New York journalist Philip Weiss had his eyes opened about Israel's occupation of Palestine a few years ago, and now blogs events from a Jewish anti-Zionist perspective. He even went to Gaza earlier this summer to witness for himself.
Today he reports on his reaction to Sacha Baron Cohen's latest movie, and he remembers what I wrote about Ain el Helweh:
Mondoweiss: inside 'Bruno,' a glimpse of the Nakba.
Thank you, Phil, for remembering Ain el Helweh's traumas, rather than laughing along with a useless comic. Some of us never forget what Israel has done to our neighbors. As Mahmoud Darwish said, and As'ad Abu-Khalil repeats daily, "All that you have done to our people is written in notebooks."
I am honored that my digital notebook page has entered the memory of those who have never set foot in Ain el Helweh.
If you are new to this blog, please note that I own a bit of property in Ain el Helweh, inherited from my grandfather. The Lebanese government asked my family to host Palestinian refugees there during the Nakba of 1948, "for two weeks." We began receiving 12 Lebanese lira a year rent at that time, which is now less than a dollar. The land is worth a great deal more than that. The saga of our suit for compensation would make a latter-day Dickens tale of lawyers, wars, and bureaucracy.
Since I grew up visiting Ain el Helweh and even attended school on its doorstep, I have always felt that the suffering of its residents was my personal business. These people are my neighbors, however unwilling their tenancy. They deserve to be remembered. They deserve justice.
They do not deserve the derision of clueless Westerners.
When you a point a finger at someone, remember that there are 4 fingers pointing at yourself. and indeed, all you have done to us is written in our notebooks - the abominable farhoud, the aden 'riots', the ouijda 'riots', the aleppo blood libels, and the list just goes on and on. and it goes on to this day - like the attacks against the jews of raiyda and the cold-blooded murder of yaish nahari.
and if your history is lacking, you might want to fillup using wikipedia or jewishrefugees.blogspot.com
how many iraqi dinars do you think my family is owed to for the illegal confistication of our house in k'mrat ali? how come almost all arab states are now judenrein, where in 1948 jews made a significant part of the demographics?
oh yes, when the time comes - notebook vs. notebook. we'll be waiting. oh yes we will.
Posted by: ArabJew | September 20, 2009 at 02:18 AM