What is my connection to Palestine?

The title isn’t really a rhetorical question..it’s something I’ve been asked on numerous occasions by friends, batch mates and online acquaintances. The questions where in all cases prompted by some online activity of mine... a gtalk status message, a shared link on Facebook or a retweet of a video on twitter, all related to Palestine. The tone of the questions have ranged from total ignorance to outright bemusement to genuine curiosity, but none of them ever really comprehended what prompted me to bother about Palestine. Today, on this first anniversary of Israel’s war on Gaza, an act of criminal brutality against a nation quite unsurpassed in its scale and scope in recent history, my twitter activity brought back the same old questions regarding the Palestinian connection. Hence I thought it’s about time that I elaborated a bit regarding this matter.

First of all I am no major activist or anyone of that sort. I can at best be described as a passive online supporter of the Palestinian struggle. My involvement has been limited to signing petitions/ spreading the message/sharing links/getting involved in discussions at various online forums etc primarily when significant events happen in Palestine and the greater Middle-East region. Yet even such minimal actions have invoked such wonder about my persuasion to do so, that it is rather disheartening.

Palestinian cause from my point of view is fundamentally a struggle against the epitome of tyranny in its most evil form. It is an outright travesty of justice to be cast out from your homeland and to be persecuted and oppressed for not making way to satisfy the objectives of a racist movement. That the rest of the world has largely been a silent observer (let’s face it.. voting countless UN resolutions which are all bound to be vetoed by USA is equivalent to silent observation) and in some cases an active sponsor and cohort (you all know which country I am talking about don’t ya?) to all these gross transgressions over the decades still shocks me.

This struggle is much beyond a mere act of religious militancy. Of course one cannot deny that the divergence in theocratic beliefs that laid the foundation for the problem and the religion has been a strong underlying influence on all discourse on this subject. But the fact is the struggle by Palestinians is primarily a struggle for justice, human rights and for their homeland. To be integrated into a wider religious militant movement worldwide was the worst thing that could have happened to the Palestinian struggle. For the Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist organizations in many parts of the world, Palestine was a just cause, the endorsing of which would generate mass support and lay the foundations for their organizations in its infancy. But this resulted in Palestinian struggle being bracketed along with every other power struggle and irrational act of violence which misused the name of Islam for their benefit.

The idealistic and simplistic tone I have used while reflecting on the Palestinian issue is not because I am naïve and don’t comprehend the complexities that have been inculcated into this conflict over the course of the last 50 years. Also I have not gotten into the geo-political and many other nitty-gritty’s of this conflict not due to my lack of awareness but because I do not claim to be an expert on this subject and many far more knowledgeable people have already done a much better job of it. Moreover the essence of my post was to reflect on my stance on the issue based on more deep-rooted reasons.

Also I am not trying to put forth a one-sided perspective based on any bias. I do see that wrong has also been done from the Palestinian side. Killing of innocent civilians is in no way acceptable even though it is just stooping to the level that Israel has consistently maintained for the last 60 years. Also as far as political aspects of this issue are concerned the plight of the people has been aggravated by the actions of other Arab countries at times and even by the internal politics in Palestine which has muddled the situation further on occasions. But all of this can at best be described as actions that have further worsened the state of affairs from what it already would have been consequent to Israeli persecution. Also my support for Palestine has not been for any group or organization, but for the people of Palestine and their right to their homeland.

As an observer of international politics, it is dismaying how the nations of the world have stood by and watched while Israel (with US support) has occupied another country and destroyed their homes to build settlements. As an advocate of basic human rights, it is horrendous to observe Palestinians being subjected to apartheid by the Israeli regime even in this day and age. As a supporter of international peace and conflict resolution, it is appalling to see that Israel have been permitted to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and West Bank. Above all as a human being, it is horrifying that any fellow being has been suffering persecution and is being deprived of justice for so long.

Herein are my opinions and reflections on the subject of Palestine and therein you can see my reasons for supporting the struggle by the people of Palestine.