“Vote-Giving”? – No Thank you. We Choose LIBERATION

Nahida Izzat, Exiled Palestinian

A Jewish “Israeli” man messaged me to inquire why am I opposed to the idea of what he calls “vote-switching”. This is my response.

The idea of “vote giving” is a pathetic one, in so far that it is primarily ineffective, and what is more it gives YOU, “Israeli” Jews, the impression that YOU are being “helpful” and “generous” by “giving” us “something”, on the other hand it stages Palestinians in the most undignified position at the receiving end of the occupier’s “charitable” deed. While in reality it is mere vacuous bubble, smoke in the air:

1) It gives the fake impression of legitimacy to an entity which is in reality ILLEGITIMATE, an attempt to “beautify” and “democratize” that which is heinously ugly and fundamentally undemocratic.

2) It is a form of normalization, where Palestinians under occupation and in exile are hoodwinked to believe that “they are voting”, when in reality they are “voting” in a system and for a system that is oppressing them.

3) “Giving” us YOUR vote CHANGES NOTHING ON THE GROUND, no matter how wild your imagination is, you know as much as I do that the outcome of such ridiculous move is NOTHING:

a) in terms of election results; knowing that you can only chose between two evils: evil and “lesser” evil as it is the case in all Western “democracies” but on a much deeper and worse level in the Zionist entity.
b) in terms of how “honest” are those “Israelis” who will vote for you as a Palestinian (not much confidence there).
c) in terms of the number of “Israeli” Jews who would be sooooo “generous” as to “give” us their vote. you know how pathetically insignificant your numbers are, no need to pretend otherwise.

4) If we really want to achieve REAL CHANGE on the ground, one needs clearly defined aims and objectives. My objective, which is irrefutably, the objective of the majority of Palestinians is the LIBERATION of Palestine. What is yours?

5) We are sick and tired of being told what to do to achieve our goals, what is good for us, how to resist, what should our future be like, or have occupiers vote on our behalf, we especially sick and tired to hear from those who caused our Nakba in the first place, YOU Jewish “supporters”. If you really are sincere in your desire to help, you really need to learn to be HUMBLE for once and accept to sit in the back seat and let the only LEGITIMATE Nation of Palestine DECIDE for ourselves without your “supervision”, “mentoring” and “steering”. You are NOT God’s “chosen”, your are NOT “superior” human-beings, NOR are you intellectually “superior” than anyone else. Our future is NOT entangled with yours because you have made a mess in an entire region of the world for almost a century in ever greater murderous genocidal criminality. Individually and collectively Jewish “Israelis” are accountable for past and ongoing Crimes Against Humanity. Legally and Historically you will have to bear the consequences. The “golden times” of warmongering, land theft and assassination of children will soon be over.

6) We need ACTION that brings CHANGE not just symbolic gesture which makes YOU feel good, while leaving us stagnating, like rabbits running till exhaustion in a cylinder only to stay still…
It is exactly like you coming to help building a demolished house only for it to be re-demolished again and again and again and again; useless “action” of alleged “resistance” only to deplete our time, energy and resources and achieve NOTHING on the ground but the illusion of “victory”.
If your really want to help then, go all the way and do the REAL STUFF.

7) The REAL STUFF is NOT a “Kum ba yah” song, oh let’s hug each other then miraculously your bullets would molest our babies less aggressively, your bombs would fall softer on our heads or our decades of excruciating pain of exile would suddenly taste sweeter. We do NOT need a “vote” from an “Israeli” OCCUPIER to elect another “Israeli” OCCUPIER, what we need is REAL ACTION of goodwill and sincerity that proves to us that you are genuinely sorry for what you have done and willing to put things right, i.e:

a) Total disengagement with the Zionist entity, abandon the so called “Israeli” citizenship, and think of ways to stop the illegitimate illegal flood of Jews who have nothing to do with Palestine.
b) If you really so love the land and so hate the crimes committed and so hate injustice, you can apply for Palestinian citizenship.
c) Work within the International Legal system to help Return all STOLEN LAND and PROPERTY and to facilitate the RETURN of ALL refugees.
d) Participate, collect information and help facilitate Law-suites against “israeli” criminals whether soldiers, settlers or outside collaborators, promoters and financiers.
e) Work within YOUR communities world wide to bring change in their supremacist attitude and criminal behaviour (for financing and supporting criminals)
f) Work through legal avenues to REVOKING ISRAEL’S UN MEMBERSHIP. The racist genocidal occupation entity, which was in breach of UN Charters, which has violated and defied more UN resolutions and charter principles than any other. This illegitimate entity has no moral or legal ground whatsoever to be a member of the UN. Its membership is a disgrace on the face of humanity and a mockery of International Law. Israel’s UN membership should have never happened in the first place.

8) Insisting on squeezing the Palestinian struggle to fit the apartheid model of South Africa or black America is a double whammy:

Firstly, presenting the Zionist entity as a normal state with a few apartheid policies that can be changed is fundamentally false:

a) what is happening in Palestine is NOT mere segregation and apartheid, what is going on is ethnic cleansing, wiping a country off the map and slow genocide.
b) Racism in the “Jewish state” is ideological, grounded in “sacred” texts, cultural practices and the inherent concept of “chosen-ness”, unlike South Africa in which racism was a momentary convenience, reflecting opportunistic fulfillment of self-interest of a white minority.

Secondly, when activists are intoxicated with the deceptive mantra of “Equal rights, One State, Two People”, offered as the best formula and ideal model of solution rather than other successful models of Liberation, such as Algeria for example, that means the they participates in whitewashing and rewarding the century-ongoing Zionist crimes, such paradigm gives a lee-way to the thriving of an illegal genocidal expansionist racist entity. Such solution would mean blessing the EXPANSION of “Israel” and granting the Zionist occupier a comprehensive and “peaceful” take over, and unrestricted control over our land and our lives.

Like North America, South Africa was conquered and subsequently ruled by white Europeans several centuries ago, i.e. BEFORE International Law adopted through the Nuremberg Principles right after WW2, explicitly prohibited land acquisition through military conquest, and clearly defined Crimes Against Humanity, amidst them Wars of Aggression and Conquest , Genocide and Instigation of Wars & Crimes against peace, and War crimes to be the worst categories of crimes. All the latter Crimes having been, and still are in even worse manner, perpetrated by Jewish Israelis.

Furthermore, this “one-state, two people” approach fully ignores the unbalanced premise of the reality on the ground, and the implication such proposal would have – namely the finalization of the aims of the racist, expansionist and exclusionary Jewish Nationalist experiment called “Israel”. It would de facto annex all residual Palestinian post-1967 Bantustans, and attach them to what would inevitably be “Israel” no matter what convoluted name would be attached to. Because indeed, there is no need to be a rocket scientist to know full well who would keep the arsenal, who would keep the apparatus of power, judicial, military, executive, financial, etc.

All the while the demand granting equal rights to all, includes supremacists and invaders who have no historic or legal rights to the land, who are still flocking to Palestine as we speak, armed to the teeth by their support networks in US-America, in other words, these are active dangerous psychopathic criminals.

Zionist Jews did not come to Palestine with olive branches to begin with, they did not come with peaceful intentions of co-existence with the indigenous population. They gushed in like savages, terrorizing unarmed peaceful farmers and land tenders, they tortured and imprisoned, they came to destroy, “cleanse”, conquer and dominate.

A century on, their racist ideology, their use of terror, and their abominable psychopathic behaviour has only intensified, and drastically. The vast majority of that artificial “society” -and for very specific supremacist ideological reasons- are unwilling/ incapable of viewing the “other” as equal and over the passing of time they have shown to be unwilling to become modest or peaceful , let alone remain peaceful.

Would any decent human-being force a mother to marry the murderer of her child?

Would any decent human-being find it acceptable to force a child to live with his paedophile abuser?

Would any decent human-being accuse these people, child and mother of “immorality” or call them “unrealistic” for refusing to tie their future with their abusers?

Through the delusional “Equal Rights, One State, Two People” proposal, the FACTS ON THE GROUNDS would remain unchanged, and probably aggravated, since these FACTS, stock and barrel, would remain in the hands of SUPREMACISTS.

This is NOT a solution.

“Israelis” who claim to have understood the role of their community in the CREATION and CONTINUATION of Palestinian Nakba, those who claim to be disgusted with the crimes of their society, those who say they feel remorseful and repentant, if they are indeed honest, then the least they could do is to show some signs of sincerity, meaning to show the desire and determination to correct the mistakes of their “people”.

Only then their victims may investigate the fragile alleys of forgiveness or punishment. The victims should have the last say irrespective of what their judgment might be, they should not be vilified, indicted or moralized with, for they have suffered more than enough for almost a century.

The emergence of forgiveness and reconciliation requires certain conditions:

1) Stopping the crime
2) Admitting of guilt
3) Asking for pardon
4) And most importantly rectifying the wrong

None of these conditions are ever considered as an option amongst that mighty sick racist Zionist society as a collective.

Those very few individuals who show some support for Palestinians are rarely, if ever, able to accept even the return of refugees. They NEVER go beyond calling for “equal rights”. i.e. they NEVER go as far as total RESTITUTION and REINSTATEMENT of ALL PROPERTY and RIGHTS to the dispossessed Palestinians.

Morally blinded (by self interest) and submerged in dishonesty (due to the conflict of interest) they pretend not see that such approach is fatally flawed from its inception. For it equates between AGGRESSORS and VICTIMS. It ABSOLVES the CRIMINALS from being PROSECUTED by LAWS of JUSTICE, and it ABSOLVE them from GIVING BACK REAL ASSETS of LAND and PROPERTY.

If Jewish “Israeli” peace activists fails to see the lopsided morality in such approach, then they need to go back on their knees for some self-reflection and pray to see some light that might help restore their humanity.

In my entire life, I have met ONE, only ONE EX-”Israeli”, who calls himself Palestinian Hebrew. He vehemently rejects “Israel” with all its aggression, violence, theft and supremacy. He took the most admirable stance by imposing exile upon himself even though he was born in a settlement near Al-Quds/ Palestine, because he MORALLY REFUSES to BE PART of that RACIST CRIMINAL SOCIETY.

Such is my brother, such is a person of moral rectitude who is worthy of Palestinian citizenship upon liberation of Palestine.

Make no mistake, the fate of Palestine will be a sign of what International Relationships will be in the future. By failing to liberate Palestine, we forfeit International Law, and that unambiguously opens the gates to an abyss. Any predatory group equipped with some military, would be vindicated to conquer and destroy whatever they want, wherever they want, on the primitive basis of military force. Basically a staggering regression back into the Stone Age methodology, expanded globally by contemporaneous weaponry’s range and effect, which is biocidal,and instantaneous.

In conclusion, in this war-ridden era it has become a matter of acute urgency and prime importance, that Nations reconvene as a Community, to fulfill its responsibility to Restore International Law, as well as to affirm universal principles of ethics, in order to stop the bloodshed and destruction of our beautiful planet, by stopping predators and warmongers by all means necessary.

The following are the aims of most Palestinians,

FULL LIBERATION of Historic Palestine. The Holy Land must be free from racists committing atrocities. A way must be found, to bring reason to the Holy Land, and there is no other way than to evict foreign criminals. Keep in mind that before the invasion by Jewish foreigners, Palestine was characterized by the harmonious coexistence between respectively a Palestinian Muslim majority, a Palestinian Christian minority and a Palestinian Jewish minority. To restore this harmonious cohesive fabric is the only way forward.

FULL SOVEREIGNTY of the Palestinian Nation over their ancestral country: Palestine, with a constitution and a political system of their own independent choice. For the sake of International Peace and Security.

PROSECUTION OF WAR CRIMINALS, plans of which should start without delay, A Palestinian JUDICIAL and IMMIGRATION System, will respectively prosecute former “Israeli” criminals and their associates, and/or grant or decline on an individual basis, a Right to Remain, based on criteria solely to be defined by said Immigration and Integration Services. Anyone who can prove non-participation in the ex-Israeli occupation apparatus, and who has demonstrated ability and willingness to a respectable and law-abiding conduct, will probably obtain a chance to gain unrestricted Palestinian citizenship, with equal rights.

RETURN, RESTITUTION and COMPENSATIONS: Palestinian refugees have the unconditional Right of Return. Palestine and the Palestinian Nation at large, are entitled to full and unconditional Restitution of their land and property whenever possible, assorted with appropriate Compensation for more than seven decades of deprivation and slow genocide, Cultural destruction, and a whole array of atrocities and usurpation. .

Now, the question is:

Would you or any “Israeli” Jew be interested to join us in our struggle for LIBERATION as one of us, as an EX-”Israeli” and a future Palestinian?
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Nahida Izzat: "I am -Jerusalem born- Palestinian refugee living in exile for over 40 years. I was forced to leave my homeland, Palestine at the age of seven during the six-day war. I am a mathematician by profession but art is one of my favourite pastimes, I love hand-made things, so I make dolls, cards, and most of my own clothes. I also write poetry, and participate in dialogues with known and unknown friends as I believe that communication is the first step of understanding, I believe in building bridges not walls. My shy nature hinders me from public speaking, so I try to compensate for my shortcomings by writing! I started writing about three years ago when my friends insisted I should write about my memories, experiences, and my feelings as a Palestinian. So I self published two books (I Believe in Miracles and Palestine, The True Story) [Biographical information: Growing Gardens for Palestine]
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Article posted here: Poetry for Palestine.
Map: alarabiya.net. More maps: Palestine Remembered. Photo: Getty Images
URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2013/01/17/vote-giving-no-thank-you