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TITLE: Everyone Has a Name |
AUTHOR: George B. Sahhar |
PUB: |
DATE: January 23, 2001 |
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Just last week, we saw once again pictures of a gruesome murder of a Palestinian. This time it was in Hebron, and his name was Shaker Hassouneh. An Israeli soldier looked happy and he waved and cheered as he dragged the dead body. T.V. footage revealed perfectly well the identity of each soldier involved in mutilating Hassouneh, yet it is most certain that none of them will be punished. Also this week, an Israeli Court gave a lenient sentence to a settler who 5 years ago beat to death a Palestinian boy. The little boy?s name was Hilmi Shousheh. It took the Court 5 years to decide, and the murderer was sentenced to community service and a fine. I cannot but wonder about the kind of service that someone like this settler can render to society. Moreover, the Court demeaned Palestinian life by attributing to it a financial cost. In between those two events, we saw pictures of settlers in Al-Mawasi, Gaza, vandalizing Palestinian property, burning the greenhouses, and shooting inside the homes. Such a crime could have been committed only under protection of the Israeli Army and with its unholy approval. I cannot but describe Israel as a strange place because it is a country where a certain race is considered superior to others. Being here is like stepping out the 21st century and back into 18th century European colonies in Africa and elsewhere. So in order to end the vicious circle in our region, and in order to forge a better future, Israel has to find a new mission for itself away from the illusion of ethnic superiority. It is very difficult, if not outright impossible, for the region in general and Palestinians in particular to enter into a healing process when the oppression continues. Everyone has a name; every single Palestinian killed is someone who will be remembered by his family, friends and neighbors. In those names, faces and pictures, the new generation of Palestinians will find evidence and stories they will still be describing many years from now. This is the generation that never saw Palestine before 1948, and never witnessed many of the atrocities committed since 1967. Now they have stories of their own; about faces and names they recognize, their own brothers, sisters and friends. Israeli blood is not more sacred than Palestinian blood. To assume otherwise is to cause undue prolongation of the conflict. It is important to start healing right now, because the process takes a long time, also because every personal injury becomes a wound in the national psyche and thus more difficult to heal. In the context of reconciliation, and in order to forge peace and a new path, an Israeli apology to the families of the victims is very important. If Israel is to become a normal society, it has to stop assuming the higher moral ground, and to admit that in the chapters it wrote glorifying its own version of history, there is a big chapter missing, a chapter about the atrocities committed against Palestinians where each victim has a name. END |