Here's To Truth and Reconciliation in Israel-Palestine
by Diane V. McLoughlin, October 6, 2011
mcloughlinpost.com
In comments following news articles and op eds these days (for example, here), the
denial that there even exists a Palestinian people at all grows more prevalent.
Palestinians continue to be squashed under foot with similar contempt in the Occupied
Territories by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Jewish squatters - literally, as well as
figuratively.
Update February 2, 2012: The above photograph is generating a great deal of angst
and denials having gone viral, that the above photograph may or may not be a
'hoax', or fake. I received an e-mail from a reader who wanted to prevent me
suffering any embarrassment. Duly noted, with thanks. As a service to my readers,
I have taken the liberty of creating the following slide show of photographs picked
from a simple Google Images search. (There is a pause/play button at the lower
right hand corner of the slide show.) The above photograph may or may not be true.
But what is beyond question is that the Palestinian people are oppressed,
mistreated, discriminated against and brutalized by Israel:
In 1948, over 700,000 Palestinian men, women and children were forced to flee, at
times virtually with the supper on the stove and with only the clothes on their backs.
Nevertheless, in 2011, there remain two peoples residing in the same space. In
addition, Palestinian refugees, according to international law, have the right to return to
their homes irrespective of the fact that Israel continues to deny them that right.
20% of Israel's citizens are Palestinian. But this figure does not tell the whole tale.
Beyond Israel proper, the ratio - Palestinians to Jews - is eight to one. There are
approximately four million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip,
compared to approximately half a million illegal Jewish settler/squatters on Palestinian
land.
It is a new phenomenon that Israel's far-right demands that Israel be recognized by the
Palestinians as a Jewish state before overtures toward peace can be made. Does this
not forever negate the fact that the space is Palestinian, too? The irony is that
ongoing Jewish settlement amongst millions of Palestinians on confiscated Palestinian
land guarantees that the region will culminate in one binational state, founded by both.
Mahmoud Abbas's recent bid for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations does
nothing to mitigate the reality of occupation and dispossession on the ground.
The current interim period in time is one in which Palestinians suffer under an
apartheid regime - with Jewish-only roads, military occupation, and two separate legal
systems - a civil system for settlers, and a summary military one for Palestinians; this
will be the challenge to overcome. For Israel's part, magical thinking continues to hold
that the conflict should end without actually having to end the occupation, ethnic
cleansing or oppression of the Palestinian people.
Censorship, and campaigns of intimidation, make discussing the Israel-Palestine issue
difficult. To illustrate, even something as seemingly innocuous as children's art can
become fodder for controversy. A recent exhibit of children's art entitled, 'A child's
view from Gaza', has been censored. The art depicts impressions and experiences of
living through Israel's military assault during the 2008-09 'Operation Cast Lead'. The
exhibit, months in the planning with the Museum of Children's Art in Oakland,
California, was abruptly cancelled due to pro-Israel pressure.
A child's View
From Gaza
Elsewhere, U.K. Education Minister Michael Gove put the brakes on schools
participating in a Palestinian literature festival.
Meantime, flying well under mainstream media radar, Israel has just approved plans to
forcibly remove 30,000 Bedouin from their ancestral lands - ethnic cleansing by
another name. This would be the largest displacement of indigenous natives there
since 1948.
In Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians are denied the right to adequate water. 90%
of Gaza's water is unfit for human consumption. Sewage and water treatment
facilities were attacked by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead. Ever since, Gaza has
been unable, due to the on-going military siege, to obtain construction materials
necessary to restore them. As untreated sewage from Gaza is being dumped directly
into the sea, it will drift and ultimately contaminate Israeli shores. In the West Bank,
even collecting rain water for personal use in cisterns is attacked by the military or by
settlers and is routinely destroyed, a clear violation of human rights and international
law.
One wonders when a Jewish Nelson Mandela or a Palestinian Desmond Tutu will
emerge in the region to inspire an Israel-Palestine Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, as was put to such healing effect post-apartheid, in South Africa. I hope
that day comes soon.
by Diane V. McLoughlin, October 6, 2011
mcloughlinpost.com
In comments following news articles and op eds these days (for example, here), the
denial that there even exists a Palestinian people at all grows more prevalent.
Palestinians continue to be squashed under foot with similar contempt in the Occupied
Territories by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Jewish squatters - literally, as well as
figuratively.
Update February 2, 2012: The above photograph is generating a great deal of angst
and denials having gone viral, that the above photograph may or may not be a
'hoax', or fake. I received an e-mail from a reader who wanted to prevent me
suffering any embarrassment. Duly noted, with thanks. As a service to my readers,
I have taken the liberty of creating the following slide show of photographs picked
from a simple Google Images search. (There is a pause/play button at the lower
right hand corner of the slide show.) The above photograph may or may not be true.
But what is beyond question is that the Palestinian people are oppressed,
mistreated, discriminated against and brutalized by Israel:
In 1948, over 700,000 Palestinian men, women and children were forced to flee, at
times virtually with the supper on the stove and with only the clothes on their backs.
Nevertheless, in 2011, there remain two peoples residing in the same space. In
addition, Palestinian refugees, according to international law, have the right to return to
their homes irrespective of the fact that Israel continues to deny them that right.
20% of Israel's citizens are Palestinian. But this figure does not tell the whole tale.
Beyond Israel proper, the ratio - Palestinians to Jews - is eight to one. There are
approximately four million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip,
compared to approximately half a million illegal Jewish settler/squatters on Palestinian
land.
It is a new phenomenon that Israel's far-right demands that Israel be recognized by the
Palestinians as a Jewish state before overtures toward peace can be made. Does this
not forever negate the fact that the space is Palestinian, too? The irony is that
ongoing Jewish settlement amongst millions of Palestinians on confiscated Palestinian
land guarantees that the region will culminate in one binational state, founded by both.
Mahmoud Abbas's recent bid for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations does
nothing to mitigate the reality of occupation and dispossession on the ground.
The current interim period in time is one in which Palestinians suffer under an
apartheid regime - with Jewish-only roads, military occupation, and two separate legal
systems - a civil system for settlers, and a summary military one for Palestinians; this
will be the challenge to overcome. For Israel's part, magical thinking continues to hold
that the conflict should end without actually having to end the occupation, ethnic
cleansing or oppression of the Palestinian people.
Censorship, and campaigns of intimidation, make discussing the Israel-Palestine issue
difficult. To illustrate, even something as seemingly innocuous as children's art can
become fodder for controversy. A recent exhibit of children's art entitled, 'A child's
view from Gaza', has been censored. The art depicts impressions and experiences of
living through Israel's military assault during the 2008-09 'Operation Cast Lead'. The
exhibit, months in the planning with the Museum of Children's Art in Oakland,
California, was abruptly cancelled due to pro-Israel pressure.
A child's View
From Gaza
Elsewhere, U.K. Education Minister Michael Gove put the brakes on schools
participating in a Palestinian literature festival.
Meantime, flying well under mainstream media radar, Israel has just approved plans to
forcibly remove 30,000 Bedouin from their ancestral lands - ethnic cleansing by
another name. This would be the largest displacement of indigenous natives there
since 1948.
In Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians are denied the right to adequate water. 90%
of Gaza's water is unfit for human consumption. Sewage and water treatment
facilities were attacked by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead. Ever since, Gaza has
been unable, due to the on-going military siege, to obtain construction materials
necessary to restore them. As untreated sewage from Gaza is being dumped directly
into the sea, it will drift and ultimately contaminate Israeli shores. In the West Bank,
even collecting rain water for personal use in cisterns is attacked by the military or by
settlers and is routinely destroyed, a clear violation of human rights and international
law.
One wonders when a Jewish Nelson Mandela or a Palestinian Desmond Tutu will
emerge in the region to inspire an Israel-Palestine Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, as was put to such healing effect post-apartheid, in South Africa. I hope
that day comes soon.
