2011: Palestine's turn
By Hoda Magrid
I have grown up my whole life witnessing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I have never known it to be anything else but a conflict and the so called ‘peace process' that many people have looked to for help has proven to be only a process and nothing else. For many years, I have attended protests, speaker panels and fundraisers for Palestine. While I still continue to do so in college and I know and have faith that Palestine will be liberated, I have started to wonder what else we can do to help the Palestinians. May 15, 2011 will mark the 63rd anniversary of the 1948 Naqba ("catastrophe" in Arabic): the creation of Israel and the disposition of thousands and thousands of Palestinians. 2011 is the year that the Palestinian occupation must end. There should not be a 64th anniversary.
The Israeli government has tried to justify it's actions for too long. Although their justifications often work, many people are not fooled. Israeli's military occupation of Palestine and it's settlement constructions are recognized by the world to be illegal under international law. Various leaders of the world have condemned Israel's actions including the great Nelson Mandela who has referred to Israel's occupation as an ‘Apartheid System' drawing similarities to the South African Apartheid.
Why then are they not being held responsible for their actions? What gives them the right to control the Palestinians and strip them of their autonomy and sovereignty? Why has this continued on for so long? These are questions that I ponder everyday and they are questions that the Palestinians themselves ask as they continue to live under occupation.
Even though Israel continues to enforce it's strict laws and regulations on the Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank, we can see their government is being challenged more and more every day. This is evident by recent events such as criticisms of the retraction of the Goldstone report, boycott of Facebook's removal of the "Third Palestinian Intifada," announcement of another flotilla to Gaza from Britain, as well as the renewal of Divestment Campaigns on various college campuses.
As the May 15 date approaches and talk of Third Intifada (uprising in Arabic) spreads, the Israeli government is taking stronger actions to resist these uprisings from the Palestinians and their international supporters. Just last week, 20 Palestinians were killed, over 50 injured, and many arrested by yet another Israeli Military airstrike on the southern Gaza strip as well as Gaza City. This past Thursday, April 14, Vittorio Arrigoni, an International Solidarity Movement journalist and human rights activists was murdered in Gaza. Alongside American Rachel Corrie and British photographer Tom Hurdnall, Arriigoni is one of the many prominent activists who have lost their lives fighting the occupation.
2011 has proven to be the year of Revolutions in the Middle East. Voices that were once silenced are now heard. Justice and freedom were restored and the oppressed were liberated. From Tunisia to Egypt to Libya and Syria, people are standing up and fighting for their rights.
Unlike the freedom fighters of Egypt and Tunisia, the Palestinians however do not have the ability to stand up for themselves. They need a strong united voice to represent them because they can't do so alone. As 2011 progresses and revolutions spread, it is time to express our voices for the Palestinians and revive the International Solidarity Movement. It is our obligation as conscious individuals of the world to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians in resisting, and hopefully ending the Israeli Occupation.
Hoda Magrid is a junior biology major.