alt.education

Salute To Our Muslim Martyrs
Musil Shehadeh

As a Christian Palestinian, I cannot but bow my head in full reverence
and admiration to our Muslim brothers who are teaching the Israelis
and the world the real meaning of self-sacrifice in the face of cruel
occupation. You can call them what you want but you cannot deny them
the pinnacle of courage when they offer their own lives at the altar
of freedom, not only for their own religious order but also for all of
us. No power, be it the Israeli rocket, its F-16s, its tanks, or its
nuclear weapons, can stand as a deterrent against such culmination of
human sacrifice.
Such martyrdom has created a new chapter in the history of human
resistance against occupation that has never been emulated in the
history of humanity except for the Japanese kamikaze in the Second
World War. Instead of having the world study the psychological motives
behind such courageous acts, they are dismissed naively by Israel and
its U.S. protege as simple acts of "terrorism"! Really! Those who
sacrifice their lives for freedom are "terrorists," while those who
massacre people to keep them under the chains of bondage are engaged
in philanthropic acts? Using such bizarre criterion, it would place
George Washington, and Martin Luther King as "terrorists" while
Genghis Khan, Attilla the Hun and Sharon as the heads of charitable
organizations. Even those who criticize such heroic acts cannot deny
that those young men and women, who strap themselves with explosives
and sacrifice their lives, fully realize that there are other options
for the future. They could have chosen to get married and to have
children, or to seek profitable employment and to enjoy the many
pleasures of life. They could have followed their instincts to
continue living without bringing grief and misery to their loved ones.
Yet when they kill themselves and deny themselves the pleasure of
living, then there has to exist a very good cause that prompts them to
commit such acts of self-destruction. As one of the bereaved mothers
explained: life without freedom had no value in the eyes of her
beloved martyr-son. They have chosen to die so that they would fight a
cruel occupier to liberate their lands, to reject life without
dignity, while creating life with freedom for others. Western teaching
institutions would rush into explaining how frustration in life could
drive people into acting violently, yet they tend to swallow with
great relish the Zionist versions when explaining the violent nature
of these acts. American history can easily recall how many Americans
died along the road of freedom, in their War of Liberation against the
British. Yet the American administration would not hesitate to
espouse Sharon's view that his massacre of Palestinian women and
children was a war against "terror." The U.S. apathy and flagrant
ignorance with the tragic plight of the Palestinians is deepened
further when President Bush calls Sharon a man of "peace," a title
that Mr. Sharon's Likud constituents even deny! For those of us who
are still advocating "give peace a chance," we should not forget that
Mr. Sharon's war is not against "terrorism," as he would like us to
believe, but rather an aggressive war to occupy our homes and land
turning us into slaves in our own homes. His enemies are not those who
carry the gun, but anyone who would stand in his way to expropriate
more lands from the Palestinians. How else can one explain his closure
of the Palestinian profile office in Jerusalem headed by Dr. Sari
Nuseibeh? A super moderate Palestinian whose call for the existence of
the two States, meeting all of Israeli demands for peace and security
along the 1967 borders, could not be matched. Yet he was not spared
the wrath of Sharon because he dared to demand the right of
Palestinians for their own mini-State? It should be obvious to all of
us that Sharon cannot understand any language except the language of
force, as no moderate or peace-loving advocate can survive the war
imposed upon us by those who are working hard to deny us our rights.
It should behoove all of us to support our martyrs and their families,
as these are the real heroes of our dignified and legitimate struggle
for freedom in our homeland.


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