Opinion

A Palestinian response to Jared Kushner’s racist remarks

Take up the White Man’s burden —
Send forth the best ye breed —
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild —
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

— from The White Man’s Burden — The United States and the Philippine Islands by Rudyard Kipling, 1899

In classical racist literature and discourse, black/brown natives are portrayed as lazy groups who cannot run their own affairs; they belong to backward entities that clash with other modern entities. The best intentions of these nations amount in the end to nothing, and whatever they have is brought about by the powers of illusion and Western intervention. The racist ideology of colonialism justifies the occupation of other lands, and then defends the so-called human face of Western colonialism, in general, and Israeli settler colonialism, in particular.

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s Middle East adviser and son-in-law, has recently raised doubts about the ability of the Palestinians to govern themselves: “That’s one that we’ll have to see. The hope is that they, over time, will become capable of governing… [The Palestinians] need to have a fair judicial system … freedom of press, freedom of expression, tolerance for all religions before the Palestinian territories can become ‘investable.'” Of course, Israel, for him, does have all these freedoms, even if he fails to acknowledge that they are exclusive to a particular ethno-religious group.

He went further when asked if Palestinians could expect freedom from Israeli military and government interference by saying that it would be “a high bar!” For him, “what [the Palestinian people] want is they want the opportunity to live a better life. They want the opportunity to pay their mortgage.”

This is racism 101, taken straight from the social Darwinism of the 19th Century.

One classical definition of racism, based on a strictly biological approach, which the likes of Jared Kushner and other white supremacists from South Africa to the American South to apartheid Israel believe in is that human beings may be distinguished in terms of their biological make-up, and these differences result in essential innate differences in relation to intelligence. This is the rationale for racism.  So based on this logic, Palestinians are not as smart as White Ashkenazi Israelis to govern themselves. Let alone the fact that differences between social groupings are a function of material and historical forces. And this applies to the differences between settler-colonists and natives in Palestine.

One wonders whether Kushner has ever heard of Samira Azzam, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Ghassan Kanafani, Mahmoud Darwish, Toufik Zayyad, Ibrahim Abu Lughd, Hisham Sharabi, Naji Al-Ali, or Fadwa Touqan—to mention but a few Palestinian minds.

Palestinians, for white, rich kids like Kushner, are not genuine and authentic human beings, like Ashkenazi Israelis because they do not produce bombs and machines. Thus, they simply cannot govern themselves. But they are, of course responsible for the tragedy in their lives from 1948 until today. Israel, with the U.S., has been trying to civilize them. Palestinians have a different mentality, inferior to that of Westerners. This is why these primitive, uncivilized Palestinians should be grateful if the Ashkenazi Israeli should be generous enough to carry the burden of governing them.

Kushner’s message is clear enough: Since you cannot trust Palestinians to run their own affairs, they should accept the “deal of the century” and their own enslavement to Israelis.  Kushner’s is an ideology that is not only racist, but also, Islamophobic, and Orientalist. I have no doubt whatsoever that he would have supported the Jim Crow Laws, and the Apartheid regime since he has no problem whatsoever with the new Israeli Nation-State Law!

Let me end this piece with jewels taken from one of the greatest Palestinian thinkers of the 20th Century, the late Edward Said who noted in Culture and Imperialism that, “the common factor of both colonialism and neo-colonialism, as constituents of imperialism, is the presumption of the superiority of the white/Western colonialist over the Black/Native colonialized — and the right of the former to oppress the latter, whose role is only reaffirming the superiority of the former.”

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Your piece is precious to me in every way, Haidar. I sincerely thank you for it. I have long thought about the enormous contributions of the people all over this world that have been marginalized and colonized by the greedy and ignorant. That the Jewish settlers (all of them since the beginning!), the US, and too many colonizers have been given carte blanche to continue the oppression, the disparagement, displacement, and theft of so much is, of course, unconscionable to any human with a heart, mind, and, soul.

btw~ the photo taken by Ronen Zvulun of the despicable and ignorant Kushner reminded me of the devil incarnate. You write “One wonders whether Kushner has ever heard of Samira Azzam, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, Ghassan Kanafani, Mahmoud Darwish, Toufik Zayyad, Ibrahim Abu Lughd, Hisham Sharabi, Naji Al-Ali, or Fadwa Touqan—to mention but a few Palestinian minds.” I don’t wonder at all. Maybe he’s heard of Edward Said and he’s afraid of his many truths, but I doubt that he has comprehended even a little bit. Perhaps that is partially why Dr. Ashwari’s visa was denied because:

“Hanan Daoud Khalil Ashrawi is a Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar. She was a protégé and later colleague and close friend of Edward Said.”

https://www.c-span.org/person/?hananashrawi

For him and many others, ANY Palestinian voices must be silenced.

Thank you again.

““Hanan Daoud Khalil Ashrawi is a Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar. She was a protégé and later colleague and close friend of Edward Said.” Ashrawi doesn’t belong to the list of Palestinian minds who, by the way, supported Palestinian resistance. Ashrawi belongs to the PLO/PA mob who continue to govern ( sans mandate since 2006) for 26 years since Oslo to protect Israeli interests AGAINST Palestinian resistance. That she was denied a visa is most likely due to the general incompetence of the Trump administration.

Are Palestinians superior to their Arab neighbors? Citing Palestinian literary or artistic genius is certainly enough to dissuade one from any racist opinions based upon I.Q. But it is not I.Q. that holds the key to good governance. (Some might blame Russia’s tendency towards authoritarianism on I.Q. But I don’t. I blame history and there is something cultural involved, it seems.) Is the governance of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan or Lebanon something that deserves to be duplicated, emulated, praised or otherwise held up as an exemplar. Certainly I am biased and lacking in knowledge, but unless the state of the Arab world is totally the fault of the west, there is some kind of failure to adapt to modernization.

The specific case of Fatah and Hamas is insufficient to distrust Palestinian abilities to self govern, because the specific circumstances are adverse, but really: Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, what about their governance should give one hope? The 3 year period of democracy in Egypt? (Did Morsi seem to be tolerant to the Copts?) Lebanon’s ability to have a parliament and more than one army? Iraq and Jordan I guess are the fault of the US and Israel. There certainly is someone to blame. but such blame is hardly proof of an ability.

Democracy is on the rocks in much of the western world as well. Progressive thought seems to be under assault and nationalism has replaced other thoughts as the zeitgeist, so exemplars in today’s west are not that high and mighty either.

Kushner as “negotiator” is certainly an apt opportunity to quote kipling, granted. But I do not think you can cite artists and prove competence at governance. Is it racist to point out the failure of most governments in the neighborhood? Other than blind faith how do you justify belief in the ability to self govern?

Because the occupation is so negative and the settler aspect of the occupation makes it so much worse than a military occupation which would still be bad, although not this bad, I see that Israel needs to hand over power on the West Bank despite my lack of faith in the Palestinian ability to self govern. I have no reason to believe Palestinians can self govern, but since I do not foresee a one state solution, a two state solution is the best possibility and the keys to the west bank should be handed over to the Palestinians (and various Arab chaperons), so that the settler occupation comes to an end. This is not a good solution because I have near zero faith in the self governance of the neighborhood, but since the current situation is not tolerable from a democracy deficit point of view, I choose a bad governing self governing Palestine over the current deprivation of franchise on the west bank. this is the least bad solution given the current situation which holds up Israel as an antidemocratic force.

Kushner is going to be remembered for his part in helping Israel deprive the Palestinians of their long overdue freedom, basic human rights, and for helping Netanyahu take away Jerusalem, and soon the West Bank, leaving them with a little plot of land and no water. This is aiding and abetting the biggest theft in our lifetime by Israel, who use every ugly excuse in the book to keep a brutal occupation going, so that the Palestinians can be collectively punished, and robbed.

If Kushner had any compassion, and most importantly a sense of fairness, he would not be this dishonest broker. He is under the illusion that just like his father, father in law, wife, family , and himself, the Palestinians will grab the money the rich Arabs, Kushner’s friends, will throw at them, nothing else, and forget their occupier has taken all that they valued, and owned.
Kushner is as trustworthy as a poisonous snake.

“[The Palestinians] need to have a fair judicial system …freedom of press, freedom of expression, tolerance for all religions before the Palestinian territories can become ‘investable.’” Of course, Israel, for him (Kushner), does have all these freedoms, even if he fails to acknowledge that they are exclusive to a particular ethno-religious group.
Tell this to an Arab journalist like Lucy Aharish or Abu Khaled Toameh or a former judge on the Supreme Court of Israel Salim Joubran. Read the Declaration of Independence which enshrines within it tolerance for all religions in the state of Israel – “it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex”.
The author in a pro-Palestinian pique of victimhood is claiming Israel is an apartheid state which is patently nonsense as two open-minded free-thinking politicians from both sides of the political fence Liberal and Labor pointed out succinctly on Australian television.