The Sad Story of Disproportionality:
Sixsty years ago this month, my father, and 800,000 other Palestinians (who by the way were no Muslim extremeists), were forced to leave their homes, lands, villages, cities and country by Isrealis who came from all parts of the world. For decades, Europe had been committing atrocities against them. There were very few places to which they could run for their lives. One of these places was Palestine.
These people have been repeating these atrocities in Palestine ever since. The victim has turned a full circle to become the killer. The response by the new occupiers of Palestine has been disproportionate ever since. Mr. Fayyad is being very nice to the Israelis when he puts the matter so mildly.
The fact is that Israelis are occupying Palestine. The Fact is that they have deprived hundreds of thousands, even millions, of Palestinians from their basic human rights. The fact is the Israelis have place at least 1.5 million Gazans under siege in the largest prison on earth. The fact is that Israel was created 60 years ago only after Palestinians paid with their lives, property and ruin.
My father tells me that he had been living with Palestinian Jews all his life in harmony when they were being placed in concentration camps in Germany and Poland. When he refused to leave, Israeli soldiers killed his donkey and threatened to do the same with his family if he did not.
The Israeli response has always been "disproportionate." The problem with Fayyad's terminlogy is two-fold: people like Salam Fayyad do not see the large picture of their people losing everything- he thinks of us as refugees, not a full fledged nation. And the world, especially the United States various administrations, close their eyes to the realities- they do not want to see the truth. It is a world of double standards. For 60 years, we Palestinians have been paying for crimes committed against the Jews in Europe. The sad reality is that the victims of yesterday are now committing the crimes against others, disproportionately to say the least.
Salam Fayyad: ‘This Is a Cycle That Has to Stop’
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But when you were sworn in, you spoke out against violence and incitement.
My first speaking engagement was to clergymen.
What did you say?
Essentially, that the party was over. Places of worship are places of worship. Religion is about tolerance, not about incitement. It was something I did out of deep conviction. It was evident we were not on the right path.
What was the reaction?
They complied. You know, oftentimes people do what they do simply because they are not told there is a line here … One side of it is OK, the other side isn't. There have to be rules.
Is Hamas still strong in the West Bank?
I wouldn't say that they are very strong, but I wouldn't say that they have no strength either.
How is Palestinian security performing on the West Bank?
Our security performance has improved markedly.
Is there security cooperation with Israel?
It's been dead for a long time, to tell you the truth. What do you do? Israel says it is taking care of security, but it's doing so from its point of view. I asked them, "What do you think happened to security conditions in the West Bank during the time period when you assumed the authority of the Palestinian Authority?" A state of lawlessness has emerged. How can there be security unless there is security for Palestinians and Israelis alike?
How do you unite Gaza and the West Bank again? How do you get rid of Hamas?
My starting point is not to get rid of anyone. We have to be accepting of political pluralism.
If Hamas keeps shelling Israel, won't the Israelis go into Gaza?
I spoke out publicly against violence from Gaza. Also, I spoke publicly against the disproportionate Israeli response. This is a cycle of violence that has to stop.
Discuss