A Double War

Donning a Free Palestine badge has invited many an interesting reaction from strangers since the last Gaza crisis. The prevalent question is usually, ‘are you Palestinian?’, but it’s the accompanied look that is most curious; an awe-full look one would give a fantastically endangered species of beast. Like the man behind the cash register at the grocery store just encountered a unicorn.

The answer is always ‘no’, even though Mahmoud Darwish’s poetic use of Turkish coffee as a sign of Palestinian resistance, in his Memory for Forgetfulness, attests to a shared heritage that runs thicker than blood. In the spirit of this moment, however, we’ve all become Gazans -a notion with which I have a personal issue, along with the ability of Facebook culture to jump the bandwagon of capitalising on the plight of the Palestinians. Add to this my pet-peeve over the coinage of term ‘Gazan’, in the light of Israel’s efforts to eradicate Palestine off the geopolitical map. Clearly, the activist enthusiasm of late has been huge, but to what end we are yet to find out.

Now, in the hype around the U.S Presidential visits to the Middle East, that sentiment is mixed with the gleeful hopes of an ever growing Obama fandom in the Muslim world. “He’s the messiah”, a friend retorts with sarcasm, alluding to said fandom, because the sensible majority does not fail to remain realistic. That is why ‘hope’ is the term I chose to use here and not ‘expectation’. Doubtless, Barrack Obama is being given an attentive ear, more so than any other U.S president of the past. And why not?

Consider the strong public aversion towards what has become the object of shameful military ventures and political strategies which have crippled America’s economy. The recent bankruptcy of General Motors alone could easily have validated the Middle East visits to be cut short. And yet for Obama to pursue the decision to engage with the Muslim World in such a climate is not only refreshing but very significant, particularly in light of his decision to carry out his address in a Muslim country.

Yet despite this effort to change America’s former rhetoric and right the wrongs his administration inherited, the peace initiative Obama has been working at over these last few weeks has already proven Israel’s unwillingness to cooperate. The general feeling then is not one which has been holding its breath for the presidential address in Cairo (and what a great address it was), but one which is keen to find out what steps Obama will take when Israel eventually says ‘nay’ to a two-state solution.

Furthermore, in his efforts to maintain an approach that is apparently fair to both sides, Obama may in fact be fighting a lost cause. A two–state solution is, after all, not in the interest of the Israeli state, and as for the Palestinians, it is not justice in any shape or form. Rabbi Ahron Cohen, of Neturei Karta, which is the international organisation of Orthodox Jews United against Zionism, stresses that a two-state solution is not the way towards peace. “What we need is the complete dissolution of Zionism,” he says, alluding to the eradication of the apartheid government of South Africa, to highlight that when enough people stand against injustice, miracles can happen. Rabbi Cohen goes on to maintain that only under a single state can Muslims, Christians and Jews live together, and not merely exist in the direst sense of that word. And what better than a long history of peaceful, interfaith coexistence, which extends from Andalusian Spain to the Holy land itself, to demonstrate its workability?

In an attempt to conclude a topic which knows no resolution or closure, I can only appeal to wishful thinking. Yet until the Middle East is witness to a great miracle, Palestine faces the danger of losing the essence of its significance in the process of serving as kindling under the pan of any Tom, Dick or Harry who decides to cook up a foul stew. Its people today, struggle to survive a double war; one which threatens their lands and their lives; and another which threatens their very meaning. How relevant still was Darwish’s feeling two decades ago, when he spoke of his countrymen as the defenders of their meaning against a pacification of history, and said: ‘Hallowed be your hands, you, clutching the last stone and the last ember.’