement. They don't like people coming to their country trying to promote a foreign, racist ideology.
Love the picture used for the "pursue violence" caption. That kid, as well as the one in the "pursue non-violence" picture are also at high risk for getting shot in the head with a tear gas canister. In addition to more settlements, of course.
I guess "a patchwork of villages and towns" is how the NYT refers to segregated villages and towns these days. And we all know what "calm" means in that sentence: Palestinians not insisting on their rights as full Israeli citizens.
There was no internet back then, so outsiders didn't see what Israel was doing. The internet has changed everything.
I can't stop looking at her picture. So precious.
Since Obama is black and has an Arabic name, he can't really expect to get into Israel without a strip search. Maybe he's just shy.
Oh my god this bimbo (Walsh) is so dumb he thinks that's a threat!!
Wish Obama would try a little harder to imagine his daughters sleeping in Gaza. Considering they are from a Muslim and Christian background, that is a lot more likely. Does he think his children would be able to live in Israel the way Jewish people do? They wouldn't. Guess he can't face the truth--in Israel, his kids would be Palestinian.
A shared history of land theft and genocide, obviously. Also demonizing the native people and treating them as less than fully human.
They don't all go to Jordan. They go wherever they can get a job, with large numbers all throughout the Middle East, but also throughout the world. We live in Asia and there's a family from Bethlehem running the local shawarma shop. It's infuriating that Israel, an occupier, can strip native people of their residency rights, and it's mind-boggling to consider how each individual Palestinian is faced with a life-long struggle to get and maintain some kind of right of residency somewhere, anywhere. Meanwhile, Israelis have multiple passports and travel freely.