40th Anniversary of the 1967 War

I woke up this morning, much like every other morning, dragged myself out of bed and flung myself at the shower. The sky in Baltimore was blue, light clouds, nice, cool, clear, crisp morning. I knew as soon as I opened my eyes what day it was. It was Tuesday, June 5th, 2007. Today marks the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict. Funny, we call it the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, because of the major players of that war, Egypt and Jordan have kissed and made up with Israel, and Syria and Israel have been making overtures at each other, both war and peace, like a high school boy and girl in love. Unfortunately, like some of these high school relationships, everyone seems to forget about the bastard child, born of such trysts. Such is the case of the Palestinians.

Like the unwanted step-child of the Arab community, the Palestinians have had to go it alone for much of these 40 years. Much like the American Indian, they are refugees in their own land, fenced in, herded, isolated, abused, used as target practice while their lands are stolen and their resources plundered. Their Palestinian ID card is much the same as a number tattooed on the arm of Auschwitz survivor. Like a star worn on the lapels of Jews in Nazi Germany, this card designates them as second class citizens, restricted in movement, denied work permits and submitted to physical and psychological abuse by Israelis under the protection of the Israeli army. While the Auschwitz prisoners were massacred in groups, the Palestinians are left to starve to death, slowly, while they watch their homes, their livelihoods, their country stolen, and their family members beaten, abducted, incarcerated and murdered.

As I was writing, I started to point fingers at everyone as to why this conflict has gone on so long without resolution. Israel, the US, complicit Arab Governments, apathy, propaganda, Zionist lobbying groups and their political action committees. There certainly seems to be a lot of blame going around. But, in reality, the blame lies with each and every one of us.

I figure there are 300 million Americans in the US. Just 1%, 3 million people, would make a great impression on the world on June 10th at the protest rally in DC. But, even though, that is equal to the number of Muslims in America, that number won't show. So how about one-tenth of one percent, that is 300,000 people. Certainly enough peace lovers, Muslims, Christians, Jews, all religions that embrace peace, freedom and justice should make a showing. But no, 300,000 people wont show. How about one-one hundredth of the population, 30,000 people. You would think that at least one out of ten-thousand people would know enough about the truth to make it worth their while to come out and protest. But, probably we wont get that number either. People will want to spend Sunday with their families, cook out, go to a baseball game, go to the park, why should they care about people half a world away that they only get twisted news on anyway.

So why should people care about the Palestinians and their plight? I have often said that more people in America believe that Elvis is flying around in a UFO than are aware of the truth of Palestine. But that is on us. We need to talk about Palestine at our schools, churches, synagogues, mosques, and amongst our friends. We can not be afraid of being ridiculed for our beliefs or threatened by people who claim we are supporting terrorists. Supporting freedom, justice and liberty have never been things that Americans have shied away from advocating for. Is being called an Arab-lover, a Palestinian-lover, a Muslim-lover any different from when I was called a wimp for defending women's rights, or a faggot for supporting gay rights, or a nigger-lover for defending black rights,. Anything worth fighting for is worth getting a black eye over, physically, emotionally or psychologically.

Who amongst us will be the next Rosa Parks and refuse to budge on their position regarding Palestine, and not give up their beliefs? Who amongst us will be the next Emmett Till, willing to walk into hell for a heavenly cause, and give his life? Who amongst us will be the next Martin Luther King Jr, who will risk ongoing incarceration by not denying the truth? Who amongst us will be the next Rachel Corrie who will stand up to the bulldozing of those who refuse to listen? Who amongst us will stand up, in front of our friends, neighbors, religious acquaintances and say, enough is enough and draw attention to the plight of the Palestinian people. What will you do today to let Americans know that Elvis is dead, but there are an awful lot of young children on the verge of death, and even though we can't do a thing for Elvis, we certainly can do something to save the lives of these children by just making people aware that there are children who are dying, because of the policies they support. One of my favorite quotes is simply, "this is not a matter of Pro-Israel or Pro-Palestinian, it is about our American values and what do those values say about us as Americans. One step, just one step by the American people to ease the suffering and humiliation of the Palestinians and grant them the rights that any human being should expect and deserve, would do more to fight terror than all of George W Bush's wiretaps, invasions and lies."

I have been passing out olive wood peace doves today at work I got from artisans in Bethlehem and they carry the phrase, made in Bethlehem, Palestine. I will be standing along side the road this evening at stop lights handing them out as well, simply stating, "Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Arab/Israeli conflict. This peace dove, made in Palestine, is a symbol of peace and understanding amongst all people of the world. Please support a fair and just peace in Palestine."

We don't have to save the world today, just let people know to open their eyes, and they can see the truth for themselves.