by Geoffrey Redick, producer
Sadly, the experience of losing a family member to violence in the Holy Land does not make Izzeldin Abuelaish unique. Suicide bombings, rocket attacks, and airstrikes make the death of innocents an all too common experience. When three of Abuelaish’s daughters were killed in the Gaza War, he looked deep within himself, and found no hatred, only a desire for peace and understanding. That reaction is what makes Abuelaish a unique voice, and one that must be heard. Abuelaish is a doctor who was born in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. He speaks fluent Hebrew, and that allowed him to work in Israeli hospitals. He came to know two different worlds intimately, and he was able to see commonalities that others did not. After his daughters were killed, Abuelaish was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He started a foundation, called Daughters for Life to help girls in the Middle East pay for their education. And he wrote a book, called “I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity.”
I too caught the broadcast by accident when I was running late for church and decided that the broadcast was more interesting than the announcements so I sat in the car and listened. If only more radio hosts would have the courage to touch this "third rail" of politics and give more Palestinians a voice and and confirm their humanity. In this country we get a biased view and the stereotypical perspective that Palestinians are all heathens and terrorists…much like the biased views we were raised with of the Native Americans who were also protecting their land and livelihood from "settlers".
Please contact "Abed" the Director of the Alrowwad cultural center in the Aida refugee camp. He can give you a story of hope and empowerment. If you interview him and some of the many children his center has touched you will find that there are many, many Palestinians who practice non-violent resistance to the illegal and brutal occupation.
Another contact worth making is Mazin Qumsiyeh who is currently in the US on a book tour. If you go to his web-site the schedule is posted. He was in Boston last week (March 30). Please continue these broadcasts. Americans deserve to know the truth about the injustices that our tax dollars subsidize.
Usually I am in my Sunday School class during the time Bob Edwards' Weekend airs on my local NPR affiliate, WUGA, in Athens, GA. This morning, it was meant to be that I heard the incredible interview with Dr. Abuelaish and was moved by his incredible spirit for humanity, life, forgiveness and moving on despite such tragedy. It is a total disconnect to listen to this powerful story of tragedy when the deaths of three young people are killed in their own beds by an army tank firing twice into their residence and the words of Ehud Barak, Israeli Defense Minister, that the Israeli Defense Forces are "the most moral army in the world". Frankly, I don't think any army qualifies for that distinction, but especially not the IDF in their treatment of any Palestinian and especially not in the collective punishment of the Gazans. Then, the IDF "investigation" was a white-wash with their classification of these innocent civilian deaths as "collateral damage". The body count indicates that the IDF specializes in "collateral damage" when it comes to Palestinian lives, period, not just in this one case.
I commend Bob Edwards for bringing us this powerful and touching story, but I strongly object to his constant characterization of "the Gazan war". The cease-fire was unilaterally broken by the IDF when they launched Operation Cast Lead, left 1400 Gazans dead and 4-5 times that many injured and wounded. The IDF has been indicted by the Goldstone Report for this military operation in a civilian population who had no ability to exit. Numerous war crimes were committed by the IDF on the corporate Gazan population and continues with their continued blockade, snipers that make farming the arable land along the border with Israel a sinister life and death roulette game, allowing in just enough food to keep the population from starvation, but not enough for proper nutrition, no way to rebuild the destroyed housing and industries, etc but we are to believe that these are the policies of the most moral army in the world. I don't think so, but that would be yet another story which demands more courage than most reporters in this country have.
I was lucky enough to hear Dr. Abuelaish speak live about his horrifying experience. To survive a murder of three young, innocent daughters, and behave in the way he is – calling for peace, rejecting hatred – it's unbelievably heroic and brave. That the Israeli army would have the chutzpa to call this killing a "collateral damage" (like they did in the letter to Dr. Abuelaish) – demonstrates clearly the asymmetry of this conflict.