Bitter reality of this nation
What is more painful than when you are expelled from your own home, and, if you dare to question the reason for this expulsion, you get executed for raising your voice in defense of your rights. Unfortunately, such is the case in Palestine. What’s more is that I in my country cannot utter a word in defense of Palestinian rights and against Zionist atrocities without getting disrespectful looks.
On Saturday May 16th, people flooded the streets to mark the 67th anniversary of the Catastrophe – a day which Palestinians call the Nakba – when more than 760,000 Palestinian men, women and children were forced to leave their homes. 67 years of oppression. 67 years of American support for that aggression. 67 years of silence in the face of Zionist criminals.
When a Palestinian photojournalist is shot for covering the Nakba protests, and we, as citizens of Western countries, turn a blind eye out of ignorance or willful silence, we are as guilty as the soldiers who do the shooting. When the Zionist army opens fire on protestors and the media covers the event, but we in the West say nothing because we assume that it’s just another day in occupied Palestine, we are guilty.
Among other indignities, the usurpation of land, the harassing of civilians, the killing of protestors, and the destruction of houses are everyday realities that Palestinians have faced for almost three quarters of a century, and yet, our continuous support for the regime perpetrating these shameful crimes continues unhindered. At least 21 people were attacked and injured during the Nakba protests, but like the past 67 years no one will be held to account. Recently – and not for the first time – Zionist naval forces fired at Palestinian fishing boats, damaging the means by which Palestinian fishermen earn their livelihood, forcing them to return to their homes empty handed. Some families slept hungry that night. At the end of the day, the fact that Zionists have been gradually starving Palestinians for 67 years matters little to us, as long as we can go to bed every night with a full stomach.
Last month, a 17 year old was shot dead by Zionist police. His body was left in the street for over an hour. Like Palestinians, thousands of Americans have witnessed police brutality. The fact that Palestinians are brutalized by those who are charged with protecting the rights of innocents as well as maintaining security should enrage us, but it doesn’t. Why? Because we don’t care about Palestinians. We as Americans have sold our consciousness. Our corrupt government has enslaved the minds of this nation; we no longer know how to distinguish right from wrong. The Zionist entity commits crimes everyday but we have been led to live such lives where we cannot – or do not care to – sit down for a moment and analyze what’s happening in the world. Too many lives have been lost, too many homes have been destroyed. When are we going to wake up?
