Tuesday, February 21, 2012

MISSING, NOT PALESTINIAN GANDHI BUT INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.



by Gulamhusein A. Abba

“Palestinians who have adopted non-violent forms of resistance are ignored.
Khader Adnan, who has yet to be charged with any crime, who has gone nearly
two months on hunger-strike, is still not ‘Gandhi-enough’ for the New York Times;
his selfless protest against the administrative detention of himself and other Palestinian detainees has garnered little sympathy from the West’s laundry-list
of non-violent enthusiasts” – Roqayah

“Israel denied Khader any fairness or decency, but maybe the rest of humanity
will show more mercy.” -- Randa Adnan, the wife of detained Khader Adnan


Many are the times the question “Where is the Palestinian Gandhi” been asked. And many are the times an answer has been given. The latest deserves attention. Appearing under the name of Roqayah the following appeared on February 16,2012 at  http://frustratedarab.com/2012/02/16/where-is-the-palestinian-gandhi-and-other-stale-adages/  At the end of the article are links to  four excellent articles on the subject. 



Where Is The Palestinian Gandhi?
And Other Stale Adages
by Roqayah Chamseddine
February 16, 2012

Protests calling for Khader Adnan's release have been held across the occupied West Bank and in Gaza City [REUTERS]

Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?  The non-violent heroin, the passive resister? The Palestinian who withstands blow after blow from Israel’s industry of occupation, yet refuses to strike back?

It is a fairly popular brain-teaser tossed around amongst orientalist’s; the Thomas Friedman’s, Nick Kristof’s and other backseat taxi-cab reporters.
The Palestinian prophet’s of peace are many. They have been jailed, taken captive by Israeli forces in the darkest of hours, routinely denied due process by Israeli courts, shot at close range with tear-gas canisters, rubber bullets and live ammunition. Their villages have been ransacked, their homes occupied by Israeli settlers armed and often trained by the Israeli military. Palestinian non-violent resisters have gone on hunger-strikes, most recently of which was Khader Adnan, who is entering his 61st day on hunger-strike, who lays emaciated, dying, and chained to an Israeli hospital bed.


 “Protests have been held to support [Khader Adnan] around the world,” writes Nathan Stuckey, of the International Solidarity Movement:
“Hundreds of Palestinians have joined hunger strikes in solidarity with him.  Today, in Beit Hanoun, we marched in solidarity with him.  We gathered by the half destroyed Beit Hanoun Agricultural College, we passed out posters of Khader Adnan, we raised the Palestinian flag, and we set off into the buffer zone.  Above us were three Israel Apaches, a drone, and an observation balloon, in front of us was a giant concrete wall with towers full of soldiers, and a jeep and a tank on a hill.”

In the village of Bil’in, a Palestinian village struggling to avoid being ethnically cleansed, Abdallah Abu Rahmah was convicted in an Israeli military court of incitement and “organizing illegal demonstrations.” Israel has annexed close to 60% of Bil’in, destroying much the villages olive groves and resources, and the villagers remain defiant in spite of Israel’s colonial ambitions.

In Sheikh Jarrah, a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem where Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of protesters, demonstrations are held against Israel’s routine house demolitions, discrimination and evictions:“On February 13th, 2012 at 7:00 AM, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, accompanied by the police, demolished a Palestinian community center and playground in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan.”

Palestinians who have adopted non-violent forms of resistance are ignored. Khader Adnan, who has yet to be charged with any crime, who has gone nearly 2 months on hunger-strike, is still not ‘Gandhi-enough’ for the New York Times; his selfless protest against the administrative detention of himself and other Palestinian detainees has garnered little sympathy from the West’s laundry-list of non-violent enthusiasts.



Yet this is not a plea for understanding or sympathy. The Palestinians are not looking for a feature in the mainstream media, nor are they sitting on their hands pleading for you to understand; they continue to withstand Israel’s apartheid with dignity regardless.

As Khader Adnan and thousands of Palestinians like him face imminent death inside the walls of Israel’s prisons and behind the wall’s of Israel’s brutal occupation we should ask instead: Where is the international community?

Randa Adnan, the wife of detained Khader, still holds on to the hope that her husbands struggle will not end in his death:
“Israel denied Khader any fairness or decency, but maybe the rest of humanity will show more mercy.

About the author:Roqayah Chamseddine is a US based Lebanese-American journalist, commentator and international activist; she was a member of the first Gaza Freedom March which took place inDecember of 2009 in Cairo, Egypt.During the winter of 2010-2011 she independently documented the lives of men, women and children living in the Palestinian Refugee Camps of Lebanon including the camps of Sabra and Shatila and Burj el Barajneh. She is a 2011 University graduate, holding a Bachelors degree in both Political Science/Pre-Law and Journalism with emphasis in International Criminal Law; she will be seeking an MA in Journalism in 2012 in Australia.She is currently working on her first book, We Refuse To Perish, meant to document historical background and personal accounts of events in Lebanon, specifically Southern Lebanon, prior to and after the 2006 July War.

See also:
The Myth of Gandhi and Palestinian Reality By Ali Abunimah

The Invisible Gandhi By Samah Sabawi

Between Violence and Non Violence By Amira Hass

Should Arafat do the Gandhi? By Gulamhusein Abba

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