Charity Begins at Home

 

Bravo Mr. Biden:  You really made a wonderful speech at the University of Lithuania during the NATO summit and in the presence of the Ukraine president Zelensky.  He might have been a little disappointed as the decision for Ukraine to join NATO was deferred until after the end of the conflict with Russia.  But you were very clear about your unwavering support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.    You used words like “Never and Ever” should one forget the right of people to stand up against such an aggression, and you spoke about common values and the defense of Freedom.

All the rhetoric that you used was excellent and in accordance with human rights values.  Yet the hypocrisy and the double standards were so glaring that it was pathetic especially that it was  only a few days earlier  that you had justified the Israeli  invasion  with   the most sophisticated armament, on the Palestinian  refugee camp  and the city of Jenin as well as other towns like Huwara and Turmus Aya, as being “the right of Israel to defend itself”.  Really Mr. Biden.  Is this a joke?  Or do you think the whole world is that  dumb to believe that justification.  Maybe they are ,  after all,  when one of the most powerful countries in the world can get away with such a statement.

I wish you would address your own people Mr. Biden, assuring them that you would never ever allow an American citizen to be homeless and without medical care, while you continue to provide both Israel,  an occupying power, and Ukraine, an occupied country,  with the most sophisticated armament.  Mr. Biden, charity starts at home!!!

Samia Khoury

A Palestinian Grandmother

Reflecting once again. Until when dear Lord, until when?

Yesterday  morning after breakfast.  I stretched out on my reclining chair to relax a short while before getting ready for my shower,  when a pigeon appeared on my window sill.  What a beautiful starter for the day.  Could it be carrying a message of peace after those crows that have been hovering all over our trees recently.  I remember ever since I was a child a crow has been  a bad omen.  Even in Shakespeare’s  Macbeth which we  studied in high school,  Lady Macbeth alludes to the raven as a bad omen.  Well we saw enough brutality at the hands of the Israeli settlers, with the protection of the army  in so many places, like    Huwara, Jenin and Turmus Aya to confirm this bad omen.  Will it ever stop?   

And this morning we woke up again to another brutal raid on Jenin.  I could not help but wonder, how many pigeons would we need to bring about peace to this devastated country?  Will the Western world which had brought havoc to the Middle East ever take responsibility and atone for what it has done.  They claim to be Christians, and they accuse Muslims of being terrorists.  How ironic indeed. When we look back at the history of the Crusaders and the colonizers, and the   role they played not only in tearing up the country, but in dividing its Christians into different denominations.

 

I had just finished reading a book “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan sent to me recently by  an Irish friend.   Towards the end of the book the hero in the story is shown accompanying a destitute girl to his home for Christmas and posing the following question: “Was there any point in being alive without helping one another?  Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without one being brave enough to go against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian, and face yourself in the mirror?” How sad that those so-called Christian countries cannot think of one good deed, Let alone have the  guts to atone for all their crimes that have caused so much suffering and devastation in our region and other places as well.  Over and above, the Bible continues to be used and abused to justify all the injustice that prevails in this so-called Holy Land. Until when, dear Lord?  Until when?

Commemorating 75 years of our Nakba

Knowing the Nakba: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine for the Creation of the State of Israel

In this webinar are Ilan Pappee and myself.

Update on Shadi

 On Sunday,  May 21, 2023  Shadi had a day-long court hearing.. It was the first of a series of trials where the prosecution was supposed to bring witnesses to testify against Shadi and prove, as they alleged, that he was part of the demonstration on October 12th, 2022. Their first witness was a 15-year-old Palestinian boy called Bara' who, as per the police, had confessed at the time of his arrest in October , that he saw Shadi participate in the demonstration. But to the surprise of the prosecution and the defense lawyers, Bara' denied any prior knowledge of Shadi, withdrew his previous confession to police, and testified that the Israeli interrogators coerced him into confessing against Shadi. 

He testified that he was under psychological and physical torture and verbally abused. As he testified, the terrified 15-year-old child was threatened by imprisonment unless he confessed that Shadi took part in the demonstration and attacked an Israeli car. He was promised immediate release as a reward for snitching on Shadi falsely. During the defense lawyer's cross-examination, it became apparent that Bara' was fed specific lies about Shadi's actions by Israeli police interrogators. Bara' testified that investigators would take him from the official interrogation room with recording facilities to another room without documentation. He would be threatened, prompted, and returned to the official investigation room to falsify information and lie to the recorded sessions. 

Bara's original confession was full of discrepancies, raising the suspicion of Shadi's defense lawyers. By the end of Bara's testimony, it became apparent that the reason behind these discrepancies was that the police coerced him to lie to entrap Shadi. What implication this will have on the judge's ruling is still to be seen. Another court hearing was set for October 23rd, where the prosecution is supposed to bring more evidence in their continued attempt to indict my grandson. 

Shadi will remain under house arrest until then, but in the meantime he will be allowed to continue going to school, as well as to  go out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4-9 p.m with one of those who had been approved by the court to accompany him.  That is either one of  his parents, siblings or his  aunt. 

Post Edit:

Here is another sample of how young  Palestinian children are arrested in the early hours of the morning.  The father of 15 year old Ayham Salaymeh is saying that those forces came to the house at 4:00 a.m.  to arrest his son.  The way they were going about it,  one would think they were coming for "a hero". Untill when will the international community allow this to go on and on leaving a whole generation without any hope for justice or peace?

https://youtube.com/shorts/Z33e2gd3ny8?feature=share 

The Upside Down World

As I had written earlier, Christmas 2022 was very special for our family, especially that my youngest grandson Shadi, was with us, after  he had  spent  over a month in an Israeli detention center and  under difficult conditions.   Furthermore, my oldest grandson Omar who is a designer, was with us also this Christmas after spending sometime in the UK and the USA.  We missed him last Christmas as he always put up a very original Christmas tree with bare leaves but beautifully decorated.  So, this Christmas, instead of putting it in a pot, he used a hook that was in the ceiling to hang it upside down.  He got my approval as I told him that it will certainly be in style with everything else being upside down these days.  Be it logic, morals, values, politics, religion or whatever. 

 

The moment I mentioned “upside down” I recalled that many years ago, and in the early days of “Sabeel,” the Palestinian Liberation Theology movement, Rev. Naim Ateek led us in reading “The Upside Kingdom” by Donald Kraybill.

 

 Each one of us would take turns every week in presenting a chapter.   It was one of the most meaningful books I had read, especially that it related to our world nowadays, and more so now than ever.   Donald B. Kraybill, a Mennonite himself,  says: “ Social, religious, and economic practices of the dominant culture usually favor the rich, powerful, prestigious.  God on the other hand, favors those who suffer at society's margins and fall between the cracks.”

 

Brilliantly written and expressed, especially  when  we see how the injustice and the double standards by which the powerful deal with issues of the same nature are so glaring.  We have seen it during this past year in the war between Russia and Ukraine.  Irrespective of the provocation of Russia by both the US and Europe to get Ukraine to join NATO, Russia fell in the trap and invaded Ukraine creating a big refugee problem, over and above a human disaster which gained the sympathy of the USA and the European Union, and whose financial and moral support have not stopped since that invasion. Two days ago, I watched the president of the European Union, Ursula Von der Leyen accompanied by the College of Commissioners visiting   the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.  With warm greetings, a big smile, open arms and a kiss, she assured him of The EU continued support which had started from day one of the invasion, and rightly so, since the international law stipulated the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by an act of war.   But when I heard her emphasize their support because “they stand up for the fundamental rights and respect of international law”, I could not help but wonder, whether we Palestinians were the children of a lesser God (As Ambassador Afif Safieh  had put it), that the European Union could not get itself to condemn one act of Israeli violence against the Palestinians who were dispossessed since 1948 and had been under Israeli occupation since 1967.  The most it could do when the schools that have been built in the Palestinian Territories with the support of the European Commission were demolished by the Israeli forces, was to express its CONCERN.  That certainly does not reflect at all a stand for the fundamental rights and respect of international law. 

 

When will this hypocrisy come to an end? Palestinians have been killed on an average of one or two every day.  And after the massacre of Jenin when 10 were killed in one day, there was no world reaction until a lone Palestinian went on a shooting spree in the settlement of Neve Yaacov north of Jerusalem, killing seven Israelis.  That event coincided  with the visit  of USA secretary of State Blinken to the region assuring all parties the support of the USA for a two-state solution.  Had the USA been serious about that, it would have done something about it and would have imposed sanctions on Israel for its violations of the terms of the Peace process and the two-state solution.  But once again it is words, words, words, that will lead us to nowhere as long as Israel has been able to get away with all the violations of human rights and international law. One cannot but pose the question: When will the USA and the Europeans play their role seriously and fairly so that the United Nations can truly and honestly assume its role in bringing about justice and peace to our region and in other places of this troubled world?

Christmas Greetings

Dear Family and Friends:

 This is a very special time for all of us as a family as we gather for Christmas and  give thanks for having Shadi with us during this festive season.  Not only do we want to wish you a Merry Christmas, but we  want to thank you specially for  all your support and solidarity during Shadi’s ordeal.  Although he was released for house arrest,  at least he is at home, and he was  able to study on-line before the Christmas break.  

He was also able to watch many of the World Cup games including the final one.  I am attaching a photo of both of us as he welcomes me to their home for the final game.  But the latest good news is ironic indeed, but  he was  granted  a  permit to go to church on Christmas Sunday,    after which all the family, my two children, their spouses and seven grandchildren will be  around for the Christmas lunch.   We have an extra addition this year, my first great- grand son,  Sary Zabaneh, son of Faris and Zeina,  Shadi’s oldest  sister.   So there is a lot to be grateful for, and we hope there is a lot for you as well  to be grateful for,  despite all the absurdities of the political scene all over the world, and especially in our area from where the first message of peace was proclaimed.

With love, and warm wishes for a blessed season, peace and good health throughout the year. 

The legacy of Colonialism

I have always enjoyed reading, but more so during these days  when I really need to take a break from the realities of every day. One of the most recent books I got engrossed in reading was “The Island of Missing Trees” by the British Turkish Novelist Elif Shafak. Although the latter part of the book takes place in England, most of the events take place basically in Cyprus where a fig tree standing in the courtyard of  a tavern  is often quoted in the book. One special quote  that hit a chord with me. “But on an island plagued by years of ethnic violence and brutal atrocities, humans were not the only ones that suffered.”   How very true, especially for us Palestinians when we say in Arabic that the occupation has hurt the humans, the trees and the stones.  In Arabic it rhymes  “Al Bashar wal Shajar  wal Hajar.” The number of young and old prisoners is in thousands.  We have seen so many olive trees being cut, or burnt depriving the owners of their only source of income for the whole year.  And then the number of stone houses that have been demolished is countless.

But then Cyprus is not the only victim of British Colonialism.  The policy of divide and rule prevailed, causing havoc wherever they were and whenever they left.  Palestine is still reaping the evil effects of the  original sin of the Balfour declaration in 1917, without even as much as an apology to  the generations who have been suffering due  to that declaration, and its effects since the Nakba of 1948.  An ongoing Nakba indeed, especially that  more recently, the number of our young men who are being 

Until when can this go on?  Will the United Nations and the  International  community continue to accept the justification that Israel has the right to defend itself, and that criticizing  Israel for its atrocities in the Palestinian Territories is considered  antisemitic?  Enough is enough, and let us call a spade a spade.