I Turn On the Fan and Sit to Write

At a demo against Bait Hanoun's closed zone.

Also addressed in this article: Palestinian youth in Gaza skeptical about PA’s UN bid.

I turn on the fan, aim it right at myself and sit to write.

Throughout the internationally unrecognized but famous Gaza Strip, 1.6 million pairs of eyes are watching the news with fluctuating points of view over the September declaration of a Palestinian state. This is not the only topic hovering overhead within the Palestinian arena.  Indeed, Mubarak’s trial is not a less-discussed subject among people gathering around the table at the end of the day to break their Ramadan meals.

A walk through Gaza especially in the few hours preceding Iftar, attests to a life that despite everything thrives to get a sense of normality. Queues flowing out of popular food shops are commonplace in Ramadan. You would find those queuing to get Qettayif for the family, while others think of Hummus as an inevitable component for the perfection of the day’s meal.  Special banners promoting different kinds of food “especially prepared for Ramadan” testify to the efforts put forth to induce Gazan consumers buy “the irreplaceable dishes.”

Both complexity and simplicity are inseparable in any Palestinian’s life. While thoughts are buzzing with concerns about the future of their country, they never cease to pretend that everything is fine and by time solutions will prevail.  Though, this is not the case of all Palestinians as some insist to seek solutions themselves and criticize current ones.

Just a few days ago I was engaged in two discussions on two different topics. One was the on the September recognition of a Palestinians state, the other was on Mubarak’s trial.

In fact, the Palestinian street is divided into two: those who are for One State and those for the UN September recognition or Two States.  I’m for one state.

If the US did not veto our statehood bid and Palestine was recognized by the UN, I will be unilaterally recognizing Israel for the second time since Oslo. A quite compelling question here is:  if the PA recognized Israel in 1993 what is the point behind recognizing it again now? I think it is a matter of settlements and borders.

In 1993 when Arafat recognized Israel’s right to exist, Israel did not own as much land as it owns now. The segregation wall was not there to swallow up much of Palestinian land and Arab Maali Adumim was not yet replaced by ardent Zionists. Today 78% of Palestine is in the hands of Israel while the purported Palestinian state will be built on only 22%. Settlements are still being constructed and Palestinian homes are being demolished at the very moment! The second unilateral recognition means accepting Israel as it is now with its current settlements and borders.

But what about more than 5,000,000 Palestinian refugees who dream to return to their lands? The Palestinian government does not have the right to take decisions on their behalf. If they were given the right to vote, they would have voted against this bid. This is definite.

Those who wish to say “I come from the state of Palestine”, think that this recognition will enforce international sanctions upon Israel. Wrong. The UN is the UN and it will always be controlled by the US who will never refrain from backing Israel.

Even when Obama wants to sound like Mother Teresa as he speaks of justice, tolerance and how much he supports the Palestinian-Israeli attempts to achieve a “just” peace, the “audacity of hope” will always be directed at Israel. He will never betray the friendship.

Obama says he will veto the bid. Maybe he can do, but only then will he never be able to veto the One State and his conspiracy with Zionism will be so clear that Hilary Clinton will not be able to deny it.

Mubarak’s trial raised many questions, the most important is: if Mubarak was put on trial, where should we put Netenyahu and those who preceded him in 30 years? Honestly, I have no idea. I think we will need experts to figure out some appropriate answer.

The revolution fever has now reached Israel.  300,000 Israeli were protesting high cost of living yesterday in Occupied Tel al-Rabee’ (Tel-Aviv) but none protested Palestinian high cost of life! They protested high housing costs but not high house demolitions. It is also worth mentioning that the Israeli government did not fire tear gas or rubber bullets at protesters as it does with the Palestinians who protest the Wall.

Yesterday, I stumbled upon an article on Ynet which content brags about the “democratic methods” undertaken by the Israeli government to establish dialogue with the protesters. It goes further to compare between the responses of Arab and Israeli regimes to uprisings. It says: ” As Israel finds a way to deal with a social protest that encompasses several branches of society and present reasonable solutions, its neighbors, it appears, will be stuck in a mode of perpetual upheaval and instability, due to a lack of desire to find peaceful solutions and compromise.”

This “compromise” and those “peaceful solutions” are never applicable when it comes to Palestinians. When we protest Israel’s Closed Military Zone near Erez, we’re usually faced by bullets. The same scenario occurs in the West Bank. Even with children, Israel cannot find a compromise. During the Israeli offensive against Gaza, Israel couldn’t find peaceful solutions with a minimum of 300 kids and killed them. When young people spoke up for Palestinians during AIPAC, they were beaten up and taken to hospitals. Yes, Israel is the “only democracy in the Middle East.”

It is 2:14 AM now, a few days ago around this time, an airstrike struck Gaza. On the occasion, I shared this on Twitter:  ”Actually this airstrike saved my mom the daily struggle of waking up all of us for the pre-fasting meal. #Gaza #BrightSide“ thought this would be funny. Perhaps you smiled, perhaps not.

The fan is still on but it’s no more directed at me, my sisters turned it toward them. I think I should join them. It’s pretty late. Good Night. Ramadan Kareem!