Sunday, November 27, 2011

Right To Exist, Fashioned

When the ethnic cleansing of millions of Palestinians throughout the years of occupation imposed by the only democracy in the Middle East, “Israel”, and the inhumane actions of mass killings and rape of land is enough to make your blood boil, one more thing can be added to multiply the amount of steam coming out of your ears: the cleansing of Palestinian culture. 

In Palestinian tradition, el koffiyeh has been used as headdress by men. The cotton material and texture was mainly used to keep out the heavy dust and sand, and for farmers to keep their heads cool as they plowed in their fields. The checkered pattern was said to refer to many things: a fishing net, a honeycomb, the joining of hands, or the marks of dirt and sweat wiped off a worker's brow.

During the Palestinian Revolt in the 1930’s, Palestinians wore the koffiyeh as a symbol of nationalism and resistance against increasing British rule and Zionist settler-colonialism. It was then adopted by late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the 1960’s, and continues until this day to be our traditional symbol of resistance, our Palestine worn around our necks.

The black-and white koffiyeh has been sometimes referred to as the “unofficial” flag of Palestine. Sadly, in our contemporary times and due to the schism between political parties Fateh and Hamas, many have began to associate the black-and-white koffiyeh with Fatah and the red-and-white koffiyeh with Hamas (historically, the red-and-white koffiyeh was associated with Jabha, or the PFLP.) This association has not been accepted by many other Palestinians, who believe that el koffiyeh is for the whole of Palestine by Palestine. Yet in many cases, you cannot take a few steps outside your home whilst wearing a koffiyeh without a worthless deadbeat singing, “Fathhawy, Fathhawy!”  
I vividly remember walking in Ramallah on the 15th of May (AlNakba commemoration day) earlier this year, wearing a FREE PALESTINE T-shirt. My sister was wearing a koffiyeh. Almost everyone that walked past us would smirk and say sarcastically, “Oh, she wants to liberate Palestine!”

The lack of realization of our lives under occupation made by the majority of Palestinians has made them careless about what el koffiyeh means to the world. This has made it an easy target for our koffiyeh to be worn as a fashion accessory (spit!) throughout Japan, America and most of Europe. Many, if not all wearers of this garb for fashion reasons are completely ignorant of a koffiyeh’s true meaning. Of course, “Israel” has even started to rebrand el koffiyeh as its own, despite referring to it once upon a time as “terrorist” symbolism. Ironically, it fits with “Israel” under that account.

Those who believe they understand the true symbolism of el koffiyeh have branded it as being “anti-Semetic” and a “political statement supportive of Islamic terrorism against Israel”. Little do they know that the only democracy in the Middle East uses every means of psychological warfare as a weapon to disrupt history and culture, sadly not only affecting the world but the occupied Palestinians, too!

When the colored koffiyeh became the newest fashion trend, Palestine looked like a kaleidoscope of ignorance. People of all ages began to wear this worthless piece of cloth around their necks and strut with a new found confidence to comments like “I like your scarf” or “OhmyGod where did you get it it’s soooo cute”. The markets were flooded with these despicable meaningless accessories, and an underground call to boycott was soon commenced by the more aware. Yet until this day, the occasional vulgar pink or blue “koffiyeh” can be seen worn on a Palestinian who would rather use it to match their shoes or purse than acknowledge its true meaning. Since colored koffiyehs are no longer the latest fashion trend in the market, supply has radically decreased this year in comparison to earlier years. Business is business, right?

Herbawi Textile Factory, located in Hebron, Palestine, is the only producer of the original koffiyeh in all of Palestine. The factory was founded in 1961 by Yasser Herbawi. Yasser is now almost 80 years old but still makes it to the factory every morning. He has made it his duty to hand the factory over to his sons Izzat and Judeh and a family friend, Abid Keraki, and promises that the factory will always remain family-run. “It’s [el koffiyeh] our past, our future…it means everything,” he says.

The irony of the situation is that while the koffiyeh’s popularity is increasing, the factory’s sales have decreased dramatically. Due to cheaper and inferior imports from China, the factory’s sales are dropping by half of what they originally sold. Following the Oslo accords, these foreign imports have been flooding markets since the 1990’s. 70% of the Herbawi Textile Factory’s sales are made from the original black-and-white koffiyehs, and colored ones are being sold just as a fashion accessory to keep the factory running.

The factory’s looms are very complex machines, so complex that it took the Yasser’s sons more than five years to fully comprehend the looms. The factory once had fifteen looms working, but now only eight are used and not all are needed full-time. Unfortunately, Izzat Herbawi doesn’t object to the modern commercialism of the koffiyeh. However, he stated thatthe koffiyeh is a tradition of Palestine and it should be made in Palestine. We should be the ones making it.”

The factory is “the only and the last” to produce the koffiyeh in Palestine. Thanks to a true Palestinian from Hebron, who started a business at the age of 33 to ensure that our symbol of resistance, our culture, would continue to exist throughout many years to come. Hopefully the old will die but only after enlightening the young, and may we continue to literally wear our pride around our necks as Palestinians. May we continue to defy the occupiers, who believe that mutating our culture erases us from existence.
      


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Freedom Riders, Palestine's Time

            The Palestinian Freedom Rides movement was inspired by the Civil Rights Act of 1961, when African Americans and Americans alike boarded buses and road throughout the south in order to break segregation marked by Jim Crow laws. This act branded them the name “Freedom Riders”.  Segregation of the 1960’s revolved around a direct schism between “blacks” and “whites” in every aspect of life imaginable; education, public eating, public transportation, and housing provinces. This began the Freedom Riders movement where Americans, “blacks” and “whites” alike, rode segregated buses . Inspired by such a movement, six Palestinian activists decided to do the same regarding segregated Israeli buses, in which they would be non-violently defying illegal Israeli settlements, and Israeli segregation. 
     Earlier Tuesday November 15th, 6 Palestinian activists as well as people of the press headed to the illegal Israeli settlement of  Kohav Yakov, where they attempted to board  segregated Israeli buses headed to Jerusalem in defiance of Israeli apartheid and segregation. The first bus passes the activists however, the driver keeps driving on. The second bus, and the third pass, to no avail. Five buses passed the activists without stopping to allow them to get in as passengers; instead they completely ignored their existence. Whilst they were waiting for a bus to stop, an IOF military jeep came to the location of the Freedom Riders.  It wasn't until the sixth bus, bus number 148 that the Palestinian Freedom Rides activists were able to board. Illegal Israeli settlers boarded the bus with the Freedom Riders. At this point, history had already been made, as Palestinians had physically got onto segregation buses headed to Jerusalem. Aboard the bus, the Palestinian flag was flown.  
         During the first and second Intifada, the waving of the Palestinian flag was an action enough to land a person in jail. During the weekly demonstrations in villages such as Nabi Saleh, Bil'in, Ni'leen and Walaja, waving the Palestinian flag can bring a person an arrest, or worse as in the case of Ashraf Abu Rahmah, administrative detention.
        A settler aboard attempted to grab and confiscate the Palestinian flag, but his attempt was defied.
       Bus 148 began its move to its perceived destination: Jerusalem. The driver of the bus was following an Israeli police vehicle, while the bus was accompanied by Israeli Occupying Forces from behind. They bus was led to Hizmah checkpoint, which is one of 522 checkpoints that are spread throughout the West Bank. Upon arrival to Hizmah checkpoint, Israeli Border Police as well as Israeli soldiers boarded bus 148 which carried the six Palestinian Freedom Rides activists: Nadeem Al-Sharbate, Huwaida Arraf, Dr.Mazin Qumsieyeh, Fadi Qura'an, Basel Al-Araj, and Badee' Dwaik, as well as several journalists documenting the event. The Police asked all the settlers on board and the driver to leave the bus, to which they obeyed but not before remarking to the activists still on board that "this is our land." The settlers were able to board another bus heading to Jerusalem without any harassment from the Border Police. However the activists were asked for their ID's, and confiscated them in an attempt to get the Freedom Riders to exit the bus. "I will show them my Palestinian ID card and say I want to go to Jerusalem. We'll see what happens," said Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh. However the Freedom Riders were determined to remain on the bus, saying over and over again "We are headed to Jerusalem."
          Journalists were then kicked out of the bus and fined 500 Israeli Shekels for "parking on the side of the road". This is merely an attempt to punish those who spread the word of Israel's apartheid regime and its racist implications to the rest of the world.
       At this point, Freedom Riders had begun chanting, "We are not getting off, even if you throw us in jail". They knew that they could be arrested but remained defiant, and most importantly, non violent. Palestinian activist, Badee' Dwaik, resisted by nonviolently laying on the floor of the bus. He asked the Israeli Border Police "Why didn't you ask a settler for his permission slip into Jerusalem? Is his blood red and mine blue?"
     When journalists and settlers were removed from the bus, only IOF and Israeli Border Police remained with the Freedom Riders. The bus then began its move to a police station.
   Once at the police station, Israeli Border Police began forcibly removing Freedom Riders one by one. (Due to the camera shooting the live stream footage running out of battery, we were only able to see three arrests (Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Huwaida Arraf and lastly Fadi Quran’s). Israeli Border Police tried to negotiate with activists Huwaida Arraf and Fadi Quran, if negotiating meant saying "You are here illegally. Yallah, you will be taken off the bus." The Freedom Riders remained in their seats, staring straight ahead. IOF and Border Police then began to violently grab these activists one at a time forcing them off the bus. Whilst being arrested, Huwaida and Fadi both introduced themselves as Freedom Riders and said "We are only trying to go to Jerusalem." Alongside the activists, Fajr Harb was also arrested, even though he was not on board the bus, nor part of the Palestinian Freedom Riders group, he was merely arrested for showing support for the cause, and being Palestinian. As Fadi Quran said as he was being arrested "We only want our freedom, justice, and dignity." The activists and Fajr Harb were taken to the detention center of Atarot, where they remain now until further notice.