Guest Column: An urgent reminder: Palestinians are human too
August 16, 2014
As Palestinian Arab-Americans, we frequently find ourselves in situations that force us into the humiliating position of defending our humanity and proving to our peers and classmates that Arabs and Palestinians are human. Humans who love their children and their families, who suffer, who crave freedom. Humans who have the same hopes and dreams as all other people, and humans who deserve the same dignity, mercy and protection as the rest of the world.
A reminder of the basic humanity of Palestinians has never been more desperately needed than in this moment. Israel is more than one month into its most recent assault on the Gaza Strip, ironically dubbed Operation Protective Edge. The death toll is now more than 1,900; the vast majority of those killed are civilians, a strikingly high proportion of them children.
Israel continues to target civilian areas, including hospitals, U.N. shelters, and playgrounds, and shows no sign of stopping. Their justification for these atrocious acts of aggression all revolve around the same key sensationalist phrases: “Hamas terrorists,” “rocket fire,” “terror tunnels,” and “human shields.” An essential component of their public relations strategy is to shift all blame for civilians casualties onto Hamas. In one example, the Israeli government claimed to issue evacuation warnings prior to the destruction of civilian areas. When these neighborhoods were not evacuated they accuse Hamas, without evidence, of using civilians as “human shields,” casually ignoring the fact that their illegal blockade of Gaza made it impossible for the people of Gaza to flee, rendering their so-called warnings completely useless. Israel is shooting fish in a barrel and the international community, particularly the United States, stands by, allows this massacre, and when challenged feebly bleats the same refrain “Israel has a right to defend itself.” Is a genocide really self defense? What kind of security is gained from the mass slaughter civilians?
The Palestinian voice is never heard. No context is provided. The Israeli public relations machine has successfully framed this as an isolated incident instead of yet another chapter in a decades long saga of displacement, occupation, oppression and apartheid. This image is so widely accepted that anyone attempting to provide the necessary context, feature another narrative, or even suggest that Palestinians have the right to resist their brutal occupation and oppression is accused of, as Sean Hannity so eloquently stated, ‘sympathizing with the terrorists.’
The only possible explanation for the widespread, blind acceptance of Israeli government discourse, and the complete failure on the part of the international community and mainstream media to report the Palestinian narrative and provide the context for the current crisis, is that the world has accepted an image of Palestinians as somehow less human. The world sees Palestinians as savage and subhuman, and consequently is able to stand casually by while they are slaughtered in the thousands.
We will not humiliate ourselves by presenting you with examples and evidence designed to prove that Palestinians are just as human as you are. This should be taken for granted. We should not have to write a column to explain that the massacring of innocent men, women and children is an abomination. This should be a well accepted fact.
We ask you now, what would you do if this situation was replicated outside of Israel-Palestine? Would you accept the statements of the aggressor as fact without question? Would you judge the situation without context? Or would you make an effort to explore the narrative of the other side and research the context and power relationships involved? If your answer to the last question is yes, and we sincerely hope that it is, you owe it to the people of Palestine, to the inhabitants of Gaza, and to all of the dead men, women, and children to do the same for them. You owe it to the Palestinians to research their history of ethnic cleansing and displacement. You owe it to them to learn about the systematic discrimination they face everyday, both within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, whether it is in housing, education, or simply access to roads and water. You owe it to them to understand the full complexity of the tragedy they have faced since 1948, and you owe to them to view their current situation in the context of their history.
Subject the Israeli government to the same level of scrutiny you would any other government in the world. Show Palestinians the respect they deserve and learn about their history of occupation and their struggles with oppression, struggles that began decades before the start of the current massacre. Next time you see the death toll in Gaza, remember that it is not just a number, it is a representation of actual people. And above all, remember that Palestinians are human too.
Ruba Assaf is a rising Weinberg sophomore and can be reached at [email protected].
