True Voice

Imagine:

You’re 16 years old, in High School and you’ve organized a peaceful walk out against the war in Iraq, but it results in gun fire and arrest. Suheir, a mother, wife, community member and friend within the Dhesheiheh Refugee camp, was 16 years old when she did a peaceful demonstration against the occupation that resulted in the group of students being shot at, escaping to their school for safety to be captured and arrested for 4 days.

This is not Occupy. This is not the 2008 RNC Protest in St Paul, Minnesota. This is everyday life for the Palestinians within the occupied territories. Palestinians in a never ending refugee camp. A life where your sons, children and husbands are thrown into jail for an undetermined amount of time. This jail is a lot like what we know of our U.S. Prison Industrial Complex that allows torture, death and un imaginable mistreatment of not only the prisoners, but their families. This one goes a couple steps further in a lot of ways. Here is one story:

Naji, (one of the main organizors for Laylac, an organization based on empower youth in their communities by making them the leaders of tomorrow, that we met and the brother of Suheir) described a story of two of the Dheheisheh community members who were in prison and particpated in the recent Hunger Strike. In this incident, the Israeli Military proceeded to force feed them and shoved it down the wrong tube, resulting in death. Instead of holding themselves accountable for their injustice and maltreatment, they confiscated their bodies for organs. Their mothers were not aloud to give them a proper burial let alone one last kiss on their own sons’ faces.

That is when I found out this is a common practice and these people have to fight for their Martyr’s bodies so that the Israeli Military doesnt steal it for organs. We were told of a story of hiding bodies in the fridge. Just so a mother can say goodbye? A world where you bury your sons? This is something I think different areas of the whole world can relate to, but why do we continue to delegitimizing the Palestinian story?

Today was incredible. All that I have learned from my college education and personal studies, I am finally seeing it In Front Of My Face. Through these interactions and conversations, we are validating these people’s stories. And that is what they are, real life stories, histories, memories.. So many quotes today. So many stories. So much pain. But one thing that never ceased to overcome all this pain was hope and love. It seeped through them, body and soul. Hope for a brighter future and love for all living things, and yes, even Israelis.

I will end this post with the last thing our tour guide of the Dheheisheh Refugee camp, Murad , said to me. “I do not want people to look at me and automatically label me as Muslim, because I am not, as a terrorist, an Arab or anything but who I am and I will do the same.” Murad is not a number, or a statistic but a 25 year old that has lost family members to jail and death. Seen 11 of his friends die in front of him. A man with a story, but with all of this tragedy throughout his life, still a loving human who has hope, compassion, and forgiveness for the Israeli people.

Amen to him and all those struggling under occupation man.