by Joharah Baker
I can’t believe it almost slipped my mind. Walking up to Jaffa Gate with my kids the other day, I noticed an unusual buzz of activity where east meets west, just outside the large gate that takes a person out of the walled city. There is an open-air Israeli mall called Mamilla (eerily similar to Ma’man Allah, the nearby Muslim gravesite which Israel plans to build the tolerance museum over). The mall’s parking lot is even built on part of this cemetery, according to Waqf officials. Anyway, on the spacious plaza before one descends the stairs to the shopping area, booths, makeshift kiosks and a mobile zoo were set up for the hundreds of eager shoppers and frolickers that day. Just in the distance, blue and white balloons were bunched up and tied to a pole so as not to fly away and at least 30 Israeli flags blew in the brisk wind.
Oh yes, how could I have forgotten? This week marks the 61st anniversary of Israel’s independence. For Israelis this is a time of pride, of achievement and of celebration. There will be barbeques, concerts and speeches on the occasion. The country will be strung out in blue and white, with Israelis proudly boasting of its brave soldiers who took back the Jew’s “Promised Land.”
For those who don’t yet know, there is another chapter untold. The Palestinians, represent the dark side of this joy, the dirty hidden secret and the open and festering wound that will not heal as long as Israel does not recognize and make amends for their original sin.
For my children, the mobile zoo with all of its slimy reptiles, exotic birds and curious rodents, was a pleasurable experience. They walked around looking at the animals, at the children at play, happily babbling in Hebrew. They have yet to realize that these celebrations are about a country created and sustained at the expense of another people.
As for me, I was split down the middle. One part of me was happy that my children were happy, seeing things they would not necessarily experience otherwise. The other side could not feel but a sense of resentment. Ok, maybe it was not completely down the middle. If I am to be honest, the feelings of resentment and sadness were far more.
Looking at the Israelis rejoicing in their independence, I could understand how an outsider would see only that. They are a people like any other and to them, this is a country they fought for and rightly own. In this sense, they are no different than any other people taking pride in who they are. But just like the United States or Australia, hailed as leaders of the free world, there is a dark side to their independence. The Palestinians, the Native Americans, the Aborigines – we all share the same story, do we not?
In any case, I cannot celebrate Israel’s independence. There are 5.5 million Palestinian refugees – mostly descendants of the original 800,000 who were expelled from their homes in 1948 – who will not let me forget. One of the booths at the independence celebrations was selling T-shirts and trinkets calling for peace and coexistence. I stopped a second to look at the goods and I was impressed that there were Israelis there who did see the necessity of coming to a peaceful solution. But I was also acutely aware that coexistence can never really happen as long as the great injustice done to the refugees is not made right. We Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are not the only Palestinians and a solution to our problem cannot include only us. There are those who have waited for over 60 years for the international community to step up to its responsibilities and grant their right of return. Sidelining them would be sidelining any real chance for peace.
But as long as we’re talking about us Palestinians here, Israel has ensured their independence week is not very festive for us either. A tight closure on the West Bank has been imposed for three days, ensuring that no Palestinian “crashes the party.” Israel’s closures have increased in frequency as of late, which means thousands of lives are disrupted; people cannot get to jobs, work, family, appointments, or anything else inside Israel. As of May, Israel has announced it will register all those with Israeli permits coming in and going out of the West Bank into Israel to ensure no one remains “illegally” inside the country. God forbid, a West Banker should sleep in Jerusalem.
So, as Israel carries on with its independence celebrations, I would like to take a moment to remind everyone of just who really paid the price. The western world will congratulate Israel on its fabulous achievements, its fight against terror and its ability to “make the desert bloom.” In the meantime, we know there is more to the story. As long as there are Palestinians who continue to live under the yoke of Israel’s oppressive military occupation and Palestinians who are forced to live a life of refuge away from their homes and their land, Israel’s independence celebrations will remain a painful reminder of what we are forced to endure, each and every year.
- Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Program at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mip@miftah.org. (Published in MIFTAH – www.miftah.org)
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