I know Atzmon, we Need Public Debate

NOVANEWS
Dear all,

This hyper-sensitive and potentially explosive issue merits much more than a knee jerk reaction, which is why I have refrained until this moment from making any comments. I know Gilad Atzmon, I have read much of his writings, he gifted me his book, ‘The Wandering Who?’ which I have put aside to take with me on my forthcoming flight to Australia so I can read it uninterrupted. I like Gilad, I love his music and I am very partial to his quirky personality. All in all, in my opinion, Gilad, as a package, is a decent, well-meaning human being who should not be isolated or scorned simply because some of his writings and sayings are not always to our taste.

I too had an opportunity, albeit fleetingly, to meet Ali Abunimeh here in London and he afforded me the courtesy of enquiring about my well being when my email account was hacked into last year. I read Ali Abunimeh extensively and I was listening to his latest key-note speech at Harvard only last week. I have a lot of time and respect for Ali, another decent human being,which makes one more reason why I did not react immediately.

What made me change my mind was this very well thought out and well written, informative piece by Rich Siegel, whom I know through Facebook and, of course, his music. I, as a Palestinian, who has been working all his life to direct the spotlight on the plight of my people and my country through writings, debates and speeches, have always welcomed any meaningful debate which keeps Palestine and Palestinians on the front page. I have always maintained that if ever we are to achieve peace in Palestine we very much need the unencumbered by religious doctrines or ideologies on our side. There is no need for us Palestinians to say that we are not ‘anti-Semitic’ for the simple reason that we are Semites ourselves. There is no reason for us, the Palestinians, to say that we like or dislike Jews. What we should emphatically say, and should not be distracted from by squabbles and arguments, is that we are anti Zionist, anti occupation, anti racist and anti apartheid. All these labels point in one direction only, we are anti Israel in its current form as a Jewish state.

May I humbly suggest that Ali and his co-signatories have a private or civilised public debate with Gilad and Rich and any other like-minded Jews who want to see an end to our suffering and a clear path to lasting, durable and viable peace in Palestine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *