Today is the 70th anniversary f the Nakba; the catastrophe. 70 years ago, Israel announced itself as a state on lands that has been raped and taken by force from Palestinians, Arabs lived there regardless their religion, Jerusalem was the capital for Jews, Christians and Muslims. 70 years ago, Zionists declared this land to be the land of Jews, thousands were displaced and homeless, people lost their homes, lands and families. 70 years of injustice.
Yesterday and everyday, around 2100 Palestinians were protesting in Gaza and West Bank calling for their rights. These mass protests started late March this year where the US president Trump announces the move of the U.S Embassy to Jerusalem “the Capital of Israel”. This caused rage in the Middle East as this is a direct declaration of disregarding the two state solution… Yesterday’s protests turned violent while the U.S. Embassy was formally relocated to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, on the 70th anniversary of the formation of Israel, the 70 anniversary of the Nakba. The formality and celebration created an almost surreal contrast to the violence raging in Gaza. At the end of this horrible day, 62 Palestinians, including several teenagers, had been killed and more than 1,350 wounded by Israeli gun fire.
Moving from one TV channel to the other, seeing what’s happening in Palestine made me go back to the project in Portugal. After 15 days of leaving Portugal, now I’m thinking “What’s the point?”. Human Rights Education and Awareness for schools and now in one day, one protest, 62 people cold-blooded gun shots took their lives away just because they were asking for the least of their rights, their right of LIFE! What’s the point of doing all these projects and programs, conventions and condemning and refusing this injustice when life itself is unjust. Palestine is no longer on the map. Palestinians are being abused and wronged every single day. The world knows but decides to turn the other way. The world sees but decided to act as if it’s not their problem. This is the Worlds problem. Every single person is responsible of this injustice, of each bullet shot that comes out of a gun, of every blood drop spilled, every person is a criminal for not calling out for other people’s rights.
I keep recalling one session where I was talking about my dad’s story, how and what he went through with his family, how he was an active young Palestinian who walked along thousands of other protesting and throwing rocks at the Israeli Military and how he was imprisoned for doing so, I was thinking what if his brother never forced him to go away from Palestine? What if he kept marching in the old streets of Hebron, his home city?
62 people killed, shot down. 62 people along with millions of others bled to death throughout 70 years of constant depriving of Human Rights. 70 years of a struggle, the struggle of the loss of freedom and unspoken justice. The struggle of the world’s silence and acceptance, the unwillingness to admit wrongdoing. This is the struggle.
Palestine does not stand for itself, it stands for every person that has been wronged, abused and mistreated. The survival of Palestine is a beacon of hope for others. As we are heading close to a century of struggle and oppression. the future generations should not be living the faults of the past generations intolerance and ignorance.
Palestine is not just a piece of land, Palestine is my identity that lives within me, the identity I was raised to love and appreciate, to stand up for and to cherish. You need not to be born a Palestinian, to be a Palestinian, you need to feel and stand for people, for human beings, for their rights, YOUR rights to be a Palestinian.
