Much hoopla is surrounding the five-day visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Palestine and Israel this week. One only has to walk through the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City to sense the anticipation. Along the Via Delarosa and up to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and around near Jaffa Gate and the church there, yellow and white Vatican banners are strung all along the streets. Posters of the pontiff are plastered on windows throughout the Christian quarter and loyal servants of the faith can be seen making last minute touches to the floors and entranceways of churches and alleys where the Pope will walk.
Around the Aqsa Mosque Compound, where the Pope is scheduled to visit on May 12, people living directly around the courtyard have been ordered not to leave their houses. Some cannot even open their windows during the Pope’s tour of the Muslim holy site. Security will reportedly be extremely tight as the Pope visits some of Christianity’s holiest spots and also Islam’s places of worship to encourage religious tolerance in a place where religion often tears people apart instead of uniting them. Some schools in Jerusalem have shut their doors for the two days the Pope will be in the city, mainly because the roads will be closed to traffic. While students are jubilant over having two study-free days, businesses along the Via Dolorosa are not as happy. One hair salon owner, who is a practicing Christian, is already peeved at the fanfare around the papal visit. “It’s exaggerated,” he said. “I will have to close shop for three days because of the Pope. That means three days of financial loss.”
While the Pope’s visit is supposedly designed as a pilgrimage and devoid of any political undertones, anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the Middle East knows this is just not possible. The fact that he is landing in Tel Aviv, will meet with Israeli dignitaries first and visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum before visiting his own faith’s landmarks means politics will always come first in our region.
The Palestinians, however, are trying to make the best of the visit. The Pope will not only visit the holy sites, but will tour the Aida Refugee Camp, perhaps a kind of parallel visit to counter Yad Vashem. If he is to pay his respects to the fallen Jews of the Holocaust, then he should also acknowledge the ongoing suffering of Palestinian refugees. Israel, however, is making sure not too much Palestinian politics get in the way. Israeli authorities reportedly made the organizers change the place of the podium where the pope will stand in the camp so pictures of him will not include the gray cement separation wall in the backdrop.
Also, in preparation for the Pope, the Palestinian Media Center set up a press office, working out of Jerusalem’s Ambassador Hotel. A press conference was to be held coinciding with Benedict’s arrival to Israel at noon today. Early on, Israeli radio and press announced it would ban the press conference. Israeli police showed up early this morning and handed the hotel’s management the order.
No surprise, obviously. The Palestinian press room has been preparing documents and reports on Israel’s violations in the holy city and its impingement on religious rights, including denial of access for Palestinian Christians and Muslims to their places of worship. This is not something Israel wants highlighted to the pontiff, especially since he has been preaching religious tolerance and interfaith relations throughout his eight day trip, which began in Jordan.
These next couple of days will be the true testimony of how the Pope handles the extremely delicate balance between Israeli and Palestinian sentiments. He has already angered both Muslims and Jews since taking office, the first by making controversial statements about Islam and the latter by rescinding the excommunication of a bishop who apparently denied the Holocaust.
So, the pontiff will have to tread lightly through this landmine-filled country if he is to truly build bridges of faith. Being one of the most influential people in the world, the Pope has a golden opportunity to spread the word of tolerance to some people who desperately need to hear it. What he may not realize is that in Palestine, Christian-Muslim relations are extremely positive and basically embody what any preacher of faith espouses. It is not even the question of Jewish-Muslim or Jewish-Christian relations that need to be repaired. It is more of Palestinian-Israeli relations, which have been sucked up into a religious web because of Zionism’s exploitation of Judaism. Judaism and Israel have become synonymous to many, not because people are stereotypical or because they are ‘anti-Semitic’ but because that is how Zionism intended it. If it were not for Zionism and its project to usurp another people’s homeland and continue to oppress them until date, neither Palestinian Christians nor Muslims would have any serious bones to pick with Jews.
Let’s hope Pope Benedict XVI sees this when he visits Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Yes, politics may not be the most important aspect of his trip given that he is the leader of the Catholic faith, but he cannot deny the political dimensions of the place if he is to fulfill the goal for which he is coming. Israel cannot continue to claim it is democratic and allows freedom of worship as it oppresses and denies those living under its occupation of this very thing. Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike suffer from Israel’s repressive measures for the simple fact that they are not Jewish. If this does not symbolize intolerance, I don’t know what would.
The people united will never be divided
Date posted: April 30, 2024
By Joharah Baker
I was born in the United States and lived there through early childhood, but since returning with my family to Palestine, I have never wanted to go back. The United States has always evoked mixed feelings in me. I have a certain nostalgia for the place of my birth but my overall sentiments always culminated in a sense of resentment for this so-called superpower that has systematically aided in my people’s oppression, occupation and dehumanization.
That is, until present day. The scenes of American university campuses breaming with students in kuffiyehs, waving Palestinian flags and resisting the brutality of the police and their own university administrations, has uplifted my spirit in ways I cannot fully articulate. In a word, what is happening on US campuses today is validation of our people, of Palestine and of our struggle. To those who live comfortable lives in free countries, this may sound like an exaggeration, but for my people, who have been denied their very right to exist, who have been demoralized, demonized and dehumanized, this is huge. We are seeing students of all races, creeds, backgrounds and religions, calling for an end to the genocide in the Gaza Strip and marching for a free Palestine and divestment from the Israeli occupation. We are hearing Jewish voices, debunking Zionist propaganda and its below-the-belt attempts to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. We are being validated for our struggle, for our resistance against oppression, occupation and settler-colonialism and we are finally being heard and seen.
Students have always been the litmus test for social and political justice. Rallies and demonstrations on university campuses have been the driving force against imperialist wars throughout the ages, the Vietnam War being the best example. However, what is so incredible about this movement is that American students are not directly involved in Palestine. Students are not being drafted into an army to fight on foreign soil, so the stakes are not as high for them at the personal level. What is happening today is the direct result of the intersectionality of struggles and the belief that no one is free until all of us are free. This is a force far more powerful than a genocidal regime will ever be.
The scenes from university campuses in the United States and now in Europe, juxtaposed against the crushing images from the Gaza Strip, are a balm for our wounded hearts. We feel a kinship with these incredible Gen Zs who have put their very lives on the line for Palestine. We send them love, energy and solidarity as we watch them being thrown to the ground, handcuffed and arrested and we burst with pride as we hear them chant ‘Free Palestine”.
This is a moment in time that must not be squandered. May these American university protests spread like wildfire throughout campuses across the world, putting to shame both Zionism and American imperialism, which has allowed this racist ideology to survive. The Palestinians have never wavered in their determination to liberate their land from Israeli occupation and oppression, whether they do it alone or with the help of friends. Today, thanks to the beautiful people all over the world who have championed our cause alongside of us, a free Palestine is not only an inevitability, it is just around the corner.
Who will hear their screams?
Date posted: April 01, 2024
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
When Israel claimed women were sexually assaulted on a mass scale on October 7, the world exploded. Almost the entirety of Israel’s genocidal war was based on these and other allegations, many unsubstantiated. We all remember the infamous’40 beheaded babies” story, do we not?
This article is not about Israeli allegations per se, neither will it only focus on violations against Palestinian women. This is about a world that is immediately up in arms when one side merely alleges atrocities while it turns a blind eye to actual documented violations against the “other”.
In Gaza, it is painfully clear that we indeed, are ‘the other’. How else can anyone explain the muted cries of women being stripped, raped, starved and murdered practically in real time, on our phone screens, documented in UN reports and described in horrific detail in eyewitness testimonies? There is no other explanation than that Palestinians are what Arundhati Roy calls “Children of a lesser God”. We are the victims of deep-rooted colonialism, one whose geographic demarcations may have vanished but whose insidious, dehumanizing mentality still prevails and manifests in the ugliest of manners.
For nearly six months, Palestinians have endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of Israel’s occupying army. Today, the Gaza Strip has been reduced to an emaciated shell of what it once was. As Gaza is being systematically decimated and ethnically cleansed, the world, for the most part, looks on. Barring sympathetic supporters and a few well-intended but timid political actors, nothing has been done to stop the carnage. Palestinians once believed there was no way the world would allow Israel to erase Gaza off the map, no way it could see a live-streamed genocide and do nothing. But that is exactly what is happening.
Then, when we thought things could not get any worse, something unfathomable emerged from the deathtrap of Gaza. When this happened, we were certain it would be the turning point in this hellish nightmare. Well-documented reports, corroborated by the UN and eyewitnesses on the ground, told of harrowing stories of sexual assault against Palestinian women in Gaza.
We were paralysed with horror when we heard of women being raped by Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza, assaulted and stripped in front of their families. What’s worse, we all know that in times like these, the undocumented atrocities will far outnumber those documented. Who knows what horrors will unfold once the dust settles in Gaza; no doubt they will be so horrific, our entire nation will be traumatized for years to come.
The real question here is not how Israel’s soldiers perpetrated such gross violations. I think by now we can all agree that this depraved military establishment and its political echelon to boot, has dehumanized and vilified Palestinians so much and for so long, they will justify just about anything. No, the question is more about the moral compass of the rest of the world. While alliances and political interests are always part of the equation, even when the issue pertains to basic human rights, nothing can better explain the blatant hypocrisy, double standards and loss of collective humanity than the deafening silence today.
Our women have not only been killed, starved and displaced, they have been exposed to the very violations that sparked global outrage and a genocidal war against an entire population under occupation, unprecedented in modern history. This is not only unacceptable, it is an indelible stain on humanity. Sexual violence is a crime so heinous it is imperative to condemn and prevent, no matter the perpetrator or the victim. That must always be the baseline in any argument.
Palestinians will never get past this genocide; it is not something you can come back from. However, be assured, this is not only about the Palestinians. The world’s women, the majority of so-called feminists who have remained disgustingly silent, must know this: when you do not stand up for women, all women, no one will stand up for you in your time of need.
A new day will come
Date posted: February 14, 2024
By Joharah Baker
I once heard that anger is not a real emotion, but a cover for other feelings such as sadness, disappointment or fear. You need to peel back that outer layer to understand what is really going on inside.
Strange how this has lately resurfaced for me, but I think I know why. Lately, I and surely, millions of other Palestinians, have been filled with a blinding rage -- at Israel, at the United States, and at the world overall. This is a rage that is all-encompassing, the depth of which is palpable at the cellular level, permeating every molecule and every atom of our being. The genocide in the Gaza Strip has grated our emotions raw and we are left stinging and burning from our head to our toes.
Our anger is like a huge magnetosphere and we are all trapped inside, but its walls are translucent and we can see the source of our rage mocking us from beyond. We Palestinians are angry because we are so disappointed and we are angry because we are disillusioned and we are angry because we are drowning in sorrow.
Our disappointment lies in the fact that the world has failed us in the worst possible way and has allowed the unspeakable to be committed against us. Genocide is the ‘mother of all crimes’ and, contrary to the promises, the conventions and the historical lessons the world was supposed to learn, it has been committed over and over again. The Palestinian genocide, however, is unique in at least one way: it is live-streamed, which means no one can claim ignorance and everyone has a responsibility in stopping it. Hence, our disappointment is not limited to countries, Arab or otherwise, or to international and human rights organizations. It has spread to everyone in our orbit; acquaintances and people we thought were friends, but whose silence towards our slaughter is a deafening betrayal. Our sense of disappointment has discolored every relationship it touches because every relationship for us is a dichotomy: you are either with or against genocide and either support Palestine in word and deed, or not.
Our anger is a thin veil concealing our disillusion with the international community and its institutions, supposedly established to protect people in situations precisely like ours. We have confirmed what we knew all along, that these organizations were constructed for some and not all, for colonial powers and not those who suffer beneath them. Even when the highest court in the land rules in our favor, the Global North ensures that its ruling will not be implemented to save us, the oppressed, indigenous brown people whose lives apparently do not matter.
And finally, our anger is a survival mechanism to shield us from our own grief. Our sorrow over the murdered men, women and children, defenseless, homeless, starving and shivering in the cold, is so deep, so immense, we ourselves cannot fathom it. If we dare peek behind this anger and truly feel a fraction of the aching in our hearts, it will paralyze us for sure, because no people can endure the magnitude and scale of such suffering and not lose their minds.
We Palestinians know we cannot let go and that a new day is near. We know we must hold on just a little bit longer, because Palestine depends on it. We are no strangers to oppression, suffering and sacrifice and we know the price of our freedom has and continues to be painfully high. Still, we also know that a life without shackles and the yoke of oppression around our weary necks is the only life worth living.
