9/11, Katrina, Deir Yassin, and the Anniversary of the Intifada

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

by al-falasteenyia

I’m thinking about what makes the media today and what doesn’t. Yes, septhemer is over. Does that mean we stop thinking about 9/11, Katrina, the aniversary of the intifada, and Deir Yassin?

This past month I’ve been thinking about how all these events have affected me. I wasn’t around for Deir Yassin…wasn’t even born. Intifada- well I was in high school- and my interest in Palestine began. 9/11. Also in high school. School was dismissed afterwards. It was crazy- but maybe nto crazier than what happened afterwards. The patriot act, the racial profiling, the arrests under no charge. The war in Afghanistan that killed so mnay innocent afghanis and did not result in the capture of bin laden. My social studies teacher telling us one day how she drove by a sign that read Nuke ‘em. And how she said at that moment, she agreed. The War in Iraq and all the fuss about WMD- the failure of the oil for food program, the corruption….Bush calling people to the army. People in my class actually opting to go to the army- and being called to go into Iraq. Bush saying how we won the war……Katrina. Katrina- how despite the warning signs no one did anything. How even before the storm hit, the people of new Orleans were under-immunized against many diseases- the corruption- the poverty. The response to the storm….how the rich got out….and how everyone else had to wait around the super dome, not knowing what would happen next. Being called refugees. They were not refugees. War didn’t drive them out of their homes. They were simply abandond by their government.

i dont think congress, or bush for the matter care about poor people (and black ppl, like kanye said. ) Then again , they dont care about alot of other things. so many things are wrong in this country. we are not any safer, public schools are overcrowded, nothing has happened to relieve the ppl of new orleans since katrina happened, and just so many other things. and u wonder, with all these problems, bush has enough money to go to war (an unjustified war on in iraq- no weapons of mass destruction. no connection to 9.11- the UN even said that torture during saddam's days was not as bad as the torture going on in Iraq now- and it holds the iraqi gov- who happen to support- responsible) so are we really any diffferent from a country with a dictator? thats an extreme statement, i know- but there's this illusion that ppl have a say here. maybe we are not a tolletratian regime, but i dont think we are a true democracy.

6 years, 1 year- does it really matter? Is it only in the month of September that we get to mourn the dead?

On the morning of 9/11/2006, I saw fire trucks rushing towards a building. And a I thought of the firefighters that were killed 6 years ago. How the whole thing could have been avoided and how theyd be alive right now. How the intelligence community worldwide knew. And how the world’s ‘most powerful nation’ simply ‘did not know’ or ‘couldn’t gather resources in time to respond.’ And I thought about all the coverage 9/11 would get that day. Countless stories on tv- rightfully so. But there would be stories that would be left unheard. How many Palestinians have died since 2000? Since 1948? How people in gaza and the west bank suffer under occupation. And even Lebanon…the untold stories in Lebanon this summer. The death toll is Iraq that has become just that- numbers. CNN/FOX/NBC/ABC would not be broadcasting an extended special on the death of Iraqi civilians. Theyd barely remember to mention the number of US soliders that have fallen. How it would all be wrapped up into a 30 second time slot that made absolutely no sense.

What is the color of Fear, asked CNN. I wish I was making this up.” Don’t get fear. Get facts. CNN.” Thank you CNN.

What would happen now? What would happen in Palestine with the government not being able to pay its health workers? What would happen in Palestine- with the demolished houses, the uprooted olive trees, all the dead school girls, all the mothers that gave birth and died at checkpoints? What would happen with the wall?

What was I going to do about Palestine?

On the anniversary of Deir Yassin, I went to a friend’s party. Shoudlnt be at home mourning the death of people no matter how long its been? Shouldn’t I be doing more- cuz what im doing now is not enough? How could I go out and have fun while my people sit at home afraid in the corner dodging bullets trying to go to sleep to the sound of shells? I didn’t have an answer.

Do I only get to reflect on the dead on a particular day in September?

Are some dead people or important than other dead people? Are some people more important to save than other people? Yes. Yes. A Palestinian life is cheap. And so is the life of a poor black woman from New Orleans.

at least by the media’s standards.

Last year AP showed a picture of a black man with a bag coming out of an abandond super market. He was ‘looting’. A white couple pictured doing the same thing ‘were searching for food.’ Palestinians are terrorists. Israeli settlers that kill Palestinians do so in the name of security.

In a sense, we do share each other’s pain.

Now that we’re all hurting, what do we do next?