Global IssuesMIDEAST: As a Street Parliament Views Obama
'Welcome to our 'Palestine State Parliament'!' Nidal Bazbaz calls out to a friend who's passing by in between an assembly of older and younger Palestinians. They're seated on plastic chairs, lined up against opposite walls, in an alleyway of the walled Old City.
They're anxiously waiting for U.S. President Barack Obama's address at the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA), smoking arguileh and sipping small cups of Arabic coffee, seemingly impassive to the sight of two Israeli policemen in full battle gear.
Two shops away from the water pipe joint, Marwan Sha'aban advertises 'U.N. Palestine' T-shirts, prominently displayed with an assortment of 'I love Palestine', 'Free Palestine', and 'I love Israel' T-shirts. 'They all sell,' he smiles in an aside.
'My family is what counts,' adds the father of a little girl from Silwan, an infamous flashpoint of friction with Israeli settlers who live in the heart of the neighbourhood, below the Old City walls.
Meanwhile, the smokers are busy commenting on the events of the day on the Al-Quds TV broadcast. The split screen shows the thousands who've rallied peacefully in the morning for their President's statehood bid in the Al-Manara square of Ramallah, the West Bank centre of Mahmoud Abbas' Palestinian Authority, ten miles away from here, side-by-side with a correspondent reporting live from Damascus Gate, a stone throw away from their 'parliament'.
'We see by ourselves: all is quiet in Jerusalem,' Bazbaz harangues the journalist, 'You're reporting what we all know: nothing is, and will, happen here, as usual.'
Between two puffs of his apple-scented tobacco, the disenchanted man in his late sixties reminds the audience, 'Didn't Abu Mazen (Abbas) say, we should expect 'very difficult' times after he submits our request for full statehood at the U.N.?' The audience nods at the orator, deeply immersed in their thoughts of the threat of Israeli and U.S. sanctions.
Bazbaz is from Ras El-Amoud, another quarter with a notorious settler presence. He's seen it all. It's not the television images that float like smoke in front of his clouded eyes, but Palestinian memory…
As a child, the UNGA Vote on the Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine (1947); six months later, the creation of the state of Israel (1948); the ensuing dispersion of his family ('My father's siblings fled to Jordan, we stayed here'); the Jordanian occupation of Jerusalem (1949-1967)…
As a young adult, the 1967 war; the start of the Israeli occupation; the armed struggle, 'the resistance' ('I was jailed without trial for one year just because I was a sympathiser of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine')…
As a father, the two Intifadah uprisings (1987-1993 and 2000-2005); betwixt and between, 'a peace process that has led us nowhere…'
Memory works by associations.
Sep. 13 marks the day when the predecessors of the characters in the present 'U.N. play for Palestine' — legendary Palestinian and Israeli leaders, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin — shook hands and signed the Oslo agreement at the White House, witnessed by U.S. president Bill Clinton. That was 18 years ago. 'The peace process is a mature lady that cannot give birth to peace,' he notes.
This afternoon, they entertain but little hope that Palestine will eventually have a real chair at the U.N. 'Not in my lifetime. Obama will use his veto power at the Security Council, end-of-story,' Bazbaz sums up.
'Palestine has dominated the U.N. throughout our missed history,' interjects Naef Hirbawi, a neighbour. 'Already in 1974, when Abu Ammar (Arafat) received a standing ovation at the U.N., I remember the newspapers headlines heralding, ‘Palestine's alive!’.' Bitter chuckles arise on the 'House' floor — the U.N. once carried more powerful associations.
Another 'legislator' points to the 'Al-Kursi Al-Azraq', the giant 'Blue Chair' on display in Al-Manara beside the four crouched stone lions that adorn the square, as if to usher in a would-be chair at the world body.
A satirical video clip posted on YouTube tells 'the story of a magical blue chair ... that can travel, soar and fly'. 'Will it bring us back Jerusalem and Palestine?' 'We're a people who're enamoured with a chair,' hums Sha'aban in a singsong tone, closing his shop.
'Shush, Obama.' The waiter has switched to the Al-Jazeera channel. The arguilehs' mindful gurgle is the only perceptible murmur. It takes an excruciating time before Obama starts tackling 'the issue' — 'a bad omen,' notes Sha'aban. Indeed.
As if addressing directly the 'parliamentary' concerns, Obama mentions neither the 1967 'borders', nor the settlements. 'No shortcuts to peace, i.e. no shortcuts to independence. Do we look like we've had no patience?' Hirbawi hurls at the monitor, paraphrasing the U.S. President.
Obama imperturbably addresses the U.N. Strengthened with bystanders, the 'Palestine State parliament' looks increasingly dismayed. Seen from the telly, the world body all of a sudden stares at them in an increasingly unfriendly manner.
Obama's key words, 'freedom,' 'dignity,' 'peace is hard' (three times), are cut mercilessly by the hecklers. 'With (Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, peace's hard,' correct a couple of onlookers in unison.
'He mentions the six million Jews (killed during the Nazi Holocaust); what has it got to do with us?' interjects Hirbawi. 'The truth is, we've long become the 'Jews of history',' adds Bazbaz, 'Our suffering has turned us into a symbol. But you can't turn bereavement into a state any more,' he says, alluding to the creation of Israel in the wake of World War II.
Ala Aweideh has been silent, listening, watching, trying to listen. He stands up, gets ready to go back to Silwan. 'At best, we'll come back from the U.N. with recognition, not with a state. But we've got nothing to lose.
'Abbas is playing for broke, and we support him,' he says quietly as he meanders through the darkened alleyways. 'We'll get good marks for our good behavior. But, when he'll return to Ramallah via Jordan on Saturday, Israeli soldiers will be there to welcome him at the border-crossing.'
© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service