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Berikut ini surat dari seorang pendeta di Palestina yg
menunjukkan perasaan yg sesunggungnya dari orang2 Palestina ketika bom
wtc terjadi;Satu contoh bagaimana berita TV (dan web juga!) menjadi
sangat 'twisted' (menjerumuskan). . . spt sengaja sudah di design
utk memprovokasi massa. . .
Source: Direct Submission
Email: "Don & Gloria Delaplain" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 09:28:41 -0500
Title: [AL-AWDA-News] The Sorrow unseen, the Story
unheard...
TEXT:
DEAR FRIENDS,
THIS HEARTFELT MESSAGE WAS WRITTEN BY SANDRA OLEWINE, UNITED
METHODIST MISSIONARY IN JERUSALEM.
SHE TELLS OF THE TRUE REACTIONS AMONG THE PALESTINIAN
PEOPLE--REACTIONS WHICH THE MEDIA HERE IN THE U.S. DO NOT
SHOWUS.
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THIS MESSAGE.
AFTER THE HORRIBLE EVENTS HERE IN THE U.S. IT IS IMPORTANT
FORALL OF US TO READ THIS MESSAGE FOR THE SAKE OF OUR OWN
UNDERSTANDING AND YES, MENTAL HEALTH.
WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO REACT WITH FEELINGS OF HATE,
REVENGE,ETC., WE MUST BE PATIENT UNTIL THE INVESTIGATORS FIND OUT
WHOACTUALLY DID THIS HORRIBLE DEED AND NOT BLAME WHOLE
POPULATIONSFOR THE ACTS OF A FEW.
AFTER READING THIS LETTER, PLEASE SEND IT ON TO OTHERS. WE
MUSTENCOURAGE OTHERS TO MEET THIS CRISIS WITH REASON AND
LOVE--NOTMASS VENGEANCE. IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO NEWSPAPERS, PLEASE
ASKTHAT THIS LETTER FROM SANDRA OLEWINE BE PRINTED. THANK YOU
FORYOUR LOVE AND CONCERN.
GLORIA DELAPLAIN, 609 ERIN STREET, EL CAMPO, TEXAS 77437
----- Original Message -----
Email: Sandra Olewine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 9:54 AM
Subj: The Sorrow unseen, the Story unheard...
Dear Friends,
In these days when much of the world reels from the heinous
actions of hijackers using passenger jets as 'flying bombs'
intomajor buildings in the US, likely killing thousands,
certainlyinjuring 10s of thousands and leaving families the world
overgrief stricken and lost, words and images should be
carefullychosen, particularly by those in leadership and in the
media.
These acts raise the term 'terrorism' to an unprecedented
level. Most acts ever given this designation pale in the face of
themassive human lose and destruction. Never again will any
of usstep foot on a plane and not remember, at least for a
fleetingmoment, what happened in New York City, Washington DC and
Pennsylvania. For many, and particularly for many
Americans, therecognition of human vulnerability has never been as clear
as itis in these days.
We humans often don't live well in the midst of such
vulnerability. We try to create a sense of stability and
security in our environment by whatever means necessary in
orderto cope with disruption, death and grief. Retreating to
'safespaces' and finding someone to blame, someone towards whom
todirect our anger and despair, is not difficult to
understand. But, sometimes such 'retreating' can lead to a strong urge
to'protect ourselves against them' whomever 'them' might be.
As I watch the scenes which are displayed on television and
listen to the words of some of the American leadership, I am
dismayed by the careless and blanket statements concerning
Muslims in particular and Arabs in general which are being
expressed. The need to create 'security' by blaming evil
deedson an entire tradition of people does not do justice to the
lives of those killed. The work of 20, 50, 100, or 1,000
shouldnot lead us to make blanket assumptions or statements about
overa billion people. In every country, in every tradition, in
every race, there are people who act out of malice and
hatred todestroy others. Surely we Americans have not forgotten
that thelast horrible terrorist act carried out in our country was
byourselves.
I've had numerous emails from people asking me to help
interpretthe scenes they have watched of Palestinians 'celebrating'
afterthe event. Yes, there were some gatherings of people,
particularly in Nablus, who were shown in the very early
hoursof the horrible attacks in the US on the street, dancing and
cheering, and passing out chocolate. But, these expressions
were few and certainly did not represent the feelings or
mood ofthe general population. The deep shock and horror of the
Palestinian people, the real sorrow for all the dead and
wounded, was, and continues to be, unseen by the world,
particularly in the USA. It is the story unheard.
Because those few scenes were disturbing, the easy response
isto cast judgment on the participants, naming those
'celebrating'as inhuman, despots, or despicable. The more difficult
response, though, particularly in the midst of grief, is to
askthe questions about what might drive people, men, women and
children, to such actions. One might remember that the
peoplewho were seen 'celebrating' are a people who for almost a
yearhave been under a brutal siege, who due to the siege have
beenunable to feed their families and hover on the brink of
povertyand despair, who have watched their children and their
parentskilled by bullets, tank shells and guided missiles, most of
which are supplied to the Israeli Occupation Army by the
USA.One might remember such things as one watches those images. Attempting to
understand motivations doesn't discount our
feelings of anguish at such scenes, but does allow us to
keephumanity a bit more in tack in a time of such utter
brokenness.
But, more importantly to me is what has mostly gone unseen
bythe American public. I have to ask why these scenes of a
fewPalestinians been shown again and again and again, as if
theycapture the 'truth' of Palestine. How few cameras have
caughtthe spontaneous sorrow, despair, tears and heartache of the
vastmajority of the Palestinian people. As the news unfolded
hereon Tuesday afternoon about the extent of the attacks, people
gathered, as people did everywhere, in front of television
screens to learn as much as possible. My phone rang and
rang asPalestinians from around the West Bank called to express
theirhorror and their condolences.
Yesterday following a prayer service held at St. George's
Anglican Cathedral, I talked briefly to the US Consul
General inJerusalem. We talked about the scenes from here which were
mostprevalent on the TV. He told me that his office had
received astack of faxes of condolences from Palestinians and
PalestinianOrganizations 'this high' (indicating a stack of about 12
inches). He asked his staff to fax a copy of every last
one ofthem to CNN to give a different visual image from Palestine.
When we left the cathedral after the service, we drove by
theAmerican Consulate in East Jerusalem. Gathered there were
about30 Palestinian Muslim schoolgirls with their teachers.
Lookinggrief-stricken, they held their bouquets of dark flowers and
stood behind their row of candles. Silently, they kept
vigiloutside our Consulate. But no cameras captured their quiet
sorrow.
When I got home, my neighbor explained that her son who is
in8th grade came home in the afternoon and talked to her
about thestudents reactions at school. He told her that everyone was
talking about what had happened. He said that many were
asking"how could someone do that?" "Is someone human who can
carryout such acts?" He went on to tell her that many of the
girlswere crying. Friends, then, began stopping by my home.
Palestinian Christian and Muslim came together, visiting me
toexpress their sorrow and to ask what they could do. Again,
thephone rang incessantly with Palestinians asking if everyone
Iknew was okay and asking if they could do anything to help.
As we talked many went on to tell of stories of their loved
oneswho are in the States - relatives they were worried about
havingbeen injured or killed or who had been subject to
harassment inthe last couple of days. Others talked of having received
emailsfrom people who had been supporters of their work who wrote
saying "I can never again support the Palestinian people,"
as ifsomehow Palestinians everywhere were suddenly responsible
forthe attacks in the States.
The remarkable thing to me, though, was that despite such
messages, these same people still wrote letters of
condolences,made phone calls to friends, and asked what they could do to
help. Despite the world, and particularly the American
world,not seeing them or seeing them only as 'terrorists',
Palestinians continued to express their common humanity with
people everywhere as they shared in the heartache and
dismay.
In a separate message I will forward to you some of the
condolences which have gone out. I pray you will share them
widely in order to share the sorrow, in order that this
part ofthe story also might be heard.
Lastly, I also want to express my gratitude to the many of
youwho have written notes of concern, expressing your prayers,
forthe people here, worrying about how this situation will
impactthe lives of all living in this region. In the midst of
yourown suffering and anxiety, your own horror what has
happened,your heart was large enough, your vision wide enough, to
stillsee the suffering and anxiety of others. This is no small
giftand is a true mark of the grace of God.
Trusting in God's everlasting presence,
Sandra
Rev. Sandra Olewine
United Methodist Liaison - Jerusalem
To sign Al-Awda's petition to terminate US aid to Israel go
to:http://al-awda.org/terminate_aid_petition.htm
To sign a letter asking Intel Corporation to disinvest from
Israel go to: http://al-awda.org/campaign/intel_letter.htm
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di http://abuharits.cjb.net
