ميرون إلى غزّة.. لـ: أمل كعوش

أمل كعوش

شباب السفير– 2 حزيران 2010

ميرون اسم قريتنا في قضاء صفد الفلسطيني. وميرون هو الاسم الذي حملته ذات الجديلتين في رسوماتي.
العام الماضي قدمتُ لموقع حملة «غزة حرة» رسماً لميرون على متن مركب يسيّره شراع على شكل خارطة الوطن المحتل. وفي تشــرين الثاني الماضي من العام 2009 وصلتني رسالة من غريتا برلين، وهي من مؤسسي حركة «غزة حرة»، تطلب أن تكون ميرون وشراعها على قمصان المشاركين في الحملة على متن مركب راشيل كوري.
صباح أمس الأول حمل لنا وللعالم خبر الاعتداء على قافلة الحرية.
لكن الموضوع حمل بعدا شخصيا أكثر هذه المرة، وإن علمت لاحقا أن ميرون لم تكن قد انضمت إلى القافلة بعد. فالإسرائيلي لا يحتلّ ميرون القرية فحسب. بل منع أن تصل ميرون الصبية إلى فلسطين.
كان مقدرا لميرون أن تلتقي بغزة، ولم تصل.
ما لا يعلمه المحتل هو أن ميرون تركض كل يوم على شاطئ غزّة، وترفع «طيارة ورق» في الهواء تحمل شعاراً واحداً: فلسطين حرة.

The urgency of this moment

Radhika Sainath, The Electronic Intifada, 3 June 2010

Protesters take to the streets in New York City one day after Israel's raid on the Freedom Flotilla

When evidence emerged that a North Korean torpedo sank a South Korean warship in disputed waters two months ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly condemned the attack. Clinton demanded that Pyongyang “stop its provocative behavior, halt its policy of threats of belligerence towards its neighbors, and take irreversible steps to fulfill its denuclearization commitments and comply with international law.”

The US government, in turn refused to condemn, chastise or even nudge Israel into the boundaries of legality after its deadly attack on a humanitarian ship flying the Turkish flag in international waters on 31 May. Elite Israeli commandos boarded the vessel, Mavi Marmara, which was part of a six-boat, Freedom Flotilla of approximately 700 humanitarian workers bringing aid to to the besieged Gaza Strip, in the pre-dawn hours and killed at least nine passengers and injured dozens more.

A massacre is not a massacre

Ghassan Hage, The Electronic Intifada, 3 June 201

Occupation is not occupation (Anne Paq/ActiveStills)

I don’t write poems but, in any case, poems are not poems.

Long ago, I was made to understand that Palestine was not Palestine;
I was also informed that Palestinians were not Palestinians;
They also explained to me that ethnic cleansing was not ethnic cleansing.
And when naive old me saw freedom fighters they patiently showed me that they were not freedom fighters, and that resistance was not resistance.
And when, stupidly, I noticed arrogance, oppression and humiliation they benevolently enlightened me so I can see that arrogance was not arrogance, oppression was not oppression, and humiliation was not humiliation.

I saw misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp.
But they told me that they were experts in misery, racism, inhumanity and concentration camps and I have to take their word for it: this was not misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp.
Over the years they’ve taught me so many things: invasion was not invasion, occupation was not occupation, colonialism was not colonialism and apartheid was not apartheid.

They opened my simple mind to even more complex truths that my poor brain could not on its own compute like: “having nuclear weapons” was not “having nuclear weapons,” “not having weapons of mass destruction” was “having weapons of mass destruction.”

And, democracy (in the Gaza Strip) was not democracy.
Having second class citizens (in Israel) was democracy.
So you’ll excuse me if I am not surprised to learn today that there were more things that I thought were evident that are not: peace activists are not peace activists, piracy is not piracy, the massacre of unarmed people is not the massacre of unarmed people.

I have such a limited brain and my ignorance is unlimited.
And they’re so fucking intelligent. Really.

Ghassan Hage is professor of anthropology and social theory at the University of Melbourne.