On Palestine

Faiz Ahmad (Pakistani poet) once wrote a poem on Palestine:

Don’t cry child,
your mother has only
just cried herself to sleep.

Don’t cry child,
just a while ago
your father took leave
of all his sorrows.

Don’t cry child,
your brother has gone
to another land chasing
after the butterflies of his dreams.

Don’t cry child,
your sister has married
and left for another country.

Don’t cry child,
in your courtyard
they bathed the dead sun,
and buried the moon,
before leaving.

Don’t cry child,
if you cry,
mother, father, sister, brother,
the moon and the sun, all
will make you sadder.

But maybe if you smile,
they will all return one day
in a different guise
to play with you.

This poem, sadly, is relevent during the times we are living in. As I write this column, the Isreal-Palestine war is at its peak and approximately 35,000 Palestinian have died. 13,000 of the dead are children. These children didn’t even get a chance to weep or worry about little things. They were taken away from their loved ones for just being on the wrong side of the border. I have been aware of the Palestinian crises since the age of seven. I remember seeing images of Arafat on tv and listening to grown ups discuss the topic. I heard that Pakistani planes didn’t fly over the Isreal territory (as Pakistan doesn’t maintain diplomatic relations with Isreal). But since last year, October 8th attacks, this topic has become forefront not only for me but for many rational and concerened citizens.

I used to follow a girl on instagram who posted a feed for a peaceful protest. It had slogans as Rally and March, Shut Down For Palestine etc. It caught my attention. I call my buddy, Youcef, and planned to go. The rally was on November 9th at the Isreali consulate in Downtown, Atlanta.

I packed my bag, put on a black tshirt and went to the bus stop. My friend joined me as well.

Bus stop near cumberland mall

This was my first protest. I felt I was part of Hegelian history. Indiviuals that come together to bring a change. The event started promptly. As time passed on, the protest grew in strength and numbers.

Protestors on the side of the Spring Street, Atlanta

Within few hours, the area gathered almost thousand people. Palestinian flags were raised from one corner of the street to another. It was a full event. There were protest flags, speakers for chanting, police cars, helicopters in rotation, on-site news channel reporters, journalist and mini food carts.

Volunteer raising in the Palestenian flag

One aspect of the event that caught my attention was the youth participation. First, the protest was held by college association (PSLATLNTA). Secondly, there were various other college organizations (Socialist-Wing, Marxist supporters, Liberal students etc.) and lastly, there were parents who brought young kids to be aware and participate. The sight of young blood to come together for a humanitarian cause is hopeful and sign of optimism. The Palestinian cause has become the Vietnam for the millineals. If this war will ever cease, it be due to the blood, sweat and sacrifice of college students.

Prtoestors holding slogans and anti-war logos.

Pro-Isreal supporters did arrive at the protest and tried to make a scene. It was two guys and one girl. The girl was infamous and profane. They first came in a truck, rushing through the streets, and chanting curses, such as: Sharmouta, death to Palestine etc. Then they came on foot to disrupt the event. The girl, who seemed to be a native of Tel Aviv, could speak in arabic and had fiesty dialogues with the protestors. This carried on for hours. I sat on concrete stairs and lit a ciggarete. The arguments continued and the night got darker.

Pro-Isreal supporters at the Isreal Embassy protest

The protest ended at 10AM in the morning. With no sleep, two-cups of coffee and donuts; my mind started to linger on the war, the protest and humanity, in general. Thucydides quote has become a law of human interaction, the strong do as they can, while the weak must do as they must. This statement can’t be more relevent and closer to the truth in relation to the times we are living in. Isreal is the military power that has subdued the armless Palestinian masses. As Ilan Pappe states in his book [1]:

Once the decision was taken, it took six months to complete the mission.
When it was over, more than half of Palestine's native population, close to 800,000 people, 
had been uprooted, 531 villages had been destroyed, and eleven urban neighbourhoods emptied of their inhabitants. 
The plan decided upon on 10 March 1948, and above all its sytematic implementation in the following months, 
was a clear-cut case of an ethnic cleansing operation, 
regarded under international law today as a crime against humanity.

Isreal is a militaristic, racist and non-liberal enterprise. Isreal is the assimilation of Zionist and colonial tendencies. It wants a homeland for the jews with exclusion or subjugation of native population. Isreal has a strong-hand. It is an economic power, technologically advanced, US-backed and has nukes. It be interesting to see the political climate, if Pakistan was free from the clutches of America and could stand firmly with Palestine cause. Unfortunately, this won’t happen.

Image from Instagram

Where do we go from here? According to John Joseph Mearsheimer (Political Scientist at University of Chicago), US support will start to diminish as the war continues on. This is due to the public pressure and no conclusive end to the war [2]. Further, the war is a costly enterprise, and Congress war budgets have limits. Thirdly, these are times of social media in which information travels at lights speed and it is cumbersome to hide the persecution and killing of innocent citizens. The global pressure is weighing on the Zionist shoulders.

References

[1] Ilan Pappe, The ethnic cleansing of Palestine, 2006, Page xiii.

[2] John Mearsheimer on Lex Fridman Podcast, 2023.