We are Palestine. We will not stop fighting for freedom

Much has been said about the conflict in the occupied territory of Palestine since decades ago.

Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
Opinion - New Straits Times
May 23, 2021

Recently, the matter took the world stage again. All sides are making justifications, the latest and most significant one was at the United Nations Assembly.

However, there are wide discrepancies with the "facts" presented when framing the situation. Some omitted intentionally or otherwise due to propaganda.

In this regard, it is interesting to read the views of Norman Finkelstein, a renowned professor from Princeton. In 2015, he wrote a paradigm-shifting book, Method and Madness — The Hidden Story of Israel's Assaults on Gaza.

I am Palestine. You came to a land allegedly without a people for a people without a land. My people, who happened to be here, had the right to be here, but you showed them that they had to leave or die, razing 400 Palestinian villages to the ground, erasing their history.

I am Palestine. Some of your people committed massacres and later became prime ministers. In 1948, Menachem Begin was in charge of the unit that slaughtered the inhabitants of Deir Yassin, including 100 women and children.

In 1953, Ariel Sharon led the slaughter of the inhabitants of Qibya, and in 1982 arranged for your allies to butcher about 2,000 in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. (More recently, the al-Shita refugee camp in Gaza was illegally bombarded.)

I am Palestine. You carved in 1948 78 per cent of me, dispossessing my inhabitants and replacing them with Jews from Europe and other parts of the world. While natives, whose families had lived on this land for thousands of years, are not allowed to return, your people from all over the world are welcome to instant citizenship.

I am Palestine. In 1967, you swallowed what's left of me — East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza — and placed the people under oppressive military rule to send the message that they are not welcome and they join millions of Palestinian refugees in shanty camps in Lebanon and Jordan.

I am Palestine. With the power to control American policy, your American Israel Public Affairs Committee can make or break any politician of its choosing.

All the forces of the world seem powerless against you, including the UN, as you have the American veto to block any condemnation of your war crimes. As your Sharon so eloquently phrased it, "We control America".

I am Palestine. Your influence on American mainstream media will always find the news in your favour. Your millions of dollars in investment in public relations and CNN, the New York Times and others have been doing an excellent job of spreading your propaganda.

I am Palestine. We want to negotiate "peace", but you cunningly deceived us. While you let us have our municipalities, you control our borders, water, airspace and anything else of importance.

As you "negotiate", you swallowed our hilltops and filled them with settlements populated by the most extremist of your extremists, armed to the teeth. These settlements will connect to roads we cannot use and we will be imprisoned in little Bantustan-like areas between us, surrounded by checkpoints in every direction.

I am Palestine. You have the fourth strongest army in the world, possessing nuclear weapons. Our children can only confront your oppression with stones, knowing very well that your soldiers won't hesitate to blow their heads off.

In 11 days, you have killed more than 200 of us and injured many more, mostly civilians, and have the mandate to continue since the international community remains silent. You ignore, as you do, the hundreds of your Israeli reserve officers who are now refusing to carry out your control over our land and people. Their voices of conscience will not protect us.

I am Palestine. We struggle for freedom against your bullets, tanks, missiles, Apaches and F-16s that obliterate us. You have placed our towns under siege, confiscated our land, uprooted our trees, demolished our homes, but we still demand freedom.

Have you gotten the message? We will never stop fighting for peace or freedom, because we are Palestine!

The writer, an NST columnist for more than 20 years, is International Islamic University Malaysia rector

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times