Hearing that the US government is finally working towards creating a Palestinian homeland is almost surreal to me. Tears came to my eyes just at the hint of the possibility. I almost don't dare to believe that my dream and the dream of millions might finally come true. Palestine! It would be final justice after the suffering that the Palestinians have had to endure for over half a century now as the only people in the world whose land is still under an oppressive colonial occupation.
Reading the letters and viewpoints in the Daily these past two weeks has really tempered my joy, however. A desire to not even hear the word "Palestine" was expressed and words like "disgust" were used to describe the thought of a Palestinian state.
These articles expressed rage, disappointment, sadness, and fear at the thought of justice for the Palestinian people. I ask, why are your dreams the only ones that count Adrienne Yagenah, Andrew Leavitt, and Ariel Weissman? How saddening to read such unfair views in the Daily.
I ask you, why was the Israeli dream for a state legitimate and the Palestinian one is not? If I remember correctly, the Jewish struggle for independence was far from peaceful. If anyone knows better how to achieve their goals, it's the Jewish people who fought long and hard to realize their fantasy of a Jewish state.
Well now the Palestinians are fighting for theirs, and they are being called terrorists and being denounced for doing exactly the same thing! In fact they are being told that if they ever want to think about beginning to dream of their own state, they have to be peaceful and then MAYBE Israel might consider ending part of the illegal occupation of their lands.
It's another way of saying, "You can have your state when you learn to live like good little natives under our oppressive occupation." The Jewish people would never have stood for this kind of humiliating, degrading scenario 53 years ago. They were fighters and because of this, they realized their dream.
People say, "But the United Nations gave that land to the Jewish people 53 years ago and it was totally legitimate." Yes it was. But I turn to you and say that the UN, as well as International Law and the Geneva Conventions stipulate that the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem are Palestinian land and are not part of Israel. What is Israel still doing maintaining the only colonial occupation left in the world on that land? Totally hypocritical! Yes Andrew Leavitt, the occupation is not legal as you stated in your letter to the editor.
People say, "But the Palestinians are using terrorism against the Israeli civilian population. How can we deal with terrorists?" Well, then I point to the Jewish groups like the Hagannah, Stern Gang and the Irgun who were responsible for murdering and terrorizing hundreds and thousands of British and Palestinian civilians to achieve their goals.
These groups are hailed today as freedom fighters. Let them be called freedom fighters. Any people fighting for their independence and especially for their basic human rights should be called "freedom fighters." And no, I am not advocating attacks on innocent civilians in Israeli pizzerias or nightclubs. That's different. The vast majority of the Palestinian struggle is occurring in the occupied territories and that is legitimate freedom fighting.
If the Israeli people want to end this long struggle and this current Intifada, realize that we Arabs don't deserve less than you. Stop giving us reasons to hate you. Stop bulldozing our homes in the West Bank before our crying eyes and building Jewish-only settlements and roads on them. Stop killing our innocent children with tanks, apache helicopters, and machine guns. Stop cutting off our water supply so that as one recent Palestinian speaker at Tufts remarked, it is a "luxury" to take a hot shower. Stop forcing us to wait hours at checkpoints where we are humiliated and degraded by Israeli soldiers. Stop preventing wailing ambulances from reaching hospitals and causing the deaths of our pregnant women inside them.
I've heard people say that a neighboring Palestinian state means the end of the Jewish dream; that Israel will be a dangerous place if this happens. A Palestinian state does not mean the end of the Jewish dream of Israel.
On the contrary, the lack of a Palestinian state represents the end of the Jewish dream. What is Israel today but a place that Jewish-American parents warn their kids not to visit because, "What if some crazy suicide bomber blows up another bus?" The dream of Israel, as far as I, an Arab, can comprehend it, is a place of sanctity and comfort; a safe haven for the tortured and abused Jewish people around the world where they can finally be free of suffering.
What is it today? An anxiety-inducing, fearful place with an atrocious human rights record. A country condemned by almost every nation in the world for grossly violating numerous international laws, Geneva Conventions, and United Nations resolutions. In short, as one Jewish friend of mine called it, 'a terrorist state.' Did the Jewish people ever dream that one day they would be living in a terrorist state?
All you people out there who love and support Israel, please continue to do so. But you don't have to do it by putting down the Arabs and dismissing the dreams of the Palestinians. You don't have to support Israel at the cost of supporting the Palestinians. I know so so many Jewish and Israeli people who love Israel and who are staunch crusaders in the fight for a Palestinian state.
They say, "We will never have peace until there is justice for the Palestinian people." They say, "Being Jewish is about being just." America supporting the idea of a Palestinian state does not mean it is "switching sides," as Adrienne Yaganeh put it. One can support Israel and Palestine!
For those of you who are fearful of Israel's security, let me remind you of a few things. Even if the Palestinians wanted to fight Israel after a Palestinian state is created, Israel is beyond able to defend itself. It is by far the most militarily-equipped, best-defended nation in the entire Middle East.
In fact, it is the only country there that contains nuclear weapons. Israel is stronger, with the backing of its closest ally, the United States, than all 22 Arab countries combined. Don't you think that an occupied land full of oppressed and humiliated people right next door to Israel is what is a very dangerous threat to Israeli security?
Dina Karam is a senior majoring in Sociology.
