Here speaks a simple girl or woman. But what she says is what many of us feel.
As Christmas is approaching, we are all almost under a mandate by habit and tradition to be cheerful. But is cheerfulness even in order when, as Ernst Zundel commented a few days ago: "if only Americans understood that every Israeli bullet is a 'Holocaust bullet'"? - because of our collective unwillingness to admit that the Israelis couldn't do what they are doing to the Palestinians, were it not for the fact that they are shielded from censure and criticism by decent people - because of what-else-but "the Holocaust"!
Give a few minutes over to reflection on this plea:
A Palestine Christmas Story
Subject: [FP] FW: A Christmas Story Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 From: "Lucy Sakakini" <lsakakini@herold.com> Reply-To: freepalestine@egroups.com
I thought CNN says this is a Holy War, Jew against Muslim... hmm, I must have missed something as I was growing up, I could have sworn they said Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and that he is the Son of God...
Israel continues to shell Bethlehem and it's outskirts, it continues to accumulate casualties by the dozens. It continues its assault on Christianity and not one single Christian figure, world wide, will stand up and say anything.
Help me out, somebody!!!
Are we as humans, and Christians, going to sit around while they bluntly, and intentionally commit atrocities against Christianity?? They have a car explosion in a Jewish market in Jerusalem, and the media turns it into a 24 hour soap opera, while they shell the city were our Savior was born with Apache US made choppers and they only mention it in passing.
The shelling of Bethlehem is an assault against every Christian in the world, but we still elect to ignore it. Why can we not unwrap our lips from Israel's breast and take control for once?
Are we that afraid of the mighty Israel?
As we sit around our Christmas trees and celebrate the birth of Christ, let us not forget the many Palestinians (Christian and Muslims) who are fighting and who will die for something that we should be upholding as we claim we do.... HUMANITY.
Merry Christmas to all....
You're probably wondering what Palestinians want. Well, even if you aren't wondering, I'll tell you anyway: They want the same thing the Founding Fathers of this country (USA) wanted -- freedom.
You see, in 1967, Israel fought a war with Syria, Jordan and Egypt and won it right handily in about six days. In the process, Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
The West Bank and East Jerusalem had been illegally annexed by Jordan, which never asked the Palestinians what their wishes were. Gaza was controlled by Egypt, which likewise never asked the Palestinians what their wishes were.
For the past 33 years, these Palestinians have lived under Israeli military occupation. Israel has no legal claim to any of their territory, including East Jerusalem. The United Nations has passed a number of resolutions to that effect.
Americans, of course, don't know what it's like to live under military occupation. Palestinians must at all times carry special identity cards. Their cars must have a special license tag. They effectively have no rights. Their land has been confiscated. Jewish settlements have been built on it. The Palestinians' houses have been demolished or blown up. Olive trees hundreds of years old have been bulldozed.
The Palestinians frequently are placed under "closure," which means they cannot travel to get to their jobs. They often are placed under curfew, which means they cannot leave their own houses for any reason.
Imagine being told that you and your family must remain indoors. Your children cannot go to school. You can't go to the grocery store or to the doctor. You can't do anything but sit inside your house until your foreign occupier gives you permission to leave.
Often, when they protest these indignities, they are shot dead, and then even more stringent punishments are imposed.
And on top of that, they [Palestinians] were taxed -- forced to pay for their own oppression. In the past 40 days, 175 Palestinians have been shot dead, and some 5,000 have been hospitalized with wounds. They have been shot by snipers -- including 29 children under the age of 15 -- by machine guns, by tanks and by helicopters. A British journalist recently observed that if the Palestinians were black, the world would be united in denouncing Israel as a rogue state. Unfortunately for the Palestinians, they are white.
Moreover, the Israeli spin doctors are so skillful, and the Israeli lobby is so powerful, that they have managed to convince most Americans that Israel is the victim of aggression. In fact, more American sailors died on the USS Cole than Israelis have been killed in the past 40 days as of this writing.
Apparently, Israelis define aggressors as 14-year-old armed with slingshots.
I've heard many tragic stories of Jewish children being shot by soldiers during the Holocaust. I fail to see any difference between a Jewish children being shot and a Palestinian child being shot.
Americans who fail to speak out against these crimes being committed against the Palestinians, with our money and with our government blocking any relief by the United Nations, are accessories to the crimes.
Remember, there is a God. And, sooner or later there is always justice.
Best Wishes,
Lucy
-----------------------
F R E E P A L E S T I N E (FP) is an independent Palestinian Voice in the Global Internet Wilderness where Palestinians & friends enjoy a hospitable & UNCENSORED intellectual refuge to FREELY exchange relevant information & debate their views ONLY. FP is NOT a forum to promote ANY religion.
=====
"Israel is a nation founded in terror by terrorists trained in the killing fields of Poland and Russia, and sustained by terror today. Add to that the *paranoia* factor, the persecution complex and centuries of hostility towards the Arabs, and you have an instant recipe for disaster."
(From a cyber discussion list)
Back to Table of Contents of the Dec. 2000 ZGrams