Eid 2008-09-29
Once again, the holy month of Ramadan comes to end. Once more people are preparing for Al-Eid, the Feast of Breaking the fast. Once more, people think how they can celebrate this Eid.Once more, we ask the same questions: How many checkpoints and roads will be open so that Palestinians can be able to circulate freely from place to place to visit their family members, relatives and friends? How many will be able to enjoy a vacation time in a green space or on a sea shore, or outside the country? How many people will be able to fly over the illegal separation wall to visit the holy places in Alquds-Jerusalem, or their friends or relatives? How many will be able to imagine how their families are living on the other shattered side of Palestine, whether they are in the West Bank or imprisoned in Gaza? How many people will be able to celebrate this feast in their family? How many Palestinian prisoners will be in the Israeli prisons during these days? How many people will be able to go to visit their relatives with a gift in their hands?
How many people will be able to hold their daughters and sons in their arms, and to print a kiss on their front? How many mothers will be able to smile or laugh to their child? How many dreams and hopes will be fulfilled, and how many others will be shattered? How many people will be able to return to their homes and villages, stolen and violated from them by the Zionist bandits in 1947, 1948 or 1949 or later on? How many people will die while dreaming of this return?But despite all of these questions, despite all this agony and frustration, despite all this suffering, we keep up the hope that tomorrow will be better than today, and that the future generations will have something to struggle for and a humanity to defend against all the ugliness of this occupation and violations of human rights and international law. We keep up the hope that we still know our priorities and ignore those which are dictated to us by the occupation state or complicit international community. Our priority is still and remains that Israeli occupation ends. That our land, what is above and what is below, our air, and sea are free, and are ours, without any control from any occupier, or a dictation from whoever.
We keep up the hope that this eid will bring happiness in sad houses, and hope in broken wills, and strength in tortured spirits, and restore the values in the human world.
We keep up hope that our children and the generations to come will feel and live and practice their humanity on all levels and be equal partners for making a beautiful change in this world.
Enjoy as long as you have time to enjoy… and be the change… so that one day, close or far, when you are about to enter the second world, you may close your eyes and peace and feel happy that you were able to plant a seed and make it grow and flourish and that you were able to make a positive change in this world
May your days and moments be more beautiful and filled with happiness and joy. May you in these moments remember us, in this holy, tortured, punished, cursed, occupied land of Palestine…. May Gaza and West Bank and every city, village and refugee camp fuse in one, and become a land were dreams come through. May all this world be one, were every human is equal and partner to make this world a joy to live in.
Ashoka Fellow
Director of Al-Rowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Center
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