The wall, 8 meters high and 1000 kilometers long, snakes around and infringes deep into Palestine. It divides and cuts off families and communities. Anything in its path is bulldozed, razed to the ground and eventually confiscated as Israeli property and territory.
Farmers, literally at the mercy of the Jewish Occupation Force, find themselves confronted with checkpoints established on their own lands; Access to their now divided farms is via a militarized gate in this apartheid wall. The arable soil upon which generations of Palestinians have been nourished and raised is scraped bare, rendered non-cultivatable and in its place a concrete monstrosity is erected. The hundreds year old olive groves of pastoral villages are methodically uprooted by the JOF as the construction of this wall surges ahead.
As the wall continues to carve up the lands, the livelihood and dignity of the population, pockets of Palestinians in once pastoral communities such as Masha, Jahalin and Jayyous have mounted campaigns to prevent its construction. In the village of Jayyoush, on Feb 6th, 2009 immediately after Salatul Dhour, a demonstration by a group of about 200 youth resulted in the Jewish Occupation Force invading the village, firing teargas and rubber bullets into the crowd, wounding several of the demonstrators.
This is but a daily occurrence. It is a struggle of a people under occupation. Generations upon generations are born and bred in a place where ordinarily there would be hopelessness and despair. But for these people hope and patience is all they have. For over 60 years their struggle have been borne by the blood, sweat and tears of each passing generation. With the construction of the Apartheid wall, this struggle has taken on a greater sense of urgency. No Apartheid wall will deter them from their rightful possessions.
Whilst the community of Jayyoush wage their campaign against the wall as they best know how to do, we in the West far removed and insulated from their struggles do what we do best. We offer words of support without even trying to understand or educate ourselves on the issues. From time to time, whenever the struggle intensifies as is the case with the Israeli military campaign against Gaza we summon the courage to be more vocal and offer monetary assistance.
On February 8th, a very cold and wintry evening, in the Northwest corner of Toronto far from the death and mayhem that punctuate the daily lives of Palestinians, an event was held to raise funds for the people of Gaza. This event was organized by a coalition of ten Masajid within the Greater Toronto Area.
The organizers must have been very proud of themselves as the attendees and speakers list included several members of Parliament and Liberal Party activists. Within this group there were three women representatives of the Federal Liberal Party of Canada. These women were afforded the privilege of being seated on the right section of the elegantly decorated hall.
As the audio visual clips were shown and speaker after speaker paraded the podium and as the evening dragged on, one of the recurring themes that resonated and gained traction was Apartheid.
Whilst the organizers and politicos paid lip service to the Palestinian cause and struggle and railed against the Israeli occupation and Apartheid they did so whilst being extremely naive, ignorant and hypocritical.
Upon entering, women in Hijab were herded like cattle into the left section of the hall, separated from their husbands and male relations by an 8 meter wall running the length of the hall. Not only were they deprived of being having the dignity to sit with their families, they could neither see nor hear the speakers. The lustful gaze of men shall not fall upon the faces of women in Hijab. In the right section of the hall, Muslim men were allowed to feast their eyes upon the three women among the dignitaries.
Ignorance compounding ignorance!
Did these idiots ever gave a thought of how insulting their very own Apartheid wall would be to the Palestinian cause? Or of the impression that would have been created in the minds of their political dignitaries? It would be safe to assume that the Politicians were not invited because they have a track record of being generous donors. They were invited to gather support for the Palestinian cause. Sadly, by erecting their very own Apartheid wall, the organizers demonstrated a depth of ignorance and abject disregard for the Palestinian struggle. Moreover, it demonstrates the abysmal backwardness that is all too common with the old guard who fail to realize that their time has long past them by.
The Sami Yusuf song “Not in my name” wafted in the background on my drive home. Disgusted and enraged at the inflexible rigidness of ignorance I mused, “Not in my name”. YOU will not pay lip service for any cause on my behalf. YOU will not use me for your hypocritical comeuppances and grandstanding. Palestine does not need your money. Take it and educate yourselves.
Jay Mobeen
jaymo
that’s horrible……
may Allah have mercy on us, for what we allow to happen to our women… and may He Most Generous guide us to that which is more pleasing to Him.