The Brutality of Life
It has been increasingly apparent to me, and incredibly annoying, to find that many of us have not educated ourselves about human conditions, injustices, abuse, and political coercion (just to name a few) that are going on around the world. Something is defiantly wrong with us if we allow ourselves to go on with our lives while people are being slaughtered, poverty stricken and abused in other countries around the world and chose not to gain some knowledge about it. If we do not have the means or ability to help those people directly, it is enough for us to merely gain the knowledge and perspective about their situations.
My hope therefore, is for this article to be a starting point and eye opener for many on their journey of knowledge about the world.
I am a refugee; A refugee of a country that I was not able to enter for almost two decades. It was not the choice of my grandparents to leave their nation of Palestine, but what is a person to do when they are being shot at and forced to leave their homes for another country in the pursuit of “safety.”
My experience in Palestine was more than just an eye opener; it gave me the opportunity to look at the world on a whole new level. As I talk to locals, I come across a relatively young man and we begin to talk. Imagine you are 20 years old and you are in your home- on what you would consider to be an average day. The next thing you know, Israeli soldiers march in and take you away from your home, your family and your village. You spend the next five years of you life in a prison for reasons that are unknown to you. Although, as I later found, he had just been let free almost six months prior to that date, he continued on with his personal story with much bravery.
We continue walking through his village- which is in essence, a refugee camp- until we reached a graveyard, and stepped in hesitantly. At the entrance of the graveyard lies an upright plate of names of those individuals who were systematically killed or shot to death by the Israeli army. I asked why these individuals would have a special plate with their names on it - keeping in mind that the entire graveyard was created for all those that were killed. His answer; the Israeli army refuses to give the bodies of these particular civilians back to their families.
We walked into the graveyard and find that some of the name plates have two individuals’ names on them. Why? These individuals were killed just as the others, however, not only do their bodies lay on top of each other, but so do their limbs and organs, a testament to the method by which they left the world. A joint burial would be the only logical solution in this dreadful situation.
He told me to follow, and began to point at several graves, mentioning names of family, distant relatives, neighbors, lovers, and friends. I stand there in utter shock, not knowing what to say, how to feel and what to think. This refugee camp is named Jenin.
In the spring of 2002, the massacre that took place in the Jenin refugee camp mainly went unnoticed. Hundreds of civilians were shot at and innocently killed by Israeli soldiers. This massacre happened five years ago, however no international response was triggered. I myself had no idea of the severity of the situation until I saw it with my own eyes. There must be something wrong with the media for them to have allowed such a massacre to take place without any massive international response or extensive news coverage. In the heat of the moment everyone responds, but what happens afterwards, what happens to all those people, with no homes, no families. What about the orphans?
Stories like these are not uncommon. On the contrary, the average teenager in Palestine has likely come into direct contact, and would have been under direct threat from the Israeli army at least once in their lifetime already. This situation is not unique to Palestine. Civilians living in war-torn nations around the world are faced with similar situations such as this one all the time. It is up to us to learn about these appalling situations and inform others so we can make a difference in the world and stop these injustices from taking place.
As students, as educated individuals, as productive members of our own societies, and in essence, as humans, we must change the way we see the world. It should be our duty to be aware and knowledgeable of the world around us. It should be our duty to help people around the world in ways we know how. The most basic way to help, is obtaining the mere knowledge of situations happening around the world. Sir Francis Bacon said; “Knowledge IS power”, and rightly so.
By: Demah El-Sadek
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