It doesn't have to be
[19 Jun 2004] PARIS - I am a Christian Palestinian. My father was born
in Jaffa, I was born in Beirut, and my son was born in France. I have
watched your suffering for nearly 40 years on TV. First I was too young
to understand, then I grew up and started understanding, and today,
as a grown up, I don’t understand again.
It does not have to be.
Israel is the right way… but you’re going the wrong way. Those
of you from the Diaspora had two good reasons to come back. The first
is a spiritual one, given the significance of Israel to any Jew. The
second is a cultural or social one, given that this is the land your
ancestors lived on. So Israel was the right way.
Like anyone could meet people on his way, Jews coming to Palestine met
Palestinians, who wanted to live freely on their land. As holy as Israel
is for Jews, Palestine is for Christians and Muslims, and especially
for Palestinian Christians and Muslims.
There was a choice - either we walk the way and live together, or each
of us walks on his lane. It is the latter choice which was favored.
Those who didn't accept, fought against it, but it prevailed. From there
on you started going the wrong way.
To make your dream come true, some decided that you had to get rid of
Palestinians. Like someone who wants to have a swimming pool in his
garden and decides to uproot a century old tree, you decided to uproot
the Palestinians.
Worse, they decided to eliminate any trace of our existence, the worst
crime that could be done to a people, except for … It is not demolishing
homes or destroying villages we are talking about. It is the history
and culture of millions of individuals. Destroying their identity. As
unfair as forcing a Jew to hide or change his religion.
You didn't decide to fight just those who wanted to return. You decided
to take more. And the more you took, the more Palestinians you had in
your way. And now we start hearing people talking about deporting those
who stayed (based on whatever administrative "fault" they
have committed)…and words as "demographic problem," as
if the Jewish People wants to live without memory, and had none.
I would understand much of Man’s acts when his animal nature takes
over, seeking revenge or acting by fear. But no. You don’t have
this alibi. All you are doing is programmed. It is prepared. It is calculated.
Doing something bad well is still bad. And you will be judged based
on the worst you did, not the best you could do later. Like a man who
abuses a child and then gives him sweets - would you say he is a good
man?
What I fear most is not that we, Palestinians, lose our fathers who
link us to our history, but that you lose your fathers, those who wanted
to leave the hatred behind and live in peace, who didn't come to inflict
the horror of hatred on others.
You've left the right path before, but you were able to come back on the
right way. I am confident you can do so today. It is not too late. Many
errors can still be repaired.
Understand us first It is time to make the effort to understand our fathers,
and to understand us. You have lived over 50 years with many lies, such
as the Palestinians left their land, the Palestinians didn't exist, Palestine
was a desert, and so on.
There was a choice - either we could walk the way and live together, or
each walk on his own lane. From there on you started going the wrong way.
It is time to unveil the truth. Not to us, we know it. Not
to the world, who knows it too (even if you try remove the word Palestine
from here or there). It is time to unveil it to your children. They will
never understand the Palestinians until you tell them.
If the whole world watched and just expressed disagreement of our occupation,