Guest Writer: Emmanuel Dairo
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| (Image Credit: UN) |
Suffering is a common theme in world history. The European had his share of suffering during the heydays of Greco-Macedonian and then Roman westward campaigns. Mongoloid history is a long tapestry of wars of conquest or subjugation that relieved one group of people of their misery while plunging others into unmentionable anguish. Later Negro history tells of the harrowing fate of helpless African mass-slaughtered and enslaved under repeated waves of European assault. All these were triggered by the desire of one group to achieve dominion over another group and that group’s territory, culminating in the two deadly twentieth century wars where Asian, African and Anglo-American flesh in their millions were heaped up and sacrificed in battle theatres, burnt offerings to man’s heedless ambition to lord it over his fellow men.
Today, we remember a nation of people who have in recent times borne more suffering than any other. No group of people is in direr straits than the beleaguered Palestinians who have suffered long and hard, dispossessed of their homeland by a combination of British complacency and Zionist racism and herded into the confined cubicles they currently call home – Gaza and the West Bank. Current victims of a macabre historical play that has been acted out in the Land of Canaan for the best part of three millennia, the people of Palestine find themselves without much shelter, little water and even less food – and these deplorable living conditions are becoming increasingly worse by the minute as Israel maintains tighter and tighter blockade of the region, fearful of being targeted by vengeful Palestinian insurgency.
Today, we remember a nation of people who have in recent times borne more suffering than any other. No group of people is in direr straits than the beleaguered Palestinians who have suffered long and hard, dispossessed of their homeland by a combination of British complacency and Zionist racism and herded into the confined cubicles they currently call home – Gaza and the West Bank. Current victims of a macabre historical play that has been acted out in the Land of Canaan for the best part of three millennia, the people of Palestine find themselves without much shelter, little water and even less food – and these deplorable living conditions are becoming increasingly worse by the minute as Israel maintains tighter and tighter blockade of the region, fearful of being targeted by vengeful Palestinian insurgency.
The people of Palestine however remain defiant in the face of persecution. They are a supreme example of extreme forbearance under tyrannous domination. Despite their extremely scant resources, they still manage to carve out a meaningful existence, send their children to makeshift schools and build new homes from the rubble of those torn down by Israeli shelling.
In order to best understand the significance of this day, a brief historical synopsis seems necessary. Towards the close of the 19th century and continuing well into the 20th, Palestine witnessed wave after wave of immigration from European Jews fleeing persecution in their adopted countries, with the ultimate mission to establish a country in their ancestral homeland. This led, inevitably, into a conflict with the local Arab population who themselves had been established in Palestine for well over half a millennium. In a bid to stem the tide of escalating violence between the Arabs and the Jews, various peace proposals were brought forward and rejected, culminating in the United Nations’ Resolution 181 on November 29 1947. The resolution called for the partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state – of near-equal land mass – with the hotly contested city of Jerusalem administered as a separate independent entity. The rejection of the proposals by the Arabs – in principle and for reasons of demographics – marked the beginnings of the suffering of the Palestinian people as the Zionists moved with unscrupulous rapidity to subjugate and annex city after city, culminating in the declaration of the state of Israel in May 14, 1948. By the summer of the next year, the Arab people of Palestine had effectively been reduced into political statelessness, massively uprooted from their homes; many fled into exile in neighbouring states like Syria, Lebanon and Jordan while the remainder were treated as second class citizens in their own homes under the repressive Zionist regime in Israel.
In order to best understand the significance of this day, a brief historical synopsis seems necessary. Towards the close of the 19th century and continuing well into the 20th, Palestine witnessed wave after wave of immigration from European Jews fleeing persecution in their adopted countries, with the ultimate mission to establish a country in their ancestral homeland. This led, inevitably, into a conflict with the local Arab population who themselves had been established in Palestine for well over half a millennium. In a bid to stem the tide of escalating violence between the Arabs and the Jews, various peace proposals were brought forward and rejected, culminating in the United Nations’ Resolution 181 on November 29 1947. The resolution called for the partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state – of near-equal land mass – with the hotly contested city of Jerusalem administered as a separate independent entity. The rejection of the proposals by the Arabs – in principle and for reasons of demographics – marked the beginnings of the suffering of the Palestinian people as the Zionists moved with unscrupulous rapidity to subjugate and annex city after city, culminating in the declaration of the state of Israel in May 14, 1948. By the summer of the next year, the Arab people of Palestine had effectively been reduced into political statelessness, massively uprooted from their homes; many fled into exile in neighbouring states like Syria, Lebanon and Jordan while the remainder were treated as second class citizens in their own homes under the repressive Zionist regime in Israel.
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| (Image Credit: Israelseen) |
But while the Israelis with their policy of forceful eviction must bear a large chunk of the blame for the privation of the Palestinians, the role of the Palestinian leadership and other Arab states must be highlighted as well. The refusal of many Palestinians and their Arab backers to recognise the reality of an Israeli state has severely limited the possibilities for peaceful co-existence between an Israeli and a Palestinian state while the militant stance of some factions of the Palestinian leadership – especially the radical left-wing Ḥamās – continues to prove a stumbling block to sustainable peace – with rocket shelling into Israel leading to reprisals by the Jewish enclave.
But this day is not about the Palestinian government. No, it is about the people of Palestine. It is about the malnourished children in Gaza contemplating the grim prospect of another day without food, and of the women in and around the hills of Bethlehem scouring the hillscape for sustenance. It is about young Palestinian adults weathering political uncertainty to attend the few poorly-equipped universities found in the region; it is about those who daily brave Israeli threats, attacks and sanctions fighting, in their individual ways, political, economic and moral injustice while holding out hope for a better tomorrow.
It is about the tenacious residents of war-weary Ramallah who daily face the prospect of Israeli tanks; it is about the Palestinians in East Jerusalem resolved to withstand continual harassment by Jewish settlers. Today is about recognising that the Palestinian people are entitled to self-determination and the benefits that peaceful, recognized nationhood accords.
Therefore, the nations of the world, - particularly those whom circumstance has accorded the label of superpowers – must come together to quickly resolve the Palestinian issue. A workable plan – that is not incompatible with the reality of an Israeli state – must be drafted after due consultations with all parties in order to speed up the process that would culminate in the attainment of full political, territorial and economic independence for the state of Palestine. Meanwhile international pressure on Israel to lift its blockade of Palestinian territories must be intensified so food and other essential necessities can be more readily available to Palestine’s starving populace. In the meantime, let us salute the Palestinians for their doggedness and passion to survive as a nation in the face of giant odds
But this day is not about the Palestinian government. No, it is about the people of Palestine. It is about the malnourished children in Gaza contemplating the grim prospect of another day without food, and of the women in and around the hills of Bethlehem scouring the hillscape for sustenance. It is about young Palestinian adults weathering political uncertainty to attend the few poorly-equipped universities found in the region; it is about those who daily brave Israeli threats, attacks and sanctions fighting, in their individual ways, political, economic and moral injustice while holding out hope for a better tomorrow.
It is about the tenacious residents of war-weary Ramallah who daily face the prospect of Israeli tanks; it is about the Palestinians in East Jerusalem resolved to withstand continual harassment by Jewish settlers. Today is about recognising that the Palestinian people are entitled to self-determination and the benefits that peaceful, recognized nationhood accords.
Therefore, the nations of the world, - particularly those whom circumstance has accorded the label of superpowers – must come together to quickly resolve the Palestinian issue. A workable plan – that is not incompatible with the reality of an Israeli state – must be drafted after due consultations with all parties in order to speed up the process that would culminate in the attainment of full political, territorial and economic independence for the state of Palestine. Meanwhile international pressure on Israel to lift its blockade of Palestinian territories must be intensified so food and other essential necessities can be more readily available to Palestine’s starving populace. In the meantime, let us salute the Palestinians for their doggedness and passion to survive as a nation in the face of giant odds
ABOUT OUR GUEST WRITER
Emmanuel Dairo is a literary enthusiast and editor at Green Griots Literary Consultancy. Connect with him here.
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