Will the sun ever rise over a Palestinian state?
I had my own similar experiences when visiting Palstine. It irritates me seeing graffiti on the walls, piles and piles of garbage in the street, cars slamming into each other…there is no order what-so-ever …and when asked “why is there graffiti on this wall?” or “Why don’t you use the garbage can next to you instead of throwing it on the floor?” or “Why did you drive through that red light?” or “Why are the kids running in the middle of the street barefoot?” The answer is always well , this is all a result of the occupation. Like Magnus says, Many things here can be blamed on the Israeli occupation, but can the mind-set of the people be? Palestinians need to take advantage of what ever resources they have and make sure that their Palestine is beautiful with clean streets, clean walls, clean homes, nice gardens. I’ve walked through villages and towns that were extremely clean and well maintained, however I walked through many more that looked worst than the biggest slums…and that is a very depressing site. The town people can and have the capability to maintain their towns by having kids in summer camp take on projects that include cleaning the streets, planting flowers and much more. We can only blame the occupation for so much. We should not allow it to take control of our mind-set! If we cannot handle a simple task as keeping our towns clean, how are we supposed to head a state?!
This is what Magnus of Ma’an Images Johansson has to share:
After spending some days under siege in Gaza with the Israeli army constantly bombing targets around me, I was finally on my way home. A few blocks away from my home in Beit Sahour, just outside Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, I almost crashed with a small red Fiat that came rushing towards me against the direction of traffic on a one-way road. The following conversation with the driver made me reflect on the future of Palestine.
When I started to honk at the driver, he stopped and started to scream at me. I asked if he was crazy to drive like that. He screamed, “Here in Palestine, there are no laws and I can drive as I want. If you want law and order, go to Israel.”
Just minutes before the incident, I saw a group of policemen supervising the traffic. I suggested to the driver that we should go to them and ask them about the laws in Palestine. The answer I got back was the same as before and he then left with screaming tires.
In many countries, the police struggle with cuts in their budgets and complain about the lack of resources to protect the citizens. In Palestine, the problem is not resources. The international community is sponsoring the police with everything from education to cars. The problem is the public mind-set. People have got so used to the anarchy that they don’t see that the only way of getting a fully respected state is through law and order.
When the police held a campaign to collect stolen and un-licensed cars, many drivers were furious when they got stopped; one even kidnapped the police officer who was following him to the station. How come that the police have the nerve to stop ME?! I haven’t done anything wrong! But you have, the car is stolen, no license or insurance. In which other country would this be acceptable? Many things can be blamed on the occupation but in this case, you can’t blame the Israelis.
I was reflecting on the behavior of the driver when another incident came to my mind. A few months ago, I was in Jericho taking pictures of a football match. It was a tense match with feelings running high. Just as it is in Europe, America or any other place where football is more than just two teams fighting over a piece of inflated leather.
On the way back, we stopped and bought some biscuits for the trip. When the package was empty, my driver put it aside and I did not reflect on it until….
After we passed the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adummim, we reached the Palestinian town of Abu Dis. The driver suddenly picked up the garbage and threw it out the window. I was surprised and asked him, “Why?”
The answer was even more shocking. “If I did it in Israel, I could have got a ticket by the police. Here there is no police.” The whole point should not be if you can get a ticket or not, but if you want a good environment for your children to live in. At the moment, most Palestinians don’t see the garbage around them. They have got used to it. And on the horizon they see the settlements with clean streets and green grass. They want to get the land back. But what is the future for that land? Garbage on every corner and houses painted beyond recognition with political slogans and graffiti?
In the end, isn’t the whole point of a Palestinian state that the people want to care for the land they have and live together by rules that are for everyone? Many things here can be blamed on the Israeli occupation, but can the mind-set of the people be?
For many Palestinians, the only way of resisting the occupation is through violence. But what if the people came together to resist the apathy in the society. Send the people out on the streets to clean them up. Ask the UN for 1000’s of liters of paint to freshen up the refugee camps. Make the Palestinian neighborhoods glisten with fresh paint and green with newly planted trees. Make Palestine a fresh and healthy place for the children to grow up in.
Send the message to the Israeli occupation: “F*** you! You can take many things away from us but not our dignity. Even though the conditions here in the camp are shitty, we will still not bow to you. We will survive and make the camp a good place to live in”.
Every society needs laws and rules to function. You might not like them, but you have to follow them. The Palestinians pride themselves in having the only real democracy in the Arab world. And this is an achievement. But the foundation of a democracy is that the people choose their leaders, who then make the laws. If you don’t agree with them it’s your right to vote for someone else in the next elections. But if you don’t respect the laws the society has set up, how can you expect others to respect you?
-Magnus Johansson is the chief photographer of Ma’an Images
http://www.maanimages.com/
