IMEMC - by Tali Shapiro
I was born and raised in Israel. A daughter to “Atheist Jews”, secular Zionists, white collar, upper middle class, capitalists, Neo-Liberals, who “built this country”...
Through the Zionist thicket of my own family’s education, school, and the Israeli media, I found myself rootless, alone, but most of all numb. It seems to me that the biggest achievement of Zionist propaganda is to make the majority of Israelis numb and confused. I would despise school (which I often described as “oppressive”), my army service (“jail with better visiting conditions”), and national ceremony (“disgusting solidarity”).
... Waking up to the reality of Israel would be gradual, with many tipping points...
... the story that would resonate the most would be that of 12 year-old Huddah Darweesh. Huddah was shot in the head by a sniper while sitting in class, and somehow survived, only to wake up blind. This would be the first time I would cry for a Palestinian.
.... I’m a closet freedom fighter. For three months now, I’ve joined the weekly demonstrations in the village of Bil’in. My father doesn’t know. For many Israelis the West Bank is “enemy territory”. Personally, I was just desperate to meet Palestinians. In the flesh, with my own eyes. Once would never be enough. Once would give a shallow impression. So every week, for the past three months, I’ve been discovering these people. Palestinians aren’t the devil, they aren’t saints, either. They are, however, human… I’m sure daddy would be shocked.
Here’s a story of another daddy. After the protest, we usually sit with our friend (I’ll keep his name to myself, if you don’t mind), who is usually up-beat and up for conversation. He was like this when I met him 3 months ago, he was like this a day after the IDF kidnapped his son in the middle of the night, and he was like this a week after the kidnapping. He was like this today, as well, but at some point, his son’s arrest was brought up. He started telling us how they carried his son out of the house, how he could hear him screaming as the soldiers beat him. Then this 50 year old man started to cry.
That’s just one story. My friend would tell you hundreds more, if you just sat on his porch for tea.
A typical Israeli would wish me hung in the square for cavorting with the “other side”. ...
Through the Prism of Freedom
... Throughout the last nine months I’ve been reassessing my experiences and education through a new prism. I call it the prism of freedom, because once you look at Israel from the outside, you realize that everything you were taught – Zionism, “love of the land” (in the “revived” Zionist Hebrew, the words “land”, “country” and “state” are completely interchangeable), “serving your country”, “loyalty”, “patriotism” - is all a nationalist lie that serves to make you into a killing machine. These lies have been practiced before, throughout history and geography, and they embody the banality of evil. When you can see the lies, you are free. Full story
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