In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most merciful.
A MOMENT TO REMEMBER
Sembang Santai: Mencari Damai Yang Hilang
On 27/3/2019 a memorable “Sembang Santai : Mencari Damai Yang Hilang” event was organized by MPPs secretariats. This was held in INTAN auditorium. 3 panels were invited for a forum. They were Celebrity and Activist Yatt Hamzah, Journalist and Awani Presenter Ashwad Ismail and activist Nadiah Rahmat. They shared their experience during humanitarian missions to Gaza, Syria and Yemen and some were very appalling. This proved that they joined the mission based on true passion.
I am really grateful to be a part of such an insightful event and would like to express my thanks to all the secretariats who made it happen.
Inspired by the event I would like to share my views on Palestine and Israel. I am not a Palestinian nor an Israeli. I have never been to the Holy Land and have no close friends whose lives are directly impacted. Truthfully, I didn’t have a strong grasp of the conflict before I began my research for this issue. And without having lived it, or continuing to live through it, I don’t believe I ever will. Instead, what I am is an ordinary person living in a peaceful country like Malaysia.
The Palestinian people have been displaced in a worldwide diaspora since 1948, and living conditions in the areas of Gaza and the West Bank are harsh, including the worst unemployment rates in the world in the Gaza Strip. Each side in the Israeli and Palestinian conflict has its own narrative telling some but not all the truth. It is important to understand what information both sides leave out. Each side interprets events in terms of their own story, demonizes the other and omits their own contribution to the conflict. Each side is in a state of denial, ignoring the implications to their own actions.
The Palestinian story focuses on victimhood, their suffering and dispossession and their deep sense of injustice at being punished because of Europe’s treatment of Jews. They leave out the history of initiating wars, their violence, their faulty leadership and their constant refusal to take opportunities for accommodation.
The Israeli story emphasizes their long-time historic attachment to the land, the legitimacy granted by the United Nation partition plan, the hostility and constant threat of wars coming from their neighbours, and the rejection of their peace offers. Underlying it all is the ever-present trauma of the holocaust. They leave out their own role. They rationalize and downgrade the cruelties of the occupation. They further aggravate the situation by the historic western attitude of both condescending to and mostly disregarding the local Palestinian population.
Why hasn’t this conflict been settled for the past 100 years?
I have no answer for this.
“Palestinian will never get back their land” – (Dr Jatswan, 2019) and that hurt.
209 days to go,
Love and prayers always,
Norliza Musa
Destarius, Imperius.
