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The first time I heard the word 'refugee' was in the mid-1950s in reference to the Palestinians. Has much changed since?
Published : 23 Oct 2023, 11:51 AM
As far as I remember, I first heard the word 'refugee' in the mid-1950s when a maternal great-uncle – my mother's uncle – was visiting us in London from Addis Ababa. He had, by then, spent more than 40 years in different parts of Africa as a Church of England chaplain and had been connected with Ethiopia since 1928.
He was talking with my mother, a geographer, about the problems of the Palestinian refugees and how, in his opinion, the Palestinians were being mistreated and that many Western nations, principally the US and the UK, were not following the paths of truth and justice.
My great-uncle was based in Addis Ababa in 1936 when the Italians invaded and took over. He had to leave the country and spent the next five years in Jerusalem, where he ministered to the needs of the Ethiopians and other refugees who had gone there. And while living outside Ethiopia, he studied Islam so that he could have a better-balanced view of the 'Holy Land'.
At the time of this discussion with my great uncle, my mother had started supporting Oxfam, which was very small then. After working on the plight of refugees in war-torn Europe after World War II, Oxfam supported the Palestinian refugees' humanitarian needs after the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948. As I sometimes helped my mother with fundraising activities, I was allowed to listen in on the discussions about the problems of Palestine. My great uncle was emotionally very concerned that, despite decisions by the United Nations, a lot of politicians had forgotten that Palestine used to be known as the Holy Land and the area, especially Jerusalem, was a very sacred place for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and that everyone should, ideally, be living in harmony.
These discussions with my great-uncle took place in 1954 or 1955. Since then, Israel has been allowed, more or less, to do whatever it has liked with, apparently, the blind support of many nations, particularly the US and the UK. The bombings carried out by Israel every few years have even been referred to as "Israel is mowing the lawn". Dr Gabor Maté, a Jewish Holocaust survivor who lives in Canada, says that what Israel has been doing since 1948 is "the longest ethnic cleansing operation in the 20th and 21st century".
"I could land in Tel Aviv tomorrow and demand citizenship, but my Palestinian friend in Vancouver, who was born in Jerusalem, can't even visit!" he said.
While he does not, in any way, support the rocket attacks by Hamas, he points out that Gaza is the largest outdoor prison in the world and that the violence perpetrated by Israel is thousands of times greater.
Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, a careful, thoughtful Saudi Arabian ex-diplomat to the UK and US, balanced his condemnation of Hamas with that of Israel in a speech a couple of days ago in which he accused the country of "indiscriminate bombing of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza" and the "indiscriminate arrest of Palestinian children, women and men in the West Bank".
He took issue with the US media's use of the phrase "unprovoked attack" in reference to the Oct 7 raid, saying: "What more provocation is required.. than what Israel has done to the Palestinian people for three-quarters of a century?"
"All militarily occupied people have a right to resist occupation," he said.
Prince Turki also condemned Western politicians for "shedding tears when Israelis are killed by Palestinians", but refusing to even express sorrow when Israelis kill Palestinians.
In an interview from a few years ago Dr Maté said, "If you look at the Western press, when Hong Kong demonstrators throw stones at the police in Hong Kong, that's considered to be heroism in the American press, when in Myanmar, the demonstrators throw sling shots at the army, at the oppressive army, they are considered to be heroes in the western press, when Palestinian kids throw stones at the Israeli soldiers they are called terrorists."
Many recent public demonstrations of support for the Palestinians have been seen in many countries. It is hoped that good sense, understanding and compassion can finally infiltrate the United Nations and that the attention of the permanent members of the Security Council can be drawn towards a permanent solution for the Holy Land.
I wonder how many times words such as these have been written. As Dr Maté said, "There's no way you could have ever created a Jewish state without oppressing and expelling the local population. Jewish Israeli historians have shown without a doubt that the expulsion of Palestinians was persistent, pervasive, cruel, murderous and with deliberate intent - that's what's called the 'Nakba' in Arabic; the 'disaster' or the 'catastrophe'. There's a law that you cannot deny the Holocaust, but in Israel, you're not allowed to mention the Nakba, even though it's at the very basis of the foundation of Israel."
As Dr Maté says, it is not a matter of being pro-Palestine but a matter of being pro-truth. That is what has been lacking - many countries' leaders are not facing the truth. It must start now and with great urgency.
