Through The Eyes Of A 15-year-old
19 March 2014
By Tariq A. Al-Maeena
Earlier this
month, the Israeli Defense Forces gunned down and
killed a Palestinian near the border with Gaza. What
was so heinous about this act was that the victim was
a 57-year-old mentally retarded woman who had wandered
close to the border only to be shot several times
until she died.
The Israeli spin machine tried to cover up this
cold-blooded act by claiming that their forces
intended to shoot around the legs of the victim as a
warning to keep her distance, but that, unfortunately,
her body got in the way. Right! Such acts of
targeted killing are nothing new to the Israelis who
often set their sights on bringing down defenseless
victims to drive their message of dominance home to
oppressed Palestinians.
Such blatant brutality, so often not condemned by the
civilized world, has driven the hapless Palestinians
to the point of despair. From seeing their lands
illegally occupied by settlers to their women and
children being shot by trigger-happy Israeli forces,
the Palestinians are truly victims of an ongoing
holocaust. But very little of what they experience is
ever reported.
A young Saudi boy who has never been anywhere near
Israel and Palestine has perhaps captured the essence
of what it is like to be living under such continuous
Israeli terror. Majed Al-Othaimeen, whose grand uncle
was one of the Kingdom's most revered and followed
clerics, was 15 when he wrote a piece which
brilliantly captures some of the moods and fears of
the oppressed Palestinians. In extraordinary prose,
Majed titled his piece "A dream to dream". The rest
follows below:
"Dreams - I can't remember the last time I had a
dream, at least not a good one. Now every night I just
have nightmares; hell, I'm living one. My name is Ali
Yusuf and I'm 13 years old and I was born in Gaza,
Palestine. I say I'm from Gaza, Palestine but it feels
like Gaza, Israel.
"For as long as I can remember, my family and everyone
in Gaza have been ruled by Israeli settlements and
soldiers who come and go and do what they please. I've
heard bombs in the night and gunfire in the morning,
and every day when I walk to school and approach my
checkpoint I tell myself 'this could be your last day
on earth' but, unfortunately, my life has just
continued in this way.
"My great grandfather told my grandfather who told my
father of a time when Israeli soldiers did not exist
in our land and it was possible for us Palestinians to
walk home safely and not spend every waking moment
afraid of an invasion. A time when we Arabs were
treated like human beings and were given the same
rights as one - a time when you could dream of what
you wanted to become and not dread what you were
destined to be. This is the place I wished I lived in,
not this hell where my family and I barely survive.
"Two weeks ago my father became sick with a
life-threatening illness and was unable to work and
earn money for our family. I am the eldest son of four
children with no skills for work, but I needed a way
to make money for my family. The next day I went see
some kids in my school who were rumored to have
connections with the Hamas group. I knew that if I
worked with them they would pay me, but what would I
have to do in return?
"I met with some Hamas leaders and they offered me a
job. They said that if I did this job it would give
the Palestinian people a chance at a better life and
either way they would take care of my family. At first
I was filled with joy, this was all I ever wanted and
now it was finally possible. I thanked them quickly
and ran for the door. I stopped just short because I
had forgotten to ask what the job was.
"When one of the leaders told me what it was, my heart
sank to my stomach. If I did this job I wouldn't be
celebrating with my family afterwards. But backing out
was now out of the question, my family needed this and
I needed to put my family first and besides I don't
have much to look forward to here in Gaza. At least I
could try to make a difference for others and their
lives.
"So I went home and hugged my mother and father and
wished them good health but I didn't tell them about
what I was planning on doing. Then I went to my
younger brothers and sister - Sofian, Muhammad and
little Fatima. We did not always get along but in
this moment I loved them more than anything else. I
hugged them all while I was on the verge of tears.
Then I went into my room and cried. At least I know
that God will allow me to finally dream a good dream
while I am in heaven."
Majed Al-Othaimeen's depiction of the acute anxiety
that some Palestinians have been driven to is not one
that is routinely reported, but it is a reflection of
the sordid reality of desperate people driven to
desperate measures. Palestinians are being gunned
down daily and their lands stolen from beneath them
while the big powers sputter about fruitless peace
talks that the Zionists have no interest in.
The Israeli spin machine is today working overtime in
trying to convince the world of regional threats other
than themselves, and yet they could not fool a
15-year-old. Neither can they pull the wool over the
eyes of the rest of us.
— The author can be reached at talmaeena@aol.com.
Follow him on Twitter @talmaeena
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