قلم / محمود درويش – من كتاب حيرة العائد 

كانت ايام حرب غزة كتير عصيبة السنة الماضية. كان الغضب بيعترم الشوارع الأردنية. كان عندنا شعور بالقهر و الظلم. و عرفنا انه الشعب الفلسطيني كان ضحية للعبه سياسيه قذرة، متعلقة بالإنتخابات الإسرائيلية

نحنا اخترنا نجمع أكل و ملابس لأهل غزة. و يمكن الطريقة اللي اشتغلنا فيها هي دليل على انه مقاومتنا هي مقاومة الضعفاء! (رح أكتب أكتر عن نظرية مقاومة الضعفاء بمقال تاني بس مش مهم. وضعنا اعلان على حبر انه اللي بحب يتبرع، بيقدر يلاقينا عند كوزمو.) و اتفقنا ننقل الأغراض بسيارة نسيم لبيته، و نطلب من مجموعة من اصحابنا يساعدونا، ونسهر طول الليل نرتبهم بأكياس.

و يا ليلي

اللي ما حسبناه، هو قوة الضعفاء اذا اجتمعوا. مئات الناس اذا مش الاف جاؤا يتبرعوا بأكل و ملابس، و عشرات الناس ما بنعرفهم من الشارع و قفوا يحملوا معنا أغراض و يساعدونا بتحميل الأغراض.

استبدلنا سيارة نسيم ب16 شاحنة من ارامكس، و الأكياس بكراتين من نقل. و زدنا على مجموعة اصحابنا مئات من المتطوعين استبدلنا ليلة السهرة للشغل بثلاثة أسابيع من السهرات، و بيت نسيم بمستودع على طريق المطار. كنا كتير ننبسط لما نعرف انه الغرض اللي بنترتبه اليوم، بعد بيومين بصير بغزة. كيف بنعرف؟ كنا نعلّم الأغراض، و الناس يتركوا رسائل دعم في الكراتين ، و بطريقة أو بتانية قدرنا نتصل بالشخص المسؤول عن استلام المساعدات بغزة و بتأكد.

بس بعدين بدأ النهب على الطريق و انحرق المستودع… و عشان هيك انا بسميها مقاومة الضعفاء! بس مرة تانية مش مهم… المهم انه كان في حراك في الشارع الأردني.

و بمناسبة الحديث عن الحراك، هذه مجموعة من الفيديوهات من ايام غزة مأخوذة عن من الأردن

11 كانون الثاني هذه كانت تظاهرة فنية، تضمنت برنامج كتير مؤثر فيه موسيقى بالات مختلفة، و شعر بالعربي و الإنجليزي.

9 كانون الثاني – هذي في الرابية، اقرب مكان قدروا المتظاهرين يقربوا للسفارة الإسرائيلية. قرروا انه بدهم يعملوا

اعتصام مفتوح لحد ما يطلع السفير عن الأرض الأردنية

8 كانون الثاني- اعتصام للقوى الشبابية والطلابية أمام المفوضية الأوروبية احتجاجاً على موقفها من الهجوم على غزة

هذه المظاهرة بدأت عند الدوار الرابع و انتهت عند السفارة المصرية. كان الموضوع غضب على مصر عشان معبر رفح. بس الأهم من هيك هو انة الرئيس المصري كان في اجتماعات مع اسرائيل قبل الهجوم

هذه أنا بسميها مظاهرة الفيس بوك، كانت في الشميساني، بشارع الثقافة و ضمت المظاهرة رسامين و فنانين. هم ساعدوا في تحضير اللافتات اللي حملوها المتظاهرين. كانت المظاهرة كتير خلاقة

I started the day thinking about something else… I realized that I was no longer putting myself in the shoes of that Gazan girl while she is going through a moment between the world of sleep and the world of the awake. Last few weeks, I would imagine myself at that moment when realization rushes back. At the moment when she would know that she was 160 cm when was driven into the Shifa’s hospital, but became only 80 cms when she woke up… she does not want to acknowledge it. So she pretends that something isn’t happening when it is.

Today, I realized that I am moving into the next chapter, but the Gaza chapter left an empty space in my life. This makes me wonder about those guys and girls who spent last 7 weeks of their lives with us in the warehouse… I wonder how they feel about suddenly having a lot of time on their plate, but even more, I wonder about their reasons for spending those chunks of their days at the warehouse? What pushed them to drive all the way to Al Qastal to work there?

I guess these questions made me think of a book I read while I was finishing my MA… at that time I was completely taken with it… it is called weapons of the weak by a thinker called Scott. I have previously written about it… but here I find myself thinking about it again. The theory in this book is that human beings revolt against the inequality and injustice of life by every day hidden forms of resistance when they can’t do much to change their realities.

I always felt that inordinate attention has been paid to open resistance, and too little to ordinary, everyday forms of resistance and their symbolic and ideological underpinnings.

I completely believe that resistence was one of the reasons these youngsters came. By showing up day and day out there,

by challenging the weather, defying the cold, rebelling against parents and ignoring the Israeli changing rules on daily basis, these youngsters  resisted the tyranny of Israel and the hypocrisy of the world… it would have been much easier to sit in an argeeleh place frustrated, or to simply stop caring…but the freedom of the human spirit is beyond our comprehension. These youngsters kept on returning against all the odds!

For the second time around, I realize that the concept of absolute power will never exist, because no matter what, human beings are free… and as long as we have an intangible spirit and an unidentifiable instinct… no one entity can achieve absolute power…

Words fail to describe my feelings… so I won’t say anything…

This is one of my favorite poems.. Marcel Khalifeh turned it into a song… It is so  harsh yet so tender… 

تصبحون على وطن
عندما يذهب الشهداء الى النوم أصحو
وأحرسهم من هواة الرِّثاء

أقول لهم :
تُصبحون على وطن،
من سحابٍ ومن شجرٍ،
من سراب وماء

هل كُلُنا شهداء؟
وأهمس :

يا أصدقائي اتركوا حائطاَ واحداً،
لحبال الغسيل،
اتركوا ليلةًَ للغناء

اُعلِّق أسماءكم أين شئتم فناموا قليلاً،
وناموا على سلم الكرمة الحامضة
لأحرس أحلامكم من خناجر حُراسكم
وانقلاب الكتاب على الأنبياء
وكونوا نشيد الذي لا نشيد له
عندما تذهبون إلى النوم هذا المساء

أقول لكم :
تصبحون على وطنٍ
حمّلوه على فرس راكضه

وأهمس :
يا أصدقائي لن تصبحوا مثلنا …
حبل مشنقةٍ غامضه !

Mawtini
My homeland, My homeland
Majesty and beauty, sublimity and splendor,
Are in your hills, are in your hills

Life and deliverance, pleasure and hope
Are in your air, are in your air
When will I see you? When will I see you?
Secure and prosperous
Victorious and honored
Will I see you in your eminence
Reaching the stars, reaching the stars?
My homeland, my homeland

My homeland, my homeland
Our youth will not tire, until your independence
Or they will die, or they will die
We will drink from death and never be to our enemies
Like slaves, like slaves

We do not want, we do not want
An eternal humiliation nor a miserable life,
An eternal humiliation nor a miserable life,
We do not want, but we will bring back
Our illustrious history, our illustrious history
My homeland, my homeland

My homeland, my homeland
The sword and the pen not the talk nor the quarrel
Are our symbols, are our symbols
Our glory and our covenant and a duty to be faithful
Arouse us, arouse us

Our honor, Our honor
Is a noble cause and a waving banner
Is a noble cause and a waving banner
O, behold you in your eminence
Victorious over your enemies
Victorious over your enemies
My homeland, my homeland

مَــوطِــنِــي مَــوطِــنِــي،

لجـلالُ والجـمالُ والسَّــنَاءُ والبَهَاءُ

فـــي رُبَــاكْ فــي رُبَـــاكْ،

والحـياةُ والنـجاةُ والهـناءُ والرجـاءُ،

فــي هـــواكْ فــي هـــواكْ،

هـــــلْ أراكْ هـــــلْ أراكْ،

سـالِماً مُـنَـعَّـماً و غانما مكرما سالما منعما و غانما مكرما،

هـــــلْ أراكْ فـي عُـــلاكْ،

تبـلُـغُ السِّـمَـاْ تبـلـغُ السِّـمَا،

مَــوطِــنِــي مَــوطِــنِــي

مَــوطِــنِــي مَــوطِــنِــي،

الشبابُ لنْ يكِلَّ هَمُّهُ أنْ تستَقِـلَّ أو يَبيدْ،

نَستقي منَ الـرَّدَى ولنْ نكونَ للعِــدَى، كالعَـبـيـــــدْ كالعَـبـيـــــدْ ،

لا نُريــــــدْ لا نُريــــــدْ،

ذُلَّـنَـا المُـؤَبَّـدا وعَيشَـنَا المُنَكَّـدا، ذُلَّـنَـا المُـؤَبَّـدا وعَيشَـنَا المُنَكَّـدا،

لا نُريــــــدْ بـلْ نُعيــــدْ، مَـجـدَنا التّـليـدْ مَـجـدَنا التّليـدْ،

مَــوطِــنــي مَــوطِــنِــي

مَــوطِــنِــي مَــوطِــنِــي،

الحُسَامُ و اليَـرَاعُ لا الكـلامُ والنزاعُ،رَمْــــــزُنا رَمْــــــزُنا،

مَـجدُنا و عـهدُنا وواجـبٌ منَ الوَفا،يهُــــــزُّنا يهُــــــزُّنا،

عِـــــــزُّنا عِـــــــزُّنا،غايةٌ تُـشَــرِّفُ و رايـةٌ ترَفـرِفُ،

يا هَـــنَــاكْ فـي عُـــلاكْ، قاهِراً عِـــداكْ قاهِـراً عِــداكْ،

مَــوطِــنِــي مَــوطِــنِــي

Now let’s try to keep an open mind about this whole interview, there were both positive and negative points in the interview. To start with the positive, she really displayed a lot of courage in saying what no one else dared say. Lets imagine a scenario, a non-Muslim western woman in the Hyatt in Amman,  this imagined lady lost her partner and the love of her life with the explosions… would that person go having positive ideas about Muslims?… lets think of the same scenario in a house in Palestine, where a missile just hit the house and a Muslim visitor has lost her partner and the love her life… would she think positively of Jews?

What I am trying to say is that we Muslims should not fall in the trap of double standards that we condemn all the time… people of the world do think badly of us Muslims. Is it fair? I can’t answer this question… I know that my blood boiled when I heard about the explosions in Amman.

What this Syrian doctor has achieved is made me realize how the world thinks of us Muslims… Now, I know this is not the truth about us, and many Muslims know that Islam is not a violent religion, on the contrary a religion that has showed mercy and leniency all through history. The prophet words were about mercy and leniency, but really is this the case in today’s picture of Islam? Many of her arguments were really and truly valid… her bitter criticism of all these holy people who interpret Qura’an  and say that the murders are justified in the name of religion. Her argument was that in today’s world, Islam which is the religion of a billion people in a world of six billion plus divides people into true believers and infidels, and are called to fight until all people believe, which makes Muslims stand alone in isolation against the rest of the world.

Now to the negatives.  Dr. Sultan did not make any distinction between Islam and Muslims, which I found not fair, what Muslims do, does not reflect the spirit of Islam, especially that these are a minority. She kept mixing national identities with religion in a non-balanced way.  I believe the provocative bit comes from the comparison she made between Muslims and Jews, because her facts were neither accurate nor fair.  are we talking about the land or about the religion?  These are completely different stories. “The Jews have come from the tragedy and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling.”

Is this really true? Would the millions of Palestinians s in Diaspora agree with this? Those who were killed and raped and tortured and thrown out of their lands and houses… would they agree? What about the crying and yelling? Please…. What is the massacre most celebrated in the world? How many massacres happened through the history of the world? How many out there would know about the Rwanda genocide for example vs. how many know about the Holocaust?

Another example is when she said: “We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people.” This made me wonder where she has been living the last 50 years.
Maybe they did not blow themselves up, but that does not mean they did not kill people or destroy holly places… as a matter of fact,  there are several events that come to my mind without even thinking; the massacre of Hebron to start with… then the 1200 Islamic mosques that were destroyed in Palestine.  Among the historic mosques that were converted to synagogues or restaurants and bars are Yaquque mosque in Tiberias turned into Hibaquqeu synagogue, Abu Huraira mosque in Ramleh turned into Jamli’el synagogue, Wadi Hunayn mosque also in Ramleh turned into Geulat Yesrael synagogues….etc.
In conclusion, regardless of what she said, I think she would have been a winner if she was more diplomatic in what she said, and if she was fair.  I remember my dad used to tell me as a child, when you are right, you are never afraid… and if we Muslims believe that we are right, we should never be afraid of being questioned,  and we should argue smartly… I insist on smartly, because in this interview the people who were debating were noton equal pace with the doctor.

Teta is one of the most intelligent people I have dealt with in my life. And even though I had serious issues with her growing up, I cannot but admire this very tough lady.  She is pushing me to go for a masters degree and told me that she had to leave school at 11 because back then,  it was not very well viewed for girls in her social class to go to school…

She got married at 14…

One day my grandfather, a very strict man, came home and found her reading a magazine….

Ohhh boy!

What a fit he threw, he told her if he ever, in his lifetime, saw her reading a book again, he was going to divorce her.  She challenged him” Then, I will have to wait till you die to go back to school!!!”

She could never forget that. After he died, and when the mourning period passed, my grandmother got dressed one day, and went to a nearby literacy school…  She enrolled herself in a class. And went there on a daily basis till 8^th grade.

Honestly, she does not read much, but she says that it made her feel very proud to say she can pick up a book, the Qur’an usually,  and be able to read it on her own.

What my grandmother has done with her very simple means is simply amazing.  She managed to built a house in Jabal al webdeh with money that she saved one penny at a time… She was there, helping the men building, she was there carrying and supporting and working, since my grandfather was really sick at the time….

She could not rest, till all her daughters received the proper education, she thought they deserved. She fought for their education, despite of everyone who told her that it was shameful.  She married them off to men she chose for them (with their consent) she did not allow the family to control her daughters’ fate.

She made a promise to have all her sons study medicine… she sent them abroad, and suffered of deprivation and hunger and sadness… but managed to fulfil her holy promise.

My grandmother is one of many Palestinian women, who have been through a lot to rebuild their shattered lives…they all managed to do it with their simple means…

I always admire strong  capable women, and when look around me, I realize I am the surrounded by  strong women… and I just want them to know that I am very proud of them all

In the few hours I have been here, it seems to me the only thing people are talking about is Arafat. No wonder, it IS a very important issue. Since I came across an article called Palestine: facing the unthinkable in Arab News on November 5, issue. And in the spirit of what everyone is talking about, I actually would like to share the contents of the article. I thought it is very interesting.

Basically it starts by telling us about Leila Shahid’s (Palestinian envoy to Paris) tearful declaration of not being able to imagine life without Arafat, and takes us into a short tour about how we would have been way better if we imagined life without him ten years ago!

The setup is Madrid Conference 1992. The writer Amir taheri tells us how the Palestinian delegation was presented for the first time by a modern, moderate delegation (Haidar Abdul shafi, and Faisal al Husseini) that could not be labeled as extremist or terrorist. This delegation was presenting the normal average and most of the Palestinian people. They did not want people to die for “the cause” so that they are remembered in some poems recited by Palestinian all over the word in their intellectual gatherings. He explains to us how for us Palestine became only an abstract cause, not a concrete problem that affects the lives of real people.

The Israeli delegation became uncomfortable dealing with this genuine Palestinian delegation that represents the real people and not the “cause” so they opened a back channel with Arafat, who was isolated in Tunis because he had sided with Saddam Hussein in invading Kuwait. Arafat was feeling that he needed money and attention, and since Israel offered him both, in exchange of taking part in the charade, he was ready to sign anything to get back into the world. The rest is history.

Anyone wants to talk about anything else? How is the weather again?

My Grandma was telling me that back in 1948 on the day they were evacuated, she was making marmalade and left the pot boiling on the stove because they were going back in couple of hours. The marmalade goes on boiling till today. A neighbor of hers, and in the confusion of the situation has left one of her 7 kids sleeping there… the little boy goes on waiting in his little bed wondering when is mommy coming back. And then I understood why people like her refuse to watch this show. These same people refuse to go back if the door is opened because they are too frightened to see what happned to the palestine that lives in their hearts. Murred Barghouthi wrote a beautiful book about this very idea called I saw Ramallah

Obviously, this is absolutely nothing, compared to all the lost dreams, and crushed hopes and the misery you hear when you talk to a Palestinian family still waiting in some refugee camp.

One of the best books ever written about the Palestinian history is a book called the Iron Wall, ironically written by Avi Shlaim who happens to be an Israeli Jew. (I am not going to go trough the difference between Israeli, Zionist and Jew. For people like my Grandmother it is the same thing). Another good lawyer for our case would be Edward Said. Any of his books is great.

It saddens me that the situation changed from living in Palestine to Palestine living in us!