On strange encounters with the other side
You know how sometimes, someone just hands you a blog post/content on a silver platter?
The other day I decided to use a coupon Yousuf got from the local library and take the kiddos to a local play place called Playwise Kids. It is pricey, even with the coupon, so we decided to take full advantage of our time there and spend the afternoon there.
I noticed a woman with two young boys there too, around our kids age. I noticed her because she was continuously casting cautious glances at me, which I tried to ignore nevertheless. Eventually we ended up in the same corner-with the kids stacking large Styrofoam bricks into a make-believe house (insert comment here about whether a toy truck demolished the make-believe house…).
Now, me being me, I often like to shatter people’s stereotypes or presumptions or whatnot of what I might sound or look or act like right off the bat. So without thinking twice, I start a conversation with the otherwise reticent, fearful woman.
“How old is he?” I asked of her older child, who was playing with Yousuf.
“5 1/2″ she replied, somewhat wearily, with a grimace plastered to her face.
Ignoring her body language, I continued “tall for his age, eh?”
“Yes, he takes after his father”
“Where are you from” I asked, detecting an East European accent
She hesitated a moment, put her head to the ground and blurted out “from Israel -PLEASE DON’T KILL ME”
Stunned, I replied without hesitation “And.. why exactly would I do that?”. I immediately pondered all the smart replies I could have made, but decided to stay composed.
Clearly uncomfortable with the situation, she nervously asked “well, where are you from?”
“Gaza” I said
“Well, see, that’s why” she declared, as though this single fact clearly explained her irrational, racist outburst.
I pretended I didn’t hear that and went on.
“My parents just came from there you know last week. Took them 4 months of trying and 4 days across the border.”
“Oh why is that?” she responded blankly
“Be-cause of the siege?” I asked both dumbfounded and unclear whether she was just stupid or ignorant or both. “You do know Gaza is under illegal Israel occupation and siege?”
“oh, still? I thought that ended?”
“Still going strong, I’m afraid”, briefing her on the situation much to her disinterest.
More silence.
“You know its funny, I’ve never met a Palestinian my whole life. Not to mention one from Gaza. Funny I should have to travel half way across the world to meet one.”
Gee, I wonder whey that is, I thought to myself.
I then directed her to my blog. She responded with terrified little nods and finally withdrew, saying she wanted to get something for her younger son from the cafeteria and leaving her older son behind. She watched cautiously from afar, making sure I guess I wouldn’t take him captive or something.
Looking back, I don’t think I would have said or done anything differently. There are always thing we wish you could have said-like, not all Palestinians/Muslims/Arabs bite; or, shouldn’t it be ME whose afraid of being killed given the Israeli track record of violence against Palestinians-1300 in one month!
But it was Ramadan, and I was somewhat restrained with my blood sugar so low; I suppose I also always want to make the point that we-Palestinian/Muslims/Arabs since she was clearly lumping us all together-have no problem with Jews, only illegal occupation, house demolitions, land theft, and so on; A friend of mine in Nazareth once told me her grandmother put it to her like this: While we were serving our new Jewish neighbors tea and labneh sandwiches in 1940s, they were stealing our land.
I have very little patience for feigned or real stupidity when it comes to what’s happening in Palestine, particularly by the occupiers. Its one thing if you really don’t know what’s going on, but Disengagement and willful blindness to a reality you create and support is quite another.
As many of you know, I twittered about the encounter, and asked for the best replies to the woman. I’m going to mention a few here of my favorites here:
KABOBfest: “Usually people get really scared when they see my horns and my tail. You’re lucky I dress modestly.”
jillylovsdurham said: Tell her you’ve been hunting down local Israelis one at a time. You even brought your kids to use as human shields!
digitalgypsy said: Act like Renfield. Claw-like hands, hump-backed limp “MMwa-a-a-a”.
magicspin said: “Scared of me? I get that a lot. All that pesky grief & emotional turmoil are so hard to hide”…*smile*
shamz82 said: yes…RUNNNN..
norabf id you ask her if she was about to steal your home and bomb the playground?
mushon said: respond to Gazaphobic Israeli women: “Kol Haolam Kulo, Gesher Tzar Meod. Vehaikar, Vehaikar – Lo Lefached Klal’ (a hassidic song (very known in Israel and the whole Jewish world) by the Rabbi from Braslew that says: “The whole wide world, is a very narrow bridge, and the most important thing, is not to fear at all”)
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08/27/2009 at 8:09 pm
How can you blame them for being scared when there are “pro-Palestine” (really just anti-Israel) people like the woman in Florida who see nothing in screaming out things like, “go back to the oven!”?
And even people like you, rational and educated, who on your blog (back in 2007 if I’m not mistaken) wrote “suicide bombings, blah blah blah.” Even to you, it doesn’t matter when Israelis die, it doesn’t matter that maybe a baby died in that “suicide bombing, blah blah blah” because the baby was born in Israel proper. I’m not saying that there hasn’t been a gross injustice to the Palestinians, but you are no different than thug Lieberman when you completely ignore that there are three generations of people in Israel who have grown up with war, threats of extermination, and growing hostility, who had to worry about the supermarket (or pizzeria) being bombed while they were inside, and wish that they would just “give you your land back.” This is why there is no peace. No one wants to come out and recognize the other person’s humanity. Not you, and not “Gazaphobic Israeli woman.”
08/28/2009 at 2:50 am
I’m sorry, but you must have stumbled upon one strange Israeli. Never met a Palestinian before?!??!?! Are you sure she was from Israel?
We live with Palestinians on a daily basis. Try going to a regional clinic or a hospital in Israel. Palestinians are well represented in the staff (and of course, among the patients too). I guess you came across an extremely healthy woman
I’ve had Palestinian teachers at school (a Jewish school). There were Palestinian students in my classes at university. How can anyone live here and not meet a Palestinian ever? I’m baffled.
And Pamela made a good point too. It’s not like Israelis aren’t constantly demonized in the Palestinian and Arab media…
08/28/2009 at 5:57 am
Pamela, I find it really offensive when people say things like “you are no different than thug Lieberman”. There is no equality of violence on both sides. There hasn’t been a suicide bombing for years, and in the Gaza war 13 Israelis died and 1300 Palestinians died. So don’t tell me that when Israel kills thousands and Palestine barely manages to inflict a wound that there are “two sides” in this war. Or that Hamas is no different to Likud, or any other of those crazy ‘both sides as bad as each other’ statements.
But seriously, comparing Leila to Avigdor Lieberman is more than a little absurd, no?
“No one wants to come out and recognize the other person’s humanity.” – Really? So talking to a stranger who is giving you evil looks isn’t recognising someone’s humanity. Please don’t impose your stereotype on Leila. She is a woman who – despite everything her family has been through – is STILL able to recognise an Israeli woman as a human being worth the time and respect to have a conversation with.
08/28/2009 at 1:51 pm
Is her reaction so surprising? People are often afraid by whatever/whoever they don’t know. Especially when their brain is fed by so many lies.
What is really surprising, as israelimom wrote, is that she had never met any Palestinian in Israel while they represent something like 20% of the population, don’t they?
An eastern european accent? Maybe she moved recently to Israel and havs not met many Palestinians yet…
Maybe she simply did not want to see them or she took them for Sepharadi Jews from e. g. Morocco.
08/28/2009 at 6:08 pm
I too find the story very difficult to believe. For one, I have a hard time imagining an Israeli who never had contact with a Palestinian, and second, to demonstrate such a knee jerk fear reaction is exceptionally unusual. But, if I am to accept the story at face value, it does fit a basic belief of mine that stupidity knows no boundaries, and that Israel has its share of idiots too.
I would highly recommend that anyone reading this story understand that if it is true, it is highly atypical behavior.
08/28/2009 at 9:09 pm
Sasa – the suicide bombings stopped when Israel started building its wall. Before that, a Palestinian suicide bomber could literally walk into Israel and blow himself up. (It also had the very unfortunate side effect of further depressing an already VERY depressed economy.)
There is no equality in the number of dead simply because there aren’t the same quantity and quality of weapons available to both sides. If Hamas had heat-seeking missiles instead of Qassams, I don’t doubt (and I’m sure you don’t doubt either) that they would use them. The fact that they don’t (because they can’t) doesn’t mean that there aren’t two sides to a war, and it certainly doesn’t mean that there is no war.
And I’m sure you can also recognize that this portrayal of the Israeli woman (who did nothing to help herself, of course) is written with the perhaps subconscious intention of making her into a caricature. Laila didn’t go over and talk to her because she recognized her humanity in particular, but because she wanted to “investigate” why the woman was giving her fearful looks.
08/29/2009 at 4:32 pm
Some people really are clueless.
Selamat Ramadan, Leila
08/29/2009 at 5:46 pm
I think it’s rediculous that an Israeli woman had never seen or met a Palestinian before. I find that hard to believe. As for being scared? I’m kind of on the fence about that one. If I were in a play place like you were at, with kids, and just sitting and talking, I would not be afraid. But after what happened here in NC where they arrested 7 or 8 people for being part of Al Qaida, I am definitely more cautious and I look around more-especially when I’m going to temple or Sunday school. It’s not something intentional. It’s just the unfortunate way things have become.
Logic tells you that there are “bad” people of every race, every gender, every religion-and that’s so true! But just like if I’m walking downtown at night and I see a black man walking next to me I’ll cross the street or get on my phone to talk to someone, I’m more aware of Muslims. When I go visit Israel I’m more aware-even more than here. I’m scared there, because I know what has happened. Stabbings, bombings, shootings… It’s not something I want to do or feel. It’s definitely not something I wanted to become. But fear is not something that can be controlled.
I’m sure that when Palestinian kids see an IDF soldier in uniform, they get scared. So when I see a Muslim in Israel (not so much here in the States) I get scared too. Sad that it has come to this.
But I’ll tell you this-If my son met a Muslim child at school and wanted to have playdates or get togethers, I would have no problem with it at all.
08/29/2009 at 6:42 pm
That’s almost funny. It was funny (if you weren’t my mom) when shortly after the Yom Kippur war I mortified her on a crowded NYC bus with the serious questions: “Mommy, if I see a Syrian, should I kill him?” I was 4 at the time, mind…
Yonit, Larry, Israelimom, et al – Totally plausible. Israeli Arabs y’all meet, somewhat, and it’s not like there’s lively contact. If they work there, you talk with them. I get looked at funny for having just regular conversation with the guys at the meat section at the supermarket where I shop. You encounter Arabs, sure, but you don’t actually meet them, most of you. ’67 Palestinians y’all hardly meet at all, and they sure don’t work at your doctor’s clinic.
08/29/2009 at 7:08 pm
nice blog and a strange situation you are telling in this post may be this woman is impressed by the israeli media that makes palestinian as a criminal instead of being the land owner and
the real victim ,and i have a comment @pamela : i think if israelis
worry about about the supermarket (or pizzeria) being bombed while they were inside that’s can’t be compared with a Palestinian mom can’t provide
food for her kids because of the israeli siege !
specially when u get that what the palestinians
do is a just reaction to stealing their land every day ,of course palestinians are not racist and what they seek is their lands,Holy places and a peacful life .
thanks
08/29/2009 at 11:56 pm
@Reem:
Both of the situations, the people afraid at the pizzeria and the mom who can’t provide food for her kids, are sad. Two wrongs don’t make a right. I wish that we could all live in peace. We did not steal land from the Arabs. And when the Arabs had a chance to develop land they didn’t-because their leaders did not provide them with money. Arafat, for example, had plenty. The Israelis have a tiny piece of land to call their own. Israel is surrounded by so many Arab countries…why don’t they take the Palestinians in? The Israelis have no where else to go.
And the victims? The victims are the kids on both sides who live in fear, and the innocents who suffer. Laila’s parents, for instance should NOT have had to wait for so many months just to get across to be able to come to the States. But this is the result of the terrorists who pretty much put a black mark on all Palestinians. I in no way believe that all Arabs or Muslims or Palestinians are terrorists. But the few who are are making it difficult for all the rest.
I remember growing up in Israel in the late 70s and early 80s. My grandparents had a store in the old city of Acre in the North of Israel. I hung out there all the time, and had lots of Arab friends. Now when I visit I’m scared to go into the old city. It shouldn’t be this way!!!
08/30/2009 at 12:56 am
Regarding not stealing the land so what do u call this ? -check the link-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/24/west-bank-east-jerusalem-evictions
and about why don’t the Arab countries take the palestinians in their countries that’s because
the palestinians are not going to leave their own land and home even if Israelis have no other place to go -as if you don’t have enough money you still don’t have a right to steal people- and of course we don’t want
to see any child killed or suffering but plz don’t act like
both the palestinians’ and isrealis’ children are facing the same danger as what you call the palestinians terrorists didn’t kill your children
with the White phosphorus bombs like israel did
last war .
and by the way i say palestinians are the victims as at least they are not
Occupying your land,building settlements over it
as well as threatening the holy places occupied in Al-Quds (Jerusalem).
we all seek peace but these israeli actions must be stopped if you seek it as well
thanks .
08/30/2009 at 2:55 am
@Reem – actually, they did kill my children. My son, specifically. Noah. And you’re justifying it? Comparing suffering? I think that’s pathetic. I could just as well say – the Israeli government has a siege on Gaza as a reaction to Hamas-encouraged suicide bombings and rocket attacks. What does that help? Nothing. We’re just back where we started. Two sides who suffer and can’t resolve it because nobody wants to take the first step and recognize the other’s suffering. Thanks for contributing to the pointless cycle of “let’s pin the blame on someone else.”
08/30/2009 at 2:58 am
And by the way, Reem, I didn’t go blow anything or anyone up because my son died. Nothing justifies hurting someone else to avenge your pain.
08/30/2009 at 8:40 am
i’m sorry for your son both ,all deserve peace
but the israeli injustice must be stopped first
if you and the palestinians moms as well seek peace for your children .
09/02/2009 at 6:03 am
To Reem,
About who stole land from who. What about the Arab’s/Muslims’s occupation of the Land of Israel for the last 1400 years? How about the Arabs expelling 1 million Jews from “Arab” lands in the 1940s and 50s? What about Gaza being Jew-free (and eventually the West Bank will be too) while 20% of Israelis are Arabs? What about the expultion of 100,000 Jews by Arabs from East Jerusalem (and other places) in the 1948 war?
And finally, what about the expultion (and massacre) of Jews by Arabs from Gaza, Hebron, Safed, Tiberius, Jaffa and many more places in the 1920s and 30s?
09/02/2009 at 7:52 am
The woman’s response was perfectly rational. The point, which I am sure that you deliberately evade, is this:
There is no historical trend of normally-dressed, normally-behaving, apparently civilian Israelis attacking civilian Arabs/Muslims in the Western world. You simply have no basis to expect her to attack you.
On the other hand, attacks my Arabs/Muslims on Jews/Israelis in the Western world are common. She can reasonably expect you to attack her.
09/02/2009 at 9:03 am
Interesting story Gaza Mom, it demonstrates the indifference and ignorance shown by the average Israeli to the suffering, ethnic cleansing and genocide carried out by the Apartheid State. I particularly liked the bit “I’m Israeli, please don’t kill me” as she was obviously unaware that the bulk of the killing is carried out by the IDF or Jewish terrorists referred to as settlers and that has continued for the last 60 years or so with or without “suicide bombers”.
Greetings also from the UK.
09/02/2009 at 5:38 pm
“Reasonably expect you to attack her”? Nice, speaks VOLUMES really!
My roommates and I got a huge kick out of it, thank you!
09/06/2009 at 3:05 pm
Leila,
You sound so like a robot spouting propaganda about Gaza being under “illegal” occupation that it is no wonder that the Israeli woman may have been afraid of you. You seemingly rely on your friend’s granny’s rendition of history rather than books, and expect to be taken seriously. Probably she just surmised that you’re brain-washed and saw no reason to talk to you… that’s certainly how I would have felt.
Do you not realize that the Israelis pulled out a number of years ago? To the last person. And in response, do you not remember the rockets that your pathetic government, on your behalf, was and is shooting at Sderot? Does not the possibility that kindergarten children there may be hurt bother you?
Haven’t you heard of Gilad Shalit, who your government kidnapped three years ago, keeps under illegal terms as a POW, and uses to extort from the Israelis your criminal compatriots?
And as to your complaints about “sieges” and your parents’ slow passage to wherever, even you have recognized in your blog that the Egyptians have played a large role in it…. why blame the Israeli woman?
You say that “Please don’t kill me” is an irrational, “rascist” outburst, while thinking this woman is somehow responsible for “illegal occupation, house demolitions, land theft, and so on”, this while condescendingly forgiving her for being a Jew?
No wonder she wants to wash her hands of you. Remediation seems impossible.
09/07/2009 at 5:40 am
I find it amazing the way Jews wail on about this Gilad Shalit, only last month 417 Palestinians were kidnapped by the Apartheid State.
The fact remains that statistically this Jews woman was far more likely to kill “GazaMom” than vice versa by a factor of at least 8 to 1.
If Israel wants peace let the Jews return to Israel, an Israel that is internationally recognised , and by Hamas, to the pre-1967 land grab borders.
The Palestinians and Gazan in particular have made many attempts of peace, for example in 2005/6 there was a period of 17 months when not a single rockets, little more than fireworks, was fired at the Apartheid State but during that time over 400 Palestinians were murdered by Jews.
The genocide carried out in January by Israel was carried out despite the fact the Gazans observed the ceasefire. So please no more fictitious “victim” claims from the Jews. The Palestinians have a right to defend themselves against continioous genocide and land grabbing.
09/08/2009 at 8:08 am
“Seething”
Laila didn’t get her knowledge of what’s happening in Gaza from someone’s granny or books. She’s from there – grew up there – has family still there. She has witnessed the occupation with her own eyes.
And about Israel “pulling” out from Gaza when the settlers left? Ha. That’s when they tightened the borders, did sound barrier breaking flyovers in the middle of the night every night,(bad enough to cause heart attacks, miscarriages, and unending fear), continued their policy of targeted assassinations (even taking out entire apartment buildings when targeting just “1″ person) – and then it got worse. And then it got worse again. And then the Gaza “war” happened which was nothing more than one of the strongest armies in the world massacring an unarmed civilian population.
It’s a prison of a million and 1/2 people. Plus there are the 10,000 political prisoners in Israeli jails. Gilad Shalit is 1 Israeli. 1 vs. 10,000 vs. 1.5 million under siege. You do the math.
afp
09/08/2009 at 4:58 pm
@Michael Uk
Your use of the word Jews is very bothering. When talking of the Israelis, the Zionists, or whatever you’d like to call them – refer to them as such. It was not “The Jews” who murdered 400 people in 2005\6, it was Israelis. The woman is not “Jews woman” – her being Jewish is not relevant, it’s about her being Israeli. “no more fictitious victim claims from the jews”? WHO are you talking about?
09/09/2009 at 3:56 am
@Gil
I prefer to simply use the word “Jews”, we can’t be sure that the genocidal maniacs in the IDF are all Israeli, Jews from all over the world volunteer to serve with the IDF for a number of weeks, we can’t be sure they are all Zionists. What we can be practical certain of is that they are all “Jews”.
Call it “collective punishment” if you like but until Jews all over the world carry a collective responsibility for what is happening the situation is not going to change. Not that the Jews can really complain about “collective punishment”, did they care one iota whether they were killing members of Hamas or just plain civilians when they launched their unprovoked genocidal actions in Gaza in January? Of course not.
“Jews woman” was actually a typo it should have read Jewish woman and of course it’s relevant to what is being discussed here.
09/09/2009 at 12:41 pm
To Ann F Perry –
Are you claiming Israel did all these acts for no reason? You wrote a very emotional note. Perhaps now you wish to balance it with some facts?
Larry
09/09/2009 at 4:29 pm
QUOTE “Are you claiming Israel did all these acts for no reason?”
Even Jews are rational up to a point, the reason was ethnic cleansing, an attempt to drive the Palestinians from their homeland and to reduce the Palestinian population.
09/09/2009 at 7:31 pm
Michael, your response is irrational. There was no need to withdraw Israeli communities from Gaza in order to create a siege. In fact it would have been easier to cut off all supplies from Gaza with a permanent presence in the Gaza strip. And, if the goal is ethnic cleansing by Israel, what would be the end result if not re-population by Israelis?
So, since your premise is completely self contradictory, there must be some other reason for a siege on Gaza by Israel after the withdrawal of Israeli communities from the Gaza strip. Or perhaps it is a purely emotional issue as Ann F Perry seems to suggest? Perhaps Israeli leadership suffers from hormonal imbalance creating the worlds worst case of PMS?
Surely there must be someone out there who can propose some facts? Once again, a call to all rational people to see if anyone can think of a factual reason why Israel imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip after withdrawal of all Israeli presence.
Larry
09/10/2009 at 5:27 am
Well Larry I would certainly be interested in your own theories, frankly I find you confusing in regard to “withdraw Israeli communities from Gaza” since Gaza is clearly not Israel. Then you mention “cutting off supplies FROM Gaza”, not sure which papers you read.
It’s really not rocket science, what happened in Gaza in January and indeed what is still happening today is an attempt by the Apartheid State to totally clear the Palestinian State of Arabs/Muslims and declare it a part of “Greater Israel”.
The only thing restraining Israel from doing that with further massive genocide is an attempt to protect their false “victim” image with the western world. There’s only so much Jewish terrorism the world is prepared to accept.
But what is happening in Gaza right now, the attempt to terrify the non-Jewish population in the hope they will leave, combined with daily atrocities against civilians, and a slow encroaching land grab is nothing new. It’s just a continuation of what the Apartheid State has been doing since at least 1948
09/10/2009 at 1:28 pm
Michael is right. Ethnic cleansing is the primary motivating factor in all that Israel does in the occupied territories. And your argument makes no sense whatsoever.
“In fact it would have been easier to cut off all supplies from Gaza with a permanent presence in the Gaza strip.” Huh? How so?
I’m sure you are fishing for the propaganda line. You know. Self defense from all those rockets being fired at Sderot. Those homemade rockets make a hole in the ground about 3′deep by 4′ wide (I will find a link to video that proves it). It’s terrible that sometimes people get hit, but you really have to be standing right where the thing lands to get hurt by it. It’s just not the same thing as firing real bombs from F-16′s or drones, which happens more frequently than the homemade rockets coming from the strip.
Where would you like me to start on the facts. Just this topic – the Gaza “war” last year? Or how about Lebanon in 06 and 1982 through 2000 (and all the other meddling and assassinations). Or the ’73, ’67, ’56, ’48 wars? Or resolution 242? Or the White paper? Or further back the Sykes Picot agreement vs. the Balfour Declaration vs. the promises made via Lord McMahon to the Arab populations under Ottoman rule in WWI? Or further back?
For now I’ll get you some links to back up what I said earlier but since I’m in the middle of my 44 hour work week, it’ll take a couple of days before I can post again.
Interested to see if you can explain yourself better though.
afp
09/11/2009 at 1:52 pm
@MichaelUK
First, just a few quick facts:
You have to be an Israeli citizen in order to serve in the Israeli army. A lot of them aren’t Jewish – about 1 million people from the former Soviet Union immigrated to Israel in the 90′s, about 300,000 are non-jews, either christians or atheists. Also you have Druze and Beduoin (different sectors of the palestinian society) serving in large numbers in the army. So actually, claiming that all the soldiers of the Israeli army is very far from the truth, and no – describing them as “Jews” is not accurate.
Secondly, could you explain why do Jews all over the world carry responsabilty over what the Israeli government is doing? Should I understand that you share the Zionist view that Israel is the representing tool of jews all over the world?
Would you demand from “the Muslims of the world” to “claim responsability” over the human rights offences being performed in Sudan, Iran or Saudi Arabia?
My stand is that no Jew should claim responsablity for what a state, where he is not a citizen, does. And the reason I am asking these questions is that I feel there is a very strong racist undertow in your writing. The link you make between Israel, who I criticize as harshly as you do (I think), and between this imaginary body of “Jews” is false and shows that you are influenced both from Zionist views and antisemitic views. When dealing with the Israeli oppression, talk about the Israelis.
09/15/2009 at 6:10 pm
Marhaba Ramadan Karim to all of you
I have relatives in Gaza and I can also relate to what the writer is saying. Thank you for taking this iniative. Lets not talk about the humanitarian situation (an antizionist anywhere will get a bunch of monkeys chaasing).
It´s not like there isnt enough denial and disagreement more then we actually have agreement and acceptance in this world. Its not like we understand eachother anyhow yet to see what each and other is going throw. The current leadership both in Israel and in the PA/Hamas/whatever is helping the the situation to improve for the palestinian people.
Though I think that the Israeli mom meant that its the first time she meets someone from the “other side” rather than meeting a palestinian and really if you think about it for three seconds…
That is what we need.
09/25/2009 at 2:21 am
Israel is an apartheid state in every sense of the word. Its policies and practices are designed to ensure that few if any Israelis ever meet a Palestinian in the normal course of events. This is why Israel has constructed an extensive system of segregated highways for Jews only connecting the settlements and Israel proper. If you want to comprehend what this means, just imagine that the U.S. interstate highway system was strictly for whites only.
One only needs to read Israeli newspapers to see how ignorant most Israelis are about Palestinians. The Israeli government has a conscious policy of fostering fear of terror from Palestinians whether it is justified or not (see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1116159.html -”The Gaza War ‘victory’ – Has Israel grown dependent on terror?” by Bradley Burston writing in Haaretz.).
Palestinians, on the other hand, have much greater interaction with Israelis (basically with Israeli soldiers, prison guards and police) since 10-12,000 of them, overwhelming civilians, are held in Israeli prisons at any one time and hundreds, including children, are kidnapped each month and held without charges. In contrast, only one Israeli, a soldier, is being held by Palestinians. One result of this is that Palestinians often speak Hebrew which they learn in prison (and English which they are taught in school) as well as Arabic, while most Israelis only speak Hebrew.
This follows the common pattern that the oppressed know more about the oppressor than vice versa as they have to to protect themselves. Thus, the reaction of the Israeli woman Gaza Mom met is not unusual. It is the product of a complex, complete and outrageous system of segregation which has condemned one people to living on the margin in increasingly smaller and cut off ghettos deliberatively created by the other.
09/26/2009 at 7:41 pm
I Grew up in jerusalem, and lived in many different parts of Israel, and (alas) also Palestine. fear and prejudice are a shared thread to both nations as both are scarred from their hostility, one would wager that if there was no fear and prejudice there would be no conflict.
that said… i find it unbelievable she never have met a Palestinian before, most certainly an atypical case in this regard. after all… if we ware so separated, solving the conflict would have been easier.
10/09/2009 at 5:48 am
Salam Allekum,
You could have asked if she read that in the Talmud, but I think you handled it appropriately.
I have two questions for you.
On the October 8th broadcast of Deutche Welle Radio carried on NPR the reporter mentioned that one of the arrested was a ‘suspected Islamist’. What do you think popular reaction be if a reporter said ‘suspected Judaist’ in describing an arrestee of Ashkenazi origin?
Mainstream media is still silent regarding thermate explosives residue found in 9/11 dust samples by several research laboratories. Do you think this silence is confirmation of government and media cooperation in yet another false flag operation or simply the mainstreams effort not to give the alternative media anymore popularity than it already has?
I hope you and your family are well. Peace.
11/20/2009 at 8:52 am
Thanks so much for this testimonial, Gaza Mom. And don’t let the callous Arab-haters on this thread get to you, or get you down. We so need to hear Palestinian voices in this country. The level of dehumanization of your people here in the US, specifically in the media, is absolutely sickening. The ongoing siege of Gaza and the intense Palestinian suffering it’s causing is a moral outrage, and it’s being facilitated by all of our taxpayer dollars!
Did you catch Moyers’ interview with Richard Goldstone a couple weeks back? I think an opening of discourse is slowly happening in this country. More and more Americans are slowly waking up to the wrong-headedness of our foreign policy, including in respect to Israel. But as the West dithers, Palestinians continue to suffer under occupation.
11/24/2009 at 2:29 am
Salam,
interesting blog and well done!
some people are just plain ignorant…nothing much you can do about it but you handled it well..fact of the matter is Israel is built on stolen lands and there are no two ways about it!
One day…hopefully sooner than later …Palestinians will have their country back….
Jawahir
01/17/2010 at 10:23 pm
since you make the point about the tea and such, i assume you would rather be friends really, but eh.. honestly i met plenty people who are scared over nothing, and your reactions would still scare those. i don’t blame you, i actually find it amusing, but thats with scared people, you can talk the truth to them only packed in velvet.” oh how terrible for you that you fear us so , when really almost none of us would make it a personal thing”.
i think she lied about not meeting palestineans before, and actually thought, see what a horrible and scary people palestineans are when they are not restrained, or perhaps : see i was right when i thought that scary woman might be a palestinean.
fear just completely wastes people’s sanity.
01/19/2010 at 7:35 am
Isn’t it interesting that the UN declaration that partitioned Palestinian land for Israel in ’48 is considered valid, while the same document is not valid for Palestine?
Why are incidents of Israeli terrorism not reported on? There have been many, even here in the US.