After living in the Middle East for over eight years I have come to understand the sad, terrible plight of the Palestinians in a personal way that others who have only read the biased US news cannot begin to understand. Until now, I have been reluctant to say anything, knowing that my friends and family in the US would not approve or understand Now, however, because of a few friends who have been bold enough to step up, I decided it was time to stop being worried about what others think of me. For a myriad of reasons, all self serving and misguided at best, the US has blindly supported Israel since 1948. In the early years perhaps it was generated by the guilt our government felt at turning back ships filled with European Jewish refugees...sending them back to the gas chambers, yes this happened, and now the chorus echoes that God promised the land to them. It is difficult for me to see God as a real estate broker, which also goes against the Biblical charge to love one another and thou shalt not steal. There is no one on this planet who would accept someone one coming and taking their home and land, making them a stateless refugee. Not many people understand that the vast majority of Palestinians are not entitled to a passport which would allow them to travel to another country to make a life for them and their families. Thus they have lived in ghettos in Lebanon, Jordan and other surrounding countries since 1948...some of them clinging to tattered deeds of their land to which they no longer have or the key to their homes on a dirty string around their necks. I have worked with Palestinian teachers in Abu Dhabi and intimately learned their history and no, they do not spout violent rhetoric...they are heartbroken. So following the lead of a few of my brave friends, one who is Jewish, I too have decided to speak of what I have witnessed and know from a first hand basis and from extensive reading. What I DO believe is that Hamas is wrong and the Israeli government is wrong. The US and UK were instrumental in setting up Israel and in allowing them to repeatedly violate settlement treaties. It is time for those powers to do the right thing and force the Israeli government to stop illegal settlements and work toward a fair and equatable division of land and resources that will restore Palestinians lives and right to basic human dignity. If this results in some no longer wanting to associate with me...so be it. My new job is in Lebanon and I am proud to say they support Syrian refugees and I will actively seek ways to work for the Palestinian cause.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:54:57 +0000
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