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on 01-10-2002 19:58
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Reading the newspapers these days is like walking a minefield. For the most part, the papers are bland, full of the usual political intrigue or reports about the failings of the government interspersed with the token culture stories. However, if you give your daily more than a fleeting glance youre likely to get smacked in the face with something horrible, which in todays case, has been a heart-rending picture of an old Palestinian man fighting a half-dozen Israeli soldiers as they bulldoze his house and cordon off his land.
Strangely though, that very same picture is commonplace. Every week the papers run similar shots, aged Arab women striking out at soldiers, small children crying on rubble that was once their home, young mothers dazedly staring at their crushed possessions. What has happened to the world when such barbarism, such injustice to put it plainly, is something we have come to accept and can look upon without falling down, racked with tears and outrage?
Of course, there is a small and outspoken group of people the world round who do make it their mission to publicise, outcry, and demand action for the Palestinian cause. Some nations, far more brotherly and concerned than our own, host nation-wide movements boycotting US and Israeli goods. It has reached such a phenomenal success in some areas in the Middle East that I was told by an Egyptian youth that McDonalds have become ghost houses, empty of living souls. In the United Arab Emirates many citizens are opting for ZamZama, a cola manufactured by Iran, instead of American Coke.
There are even many Westerners, and even more shocking, there are even Jews who put their time, energy and emotion into fighting for human rights for Palestinians. So often on the news we see Europeans, non-Muslims mostly, who have gone to Palestine to act as human shields to protect Palestinians. They place their bodies in front of bullets and tanks in an effort to not stand idly by as Israelis murder and plunder. When Yasir Arafat was held hostage in his own office for those many months, it was non-Muslim, non-Arab Scandinavians and French nationals that stormed the compound to share his incarceration and attempt to protect him. Were there Muslims, nay, was there a Pakistani among them? No.
Though most of us Pakistanis feel for the Palestinians, we care not enough to put down our Coca Colas and KFC chicken. We shake our heads at the sad pictures in the papers and freely curse the Jewish people, but cannot find it in ourselves to take serious action against those responsible for the genocide, thievery and oppression that is practiced openly in Israel. I cannot but wonder why so many of us are so very complacent, myself included. Try as I may to do my part, I cannot claim to have done my utmost and inconvenienced myself too greatly for my supposed convictions. Is it because we in Pakistan are too wearied by the inefficiencies and daily injustices we find on our own soil? Do the ever-increasing taxes and tariffs rob us of our ability to care? Or perhaps it is our esteemed President Pervez Musharrafs battle cry of Sab say pahlay Pakistan, or Pakistan before all, that has quelled our anger and allayed our conscience. So many are willing to point the guilty finger at Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich but action-less countries, claiming that it is more their cause than our own and they have enough power to stop the bloodshed in a day, if they so wished. We await action from a monarchy that has shown itself to be made powerless by greed, as if they are our moral leaders.
And even yet, there are some that simply do not care. They are not moved by feelings of brotherhood for a people oppressed as Pakistan was once oppressed in British India. Perhaps they are not decidedly Muslim, so the idea of religious oneness is of no importance. Or worse, maybe they just dont give a damn.
The reasons for our apathy are endless, but they are in no way acceptable. A hell of a lot is wrong with the world, as anyone can see, but that doesnt mean that we should ever accept that state. Beginning with the Palestine issue because it present before our eyes, we must be moved to action. If bonds of brotherhood or religion cannot command feelings on the issue, the let us care simply because the Palestinians are human as we are human. We cannot wait for the Saudi government or our own beleaguered regime to step in and care for the plight of someone elses people. Instead, we must ourselves do what we can to aid those in need and condemn and punish those responsible.
You want a way simple way to help, here it is: Start with a boycott. The United States and United Kingdom gave birth to Israel and have fed and raised it on blood ever since. They are directly responsible for its foundation and its transgressions. Every tank, helicopter, gunship, and machine gun that we see used indiscriminately on Palestinians was given by the US/UK. They have blood of innocent people on their hands and because we cannot call their governments to account for those deaths, and we cannot hand a nation the death penalty as we would to any individual who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian deaths; directly or indirectly, we must punish them the only way we can. We must hurt their wallets. Pakistan is a market of over 140 million people. American and British companies earn billions from our business. If we withhold that revenue, then they shall be damaged; and if they are suffering, then they shall demand their governments to change their policies. The power of the purse in this day and age is truly beyond that of the pen and the sword. After all, what are first world countries but well-oiled money-making machines?
Some companies, like Nokia, Coca Cola, and Nestle went out of their way to accommodate the Israeli people. There are McDonalds built on stolen Palestinian land, in defiance of international law. Nokia moved into Israel and created a Hebrew-based cell-phone service especially for the area. Nestle purchased 50% of stocks in Israeli food-service giant, Ossem, to give the company a boost. Why should we continue to give money to those who dont think the blood of Palestinians is equal to the blood of Israelis? Those companies do not care if the houses of thousands were demolished and their residents crushed beneath the rubble for the land theyve made offices on. They are dealing with the devil, and what do we do? We flock by the hordes to give them more and more of our hard-earned cash.
It is not acceptable, by any measure, to sit silently as this atrocity is committed. We were once a proud people, we cared for the condition of others. When Turkey was divided like war booty after World War I, the Muslims of India, who were instrumental in the formation of Pakistan, went to England to appeal on behalf of the Turks that the country not be so humiliated, the government kept intact and religious and cultural monuments kept sacred. If we lived by the idea of us first so many hundreds of years ago, then the Punjabis, Sindhis, Balochis, Pukhtons, and all others would not have banded together as one to fight off the yoke of the rulers of old.
I cannot do anything for the sickness I feel in the pit of my stomach when I see those images of downtrodden and ignored Palestinians, but I can do something for my soul, for my conscience. God willing, I will begin with myself instead of charging others with responsibility that I do not care to shoulder and I will boycott American, British, and Israeli goods. It is not much, but if we 140 million strong Pakistanis all come together for this, then we shall see the power of the individual.
As I read the papers again tomorrow it is certain my individual action for Palestine will not have stopped the horror in Israel, but it is a beginning. The dailies will still be pocked by photos graphic enough to tighten my throat and fill my eyes with tears; but if I do what I can to help, then perhaps they shall not affront my heart as well.
Last update : 01-10-2002 19:58
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