In his viewpoint entitled "Protecting My Family" (10/9/01), Ariel Weissman gives an account of his personal feelings concerning the establishment of a Palestinian state. Mr. Weissman passionately explains what he and his family have been through, and what Israel means for them. The following is a reflection of the other family in the picture, which has not been considered by Mr. Weissman.
My grandparents were forced out of Palestine in 1948. My father was 40 days old at the time, and my mother had not yet been born. My grandparents were made refugees in Jordan, leaving all their property behind in what is now Israel.
Unlike Mr. Weissman, Palestine was my grandparents' reality, but my dream. As a matter of fact, Mr. Weissman's grandparents may have unintentionally been the cause of the catastrophe (nakbah) that my family suffered, and continues to suffer until today.
My people today live under Israeli occupation. Israel humiliates my people, has them under siege, demolishes their homes, uproots their trees, razes their orchards and kills their children on a daily basis. Are these atrocities committed in the name of its people's security?
If it does so, then Israel's security is my people's war. It is my people's degradation and their deprivation. In a world of freedom of speech, democracy, and human rights, my people are denied what is inherently theirs by the occupation enforced on them by the state of Israel.
Throughout the course of history, no group of people has willingly endured the ravaging of its country, the exploitation of its resources, and the destruction of its natural beauty. Every occupied nation has violently and wholeheartedly resisted its oppressors.
The Palestinians are no exception. Innocent civilians have always been scapegoats of their country's policies. The Iraqis were in the Gulf War, the Japanese in Hiroshima were in the Second World War, and Israelis are today. The reason for the Israeli plight is not the inherent violent nature of Palestinians and not their unwillingness to co-exist, as Mr. Weissman's racist tone suggests. It is the continuing Israeli subjugation of my people in their land.
How Mr. Weissman expects the Palestinians to endure this subjugation while he and his family enjoy the independence of Israel amazes me. Is it that some people deserve a state and some people are doomed to be occupied till they submit to the oppressor?
My uncle, Abdul-Wahab Kayyali Sr., was assassinated while pursuing the independence of Palestine. I am named after him and I will not forget what he set out to do. Rather, I will do my best to accomplish it. Mr. Weissman so arrogantly assumes that Israelis are the only ones suffering, while every Palestinian family has lost some of its members in this conflict. The death of my uncle traumatized my whole family, and I will not let it go to waste.
Let me remind Mr. Weissman that Zionists have pursued terrorist policies in pursuit of their own state, such as the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the Massacres of Deir Yassin, Qibya and Kufr Qasem, and so on. While these criminal acts came in the name of an Israeli state, the suicidal attacks that devastate Israel today come in the name of Palestinian resistance. In any case, you cannot occupy a group of people and expect them to greet you with love and peace and a willingness to live side by side.
As Mr. Weissman is not willing to give up a piece of Jerusalem, some Palestinians will not hold back their fire until the whole of Palestine is regained. Is their any logic to either of these claims? NO. Until Mr. Weissman comes to terms with the atrocities Israel has committed against the Palestinian people and until he understands that his hero, Moshe Dayan, is my occupier, that his Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, is my war criminal, that his security protector, The Israeli Defense Force, is my degrader, I promise him that peace and security will not exist in the region.
One must review the past critically if one wants to find a solution for the future, and ignoring the roots of the problem will only inflate it. I too wish to walk the streets of Jerusalem one day without being interrogated, detained, humiliated, and dehumanized.
Abdul-Wahab Kayyali is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He is the Public Relations Officer for the Arab Students Association.
