- A Trilogy of Dysfunction
by Hanan Ashrawi
When
the
Bully
Whines
Whenever
hard
line
Israelis
and
their
American
apologists
decide
to
discredit
and
discount
Palestinian
suffering
while
exonerating
the
abuses
and
oppressive
measures
of
the
Israeli
occupation,
the
first
charge
levied
against
Palestinian
spokespersons
is
that
of
“whining.”
How
often
have
Palestinians
seen
Israeli
and
American
officials
alike
sigh
in
obvious
exasperation,
roll
their
eyes
in
sheer
ennui,
and
indulge
in
an
obvious
stage
whisper:
“The
Palestinians
are
whining
again.”
Hence
the
people
under
occupation
are
not
only
supposed
to
“grin
and
bear
it,”
but
also
made
to
feel
guilty
and
undeserving
for
seeking
to
give
voice
to
their
suffering.
The
opposite,
however,
is
true
of
the
Israeli
occupation.
As
Israeli
tanks
roll
through
Palestinian
villages,
towns,
and
refugee
camps;
as
Apache
gunships
shell
homes
and
assassinate
their
human
targets;
as
Palestinian
land
is
stolen
and
Israeli
settlements
are
expanding;
as
Israeli
prisons
swell
with
abducted
Palestinians
and
the
apartheid
wall
turns
all
Palestinian
areas
into
prisons
and
isolation
cells;
Sharon
whines
incessantly.
He
pleads
“self-defense”
and
runs
to
Washington
with
more
demands:
Iran
after
Iraq,
Syria
(and
Libya,
if
possible)
at
any
time,
the
Palestinian
factions
at
all
times,
and
more
money,
more
settlements,
more
walls,
more
facts
on
the
ground.
When
Sharon
complains
of
Palestinian
violence
(“terrorism”),
it
is
presented
as
an
act
of
will
and
gratuitous
cruelty,
entirely
unprovoked
and
totally
unrelated
to
the
fact
and
brutal
policies
of
the
Israeli
occupation.
When
he
addresses
the
requirements
of
the
Roadmap,
Israeli
“security”
becomes
the
sole
objective
and
rationale
of
any
initiative,
while
conditionality
and
forced
sequencing
are
imposed
on
the
Palestinians
who
are
constantly
on
probation,
constantly
made
to
demonstrate
“good
behavior,”
and
constantly
denied
as
worthy
of
any
form
of
“security”
or
even
human
consideration.
Yet
nobody
tells
Sharon
to
“stop
whining,”
and
nobody
rolls
his/her
eyes
in
exasperation
and
exclaims
in
disgust:
“here
we
go
again!”
On
the
contrary,
even
with
the
American
presidency
trying
to
maintain
minimal
compliance
with
the
Roadmap,
some
“holier
than
thou”
American
voices
rush
to
Israel
and
attempt
to
outdo
Sharon
and
his
extremists.
The
Fifth
Horseman
of
the
Apocalypse
Armed
with
more
zeal
than
common
sense,
with
more
messianic
fervor
than
political
wisdom,
with
more
millenarianism
than
moral
values,
House
Majority
Leader
Tom
DeLay
gallops
to
Israel
on
his
high
horse
and
threatens
more
fire
and
brimstone
should
any
Israeli
dare
to
contemplate
pursuing
the
path
of
peace
and
reconciliation.
Heaven
forbid!
The
only
roadmap
recognized
by
born-again
Christians
and
other
heirs
to
the
absolute
truth
and
divine
dictates
is
the
Old
Testament
(in
particular
the
Book
of
Revelations
and
other
apocalyptic
texts).
Palestinians
(be
they
Christian,
Muslim,
Jewish,
atheists,
or
agnostics)
are
dispensable
since
they
stand
in
the
way
of
the
fulfillment
of
the
prophecies.
Peace,
however
devoutly
wished
for
or
sought
by
both
Israelis
and
Palestinians,
is
not
to
be
condoned
since
it
does
not
meet
the
requirements
of
Armageddon
and
other
doomsday
scenarios.
Such
a
spirit
of
generosity—a
willingness
to
sacrifice
the
lives
of
countless
Palestinians
and
Israelis
for
the
sake
of
a
unique
brand
of
Christian
fundamentalism—is
one
we
can
do
without.
The
most
appropriate
joint
Palestinian-Israeli
response
to
the
fanaticism
of
DeLay
and
his
ilk
is
in
a
greater
commitment
to
a
just
peace
and
the
requirements
of
inclusion
and
tolerance.
Palestine
has
always
been
a
pluralistic
land
with
a
multiplicity
of
faiths
and
cultures
and
yet
with
an
authenticity
of
identity
that
never
denied
the
other.
The
solution
to
the
Palestinian-Israeli
conflict
must
emanate
from
a
spirit
of
tolerance
and
sharing,
not
one
of
blind
hatred
and
exclusion.
The
doctrinal
dictates
of
extremist
evangelicals
and
their
brand
of
apocalyptic
solutions
do
not
belong
to
the
three
monotheistic
religions
that
saw
the
light
in
this
part
of
the
world.
Rampant
Racism
Exclusion
and
a
unique
type
of
racism
were
recently
exhibited
by
the
Israeli
Knesset
in
its
mad
drive
to
create
a
“Palestinian-free”
society
in
Israel.
The
Bill
preventing
Palestinians
who
marry
Israeli
citizens
(mainly
Arabs)
from
acquiring
Israeli
citizenship
or
permanent
residency
was
passed
by
a
majority
of
53
votes
to
25.
The
tragic
humanitarian
consequences
of
such
legislation
would
tear
apart
whole
families
and
lead
to
tremendous
hardships
of
displacement
and
loss
of
domicile.
More
significantly,
the
mentality
of
racism
and
outright
discrimination
(the
law
does
not
apply
to
Israelis
who
marry
non-Palestinians)
is
quite
ominous
for
Israel
as
a
state
and
for
future
relations
between
the
two
states:
Israel
and
Palestine.
Along
with
the
snaking
path
of
the
apartheid
wall,
the
sinister
plans
of
Effie
Eitam,
the
Israeli
minister
of
housing
from
the
National
Religious
Party,
to
increase
settlements
in
East
Jerusalem
and
achieve
a
“demographic”
shift
in
the
occupied
city
complete
the
racist
circle.
Had
these
phenomena
taken
place
elsewhere,
and
had
the
“marriage
bill”
been
passed
by
any
other
country
to
exclude
a
specific
minority,
the
world
would
have
been
in
an
uproar.
It
is
time
that
Israel
is
treated
like
any
other
state,
made
subject
to
a
global
rule
of
law,
and
its
actions
scrutinized
for
such
outrageous
policies
and
practices.
However,
with
“whiners”
like
Sharon,
“friends”
like
DeLay,
and
“racists”
like
the
Knesset
and
Eitam,
Israel
seems
to
be
set
on
a
suicidal
course
indeed.
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- Source:
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by the same author:
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