Why I became involved.
I discovered Israeli music. I loved it and it led me to rediscover the jewish holocaust. After having children and growing up things take on new meaning. I felt overwhelming sadness, anger and frustration that we didn't remember every single day what we had done to each other supposedly as humans, and live each day with the promise that we would make this a world where this never happened again.Israel is a special place with some special people.
But I discovered a little of the the hidden story of Palestine.Please do the same.
When your child is near death, you feel an empathy with every mother and you ask that something else be taken from you, anything but them. You watch them and will them to get better and pray because its all you can do. Here we have access to medical services, medicine, freedom of movement, a home, a country, healthy affordable food, power, clean air.We take these things for granted, demand them, without them our kids might not always get better.
It is overwhelming and you realise what your child's life means to you , you realise every mother feels the same. You think of other mothers who right now are losing their children from war and poverty and disease, without the aids we take for granted. The children in Palestine TODAY breathing in tear gas, growing up with bullets, tanks, walls, fences, intimidation, torture, kidnappings.
I discovered the controversy over the history. That there are two sides. Both carrying a tradgedy greater than seemed possible to bear, watching their children die in great numbers, two sides right next to each other. I don't see this as me taking the side of Palestine, it is taking the side of humanity against hatred, whatever side you are on.
But you discover that one side has one of the 'greatest' armies in the world. One has home made rockets and stones. One side is accepted as a nation state, the other used to be, but now is being squashed into ghettos, land stolen and rejected internationally and blamed for the whole thing. One side controls the other. One side has the official backing of the U.S and U.K, and recieves weapons from them, trades with them and is celebrated by them.
I want to celebrate the other side.
Media bias, half truths, misinformation and lies are being used to keep this a hidden story to people like me. A lot of people just dont know.
This is something we can change.
To be continued...