http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/05/13 /INGQDPOOUD1.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, May 13, 2007 For Palestinians, memory matters By George Bisharat Why do some people have the power to remember, while others are asked to forget? That question is especially poignant at this time of year, as we move from Holocaust Remembrance day in early spring to Monday's anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence on May 14, 1948. In the months surrounding that date, Jewish forces expelled, or intimidated into flight, an estimated 750,000 Palestinians. A living, breathing, society that had existed in Palestine for centuries was smashed and fragmented, and a new society built on its ruins. Few Palestinian families lack a personal narrative of loss from that period -- an uncle killed, or a branch of the family that fled north while the others fled east, never to be reunited, or homes, offices, orchards and other property seized. Ever since, Palestinians worldwide have commemorated May 15 as Nakba (Catastrophe) Day. No ethical person would admonish Jews to "forget the Holocaust." Indeed, recent decades have witnessed victims of that terrible era not only remembering, but also regaining paintings and financial assets seized by the Nazis -- and justifiably so. Other victims of mass wrongs -- interned Japanese Americans, enslaved African Americans, and Armenians subjected to a genocide that may have later convinced Hitler of the feasibility of mass killings -- receive at least respectful consideration of their cases, even while responses to their claims have differed. Yet in dialogues with Israelis, and some Americans, Palestinians are repeatedly admonished to "forget the past," that looking back is "not constructive" and "doesn't get us closer to a solution." Ironically, Palestinians live the consequences of the past every day -- whether as exiles from their homeland, or as members of an oppressed minority within Israel, or as subjects of a brutal and violent military occupation. In the West we are amply reminded of the suffering of Jewish people in World War II. Our newspaper featured several stories on local survivors of the Nazi holocaust around Holocaust Remembrance Day (an Israeli national holiday that is widely observed in the United States). My daughter has read at least one book on the Nazi holocaust every year since middle school. Last year, in ninth grade English literature alone, she read three. But we seldom confront the impact of Israel's policies on Palestinians. It is the "security of the Jewish people" that has rationalized Israel's takeover of Palestinian lands, both in the past in Israel, and more recently in the occupied West Bank. There, most Palestinian children negotiate one of the 500 Israeli checkpoints and other barriers to movement just to reach school each day. Meanwhile, Israel's program of colonization of the West Bank grinds ahead relentlessly, implanting ever more Israeli settlers who must be "protected" from those Palestinians not reconciled to the theft of their homes and fields. The primacy of Jewish security over rights of Palestinians -- to property, education, health care, a chance to make a living, and, also to security -- is seldom challenged. Unfortunately, remembering the Nazi Holocaust -- something morally incumbent on all of us -- has seemingly become entangled with, and even an instrument of, the amnesia some would force on Palestinians. Israel is enveloped in an aura of ethical propriety that makes it unseemly, even "anti-Semitic" to question its denial of Palestinian rights. As Israeli journalist Amira Hass recently observed: "Turning the Holocaust into a political asset serves Israel primarily in its fight against the Palestinians. When the Holocaust is on one side of the scale, along with the guilty (and rightly so) conscience of the West, the dispossession of the Palestinian people from their homeland in 1948 is minimized and blurred." What this demonstrates is that memory is not just an idle capacity. Rather, who can remember, and who can be made to forget, is, fundamentally, an expression of power. Equally importantly, however, memory can provide a blueprint for the future -- a vision of a solution to seek, or an outcome to avoid. My Palestinian father grew up in Jerusalem before Israel was founded and the Palestinians expelled, when Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in peace and mutual respect. Recalling that past provides a vision for an alternative future -- one involving equal rights and tolerance, rather than the domination of one ethno-religious group over others. Thus, what Palestinians are really being commanded is not just to forget their past, but instead to forget their future, too. That they will never do. George Bisharat is professor of law at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He writes frequently about the Middle East. Contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** Web link for the event: http://www.ceia-sc.org/page1/page1.html =============================================================== As part of UCLA Palestine Solidarity Week, and in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation and the 59th anniversary of Al Nakba, CEIA-SC is proud to announce an educational forum: Israel, Zionism and Apartheid: The Case for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Sunday, May 20, 2007 · 10 am until 2:30 pm Humanities A51 · UCLA The Consequences of Zionism The inherent inequalities of the Jewish state Dr. Zahi Damuni, co-founder of Al-Awda The Misuse of Anti-Semitism Making accusations in order to deflect legitimate criticism of Israel CEIA-SC Members Lessons from South Africa Learning from the Anti-Apartheid Movement Samuel A. Paul, Ph.D. The Nature of Israel as an Apartheid State Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, spokesperson and past-president of Muslim Women's League, chairperson of Kinder USA, and MPAC board member University Divestment Campaign The Muslim Students' Association-UCLA and Students for Justice in Palestine-UCLA Presented by CEIA-SC in conjunction with Muslim Students Association-UCLA, Students for Justice in Palestine-UCLA and Palestinian American Women Association of Southern California. Endorsers (as of 5/09): American Friends Service Committee, ANSWER Coalition-LA, Islamic Shura Council, Palestine Aid Society, Jan 27 Action Coalition, Council on American-Islamic Relations-LA, Coalition for World Peace, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, Global Voices for Justice, Global Women's Strike, Women of Color/Global Women's Strike, Payday Men's Network, The Middle East Fellowship of Southern California, Friends of Sabeel-Southern California, International Socialist Organization, SWANA Collective/Radio Intifada, MEChA de USC, Women in Black-Los Angeles, Office of the Americas, The Committee of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism-Los Angeles, The International Action Center, Addicted to War, Venice Peace and Freedom Party, Freedom Socialist Party, Students for Justice in Palestine-USC, Foothills Peace Coalition, Radical Women, Muslim Public Affairs Council Individual Endorsers (as of 5/05; affiliations included for identification purposes only): Jim Lafferty (National Lawyers Guild), Sally Marr and Peter Dudar (Arlington West Film) Free admission. Lunch will be offered. For additional information, please contact us at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] UCLA map link: http://www.ucla.edu/map/map_south.html KPFK Media Sponsor: http://www.kpfk.org =============================================================== The Two-State Solution: Still Possible? Peace is Achievable May 20, 2007 | 3-5 pm. Humanities A51 · UCLA As we near the 40th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, there is still hope that a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be reached. For the past two decades the "two-state solution" has become and remains the international consensus framework for a solution to the conflict. Yet, in recent years questions have been raised as to whether this proposal is still feasible after 40 years of military occupation. Please join the American Friends Service Committee, for an evening of discussion of this important question. Speakers: Dr. Mahmood Ibrahim: is a Chair of the Department of History at Cal Poly Pomona. He is the author of two books, "Merchant Capital and Islam," about the rise and expansion of Islam in the 7th century and "The Oral History of the Intifada" in Arabic, about the Intifada and how it could be used to challenge traditional/orientalist conceptions of Middle Eastern Society. Mahmood is the author of many articles and book reviews dealing with Middle East from the rise of Islam to the present. Dr. Ibrahim was born in Ramallah, Palestine. Dr. Nubar Hovsepian, Associate Professor of Political Science, Chapman University. Hovsepian's edited book: The War on Lebanon: A Reader (Interlink 2007) is forthcoming in June. In addition, his book: The Politics of Palestinian Education will be published in 2008. He also worked in the UN as a Political Affairs Officer on the secretariat of the International Conference on Palestine (1982-84). Moderator: Dr. Leila Al-Marayati, is the spokesperson of the Muslim Women's League (MWL), a Los Angeles based organization dedicated to disseminating accurate information about Islam and women and to strengthening the role of Muslim women in society. Dr. Al-Marayati is the chairperson of Kinder USA, an American NGO, she is also involved in humanitarian efforts on behalf of Palestinians and others in need. She is a Board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist based in Southern California. This event is free and open to the public. For more information please contact: Wafa Shami, American Friends Service Committee (213) 489-1900 x118, [EMAIL PROTECTED] | www.mepeacela.org Endorsers: Council on American-Islamic Relations-LA; Palestine Aid Society; Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; Jan 27 Action Coalition; Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid-SC, Women in Black-LA; Islamic Shura Council, and Coalition for World Peace, Muslim Public Affairs Council --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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