Palestinian identity before and after Israel's creation

progressive

(Tue, 13 May 2008 09:57:58 -0500 (CDT)) --- Palestinian identity before and after Israel's creation

By Sherri Muzher
Jordan Times
May 12, 2008

"People are tired of hearing about it," a friend once told me
matter-of-factly about the Middle East conflict.

Tell me about it.

As a first-generation American of Palestinian descent, I can vouch that
nobody is more tired of this conflict than the Palestinians. But many of us
don't have the luxury of flipping the channel or ignoring what is happening
to our relatives and friends.

Palestinians with serious illnesses in Gaza are denied access to medical
care (more than 150 died and children are being stoned on their way to
school by Jewish settlers).

We do what we can but it never feels sufficient. And though we're 100 per
cent Semitic, the usual tiring label of "anti-Semite" is thrown at us for
speaking out against the injustices.

This month marks the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation and the
dispossession of the Palestinians.

I'll save the history lessons because the realities have even been
acknowledged by Israeli historians, most recently by Professor Ilan Pappe,
in 2006, in his book, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine".

Instead, I'd like to focus on the Palestinian people.

Denying their humanity has taken on many forms in the Israeli PR arsenal -
from employing pop culture to painting Palestinians as terrorists at
conception to the media's glorification of Israel's birth.

In recent years, pro-Israeli commentaries claim our parents apparently don't
love us. Apparently, my parents' years of love and sacrifice illustrate that
they never read the Palestinian manual for parents.

Sarcasm aside, it all makes strategic sense: dehumanise Palestinians or deny
their heritage long enough so that any action against them doesn't seem so
outrageous, even expulsions at gunpoint.

Consider that Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said in 1969 in an
often-repeated statement: "There is no such thing as a Palestinian."

Too bad she didn't read history because there has been a collective
consciousness of their unique identity for millennia. The ancient Canaanites
weren't called Palestinians, but neither were the Mesopotamians called
Iraqis or the Celts called Irish or British. Still, the roots are
unquestionable and run eternally deep, from archeological finds to
folktales.

Another example of whiting out the Palestinian heritage is using the term
"Israeli Arab". I've never heard of a generic Arab race - every Arab has a
specific heritage, be it Palestinian, Lebanese, Algerian, etc. Think of
Latin America, where they all speak the same language (Spanish, minus
Portuguese-speaking Brazil) and most share the same religion (Catholic). In
the Arab world, they all speak Arabic and most are Muslim. Nonetheless, each
country has its own dialect, food and customs. Mexicans and Argentines
differ, as do Palestinians and Egyptians.

And within each Arab nation, there is even more diversity - from
distinguishable dialects and expressions to being able to identify the
region a Palestinian woman comes from by the intricate embroidery on her
traditional dress. Palestinians have always had a rich and vibrant culture
that is all their own, before and after Israel's creation.

There is no question that Palestinians have taken a bruising with poorly
made leadership decisions and factional fighting in recent years. But what
has remained steadfast is their fierce embrace of identity and their
resilience. This is true not only of Palestinians in Palestine but also of
Palestinians in the diaspora.

Whether it was the election of Tony Saca to the presidency of El Salvador or
respected fiscal conservative, Sen. John Sununu being singled out for praise
by Time magazine, or Dr Motia Khaled Al Asir being awarded the British
Empire Medal by Queen Elizabeth II, those of Palestinian descent continue to
make their mark around the world.

The Jewish Torah teaches us that man was created in God's image. The
Palestinians have never been absent from this equation.

**************************

The writer is director of the Michigan Media Watch. She contributed this
article to The Jordan Times.

www.jordantimes.com

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