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Al-Talib interviews Bayan Abusneineh, a third year Political Science major at UCLA, about how she and her family dealt with their Muslim and Arab identity in the US after 9/11.

A-T: Tell me where you were when the attacks first happened.

Abusneineh: It was about 6 o’clock and I was getting ready for school. I went over to the family room so I could go to the kitchen and eat, and I saw my mom standing there with the remote and this look that, “Oh crap, something happened.” She called, “Bayan, come see this, come see this!” She called my brother, my dad was at work so he wasn’t there, and we were all just looking. It was really interesting because we were looking at the first plane crash when the second plane actually hit. I was really upset. We all went to school, and we were watching the news the entire day at school. We were only in fifth grade but we understood that something really bad happened to our country and it affected a lot of people. Many people were even crying in class.

A-T: When did you figure out the attackers were Muslim?

Abusneineh: I remember my mom stating something in the beginning, like, “Oh shoot, we’re going to get blamed for this.” I didn’t understand what that meant. I had trouble with this one boy from the year before, and he used to come up to me and make fun of me for being Arab all the time. He came up to me when I was crying that day and asked me, “Why are you crying? It was probably your uncle who did this…” After 9/11 his insults became a lot worse, and he used to really bother me. I actually got into my first fight with that individual that year because of this.

A-T: Did you start to feel the effects on the Muslim and Arab community right away?

Abusneineh: I did because of my family members. My immediate family, we don’t look Muslim but people know we’re Arab. Some of our neighbors stopped talking to us at first. My cousins did wear the headscarf. One of them was walking home from school at one point and some guy swerved to almost hit her, and she had to run up to the concrete. He almost hit her, and he started yelling at her, “You terrorist, go back to your country.” My cousins were new to the country. It was at the time they were moving here that all this happened.

A-T: Do you feel like the attacks changed your family?

Abusneineh: I did. I noticed my own mother or my father become a lot more paranoid. I remember they wouldn’t be openly praying outside anymore. We tried to keep it quiet  that we had Arab roots in Palestine, we would just say that we’re from the Middle East. Our word choices changed and things like that.

A-T: Did you notice that it changed peoples’ religiosity levels?

Abusneineh: Definitely, especially within my own family. I think we started becoming more secular. We started shying away from people that were Muslim, we stopped hanging out with hijabis (women who wear the headscarf) as much, we wouldn’t go to the mosque as often, things like that. We were just really paranoid. I think it escalated after we took a trip to Jordan in 2002. Arabs and Muslims had problems in the airport and we especially noticed it. We don’t wear the headscarf or anything, but our last name says it all. We were “randomly” searched, we were put to the side, we had to open our arms and they patted us down forever.  We were scared we were going to miss our flight because they searched us for a really long time. That’s when I noticed there was a problem with me being Muslim or Arab in this country.

A-T: Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Abusneineh: Muslims and Arabs are still targets till today, not as bad as before, but I’ve seen a lot of Muslims become secular because of fear of the United States. It’s even had an effect on me and my family. It would be very difficult for me, even if I wanted to, to put the headscarf on because that’s part of it. My own mother says, “I’m from the Middle East,” instead of saying, “I’m Palestinian,” “I’m Jordanian,” or “I’m Muslim.” It’s taking a toll on our identity and I think that’s something we should never, ever have to compromise and be afraid of, ever.

Photo: Flickr/ Usman Ahmed

Guest speaker was current UC Riverside SJP President Taher Herzallah, who is currently working as a Campus Coordinator for American Muslims for Palestine

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

A Future of Peace:

The peace plans have been watered down and frosted over. I’m a pessimist in this regard. Palestinians are extremely complicit with the situation; which is of course the result of 60 years of war and occupation. Palestinians are also extremely reliant on Israel, and they spin the wheels of their own oppression.

I hope for an economic intifada (uprising) rather than a violent one. Violence has only brought about harsher responses from the military. If it is going to be fought out, then the stronger of the two is going to win, which is obviously Israel. Even if Palestinians were to win, it would be national suicide due to their reliance on Israel for just about everything from the water they drink, to the electricity that lights their homes, to the monetary currency that they use. An economic uprising would set them on a path that they will be able to separate themselves from Israel, gain some sort of power, and then go to the negotiation table when they are on a fair playing level. As it stands, there is nothing Israel actually needs from the Palestinians, and therefore, there is no such thing as a real ‘compromise’ or ‘solution.’ Everything needed is in the hands of the Israelis.

Asking Israel for power is like a slave asking his master kindly to remove his shackles. I do not support violence in any way. I think it has proven a failure. But there is a way to go about liberation more strategically, as to take the power for themselves without sucking up to Israel and asking for it. Then they can move to the negotiation table once they have power.

Internal Conflict Within Myself:

I am connected to both Israel and Palestine in every way. I was raised in a Zionist community and arrived at my own conclusions totally independently. I have relatives in Israel. I even have relatives in settlements. My relatives migrated to Israel largely after having suffered at the hands of Europe. I cannot blame them. I blame the ones who made the ridiculously immoral decision of handing them someone else’s land. It would be like the United States handing control of Iraq to oppressed and starving people in Somalia or Sudan. No one coming from the Holocaust had the mental ability to understand the Palestinian suffering as a result of their move. I cannot blame those in my family who saw their own mother decapitated in Russian Pogroms.

But I do strongly and vocally stand with Palestine. I want a true solution to the conflict, and I’m interested in helping stop suffering on both sides. I visited Israeli cities bordering Gaza that are often victims of rocket attacks, and could not help but feel sympathetic for them as well. They practically have had to turn their cities into one massive bomb shelter, and have faced years of living in freight and horror. The children of Sderot and the children of Gaza would have a lot more in common than they think; one of which is obviously that their entire life has been stained by war, conflict, and trauma.

My parents are supportive of my political views after years of debate and often emotional argument. I have successfully awoken them to the reality in Palestine. Others were not so enthused. I have had a few people curse me out and threaten me. But a majority of people just thought I was absolutely insane. They were surprised when I returned in one piece. It has forced many of them to question their own beliefs. I’m happy to have people question anything. We are living in a world filled with deception, myths, conflict, and hate. The more we question, the more we learn. But sometimes, the more we learn, the more questions we have. And I suppose that is why fully understanding and trying to help the conflict in Palestine will be my life-long mission. After visiting the region, I only have more questions than answers.

The saddest thing:

-That I could leave while they are mostly stuck there.

-That I have an American passport while they have a Palestinian one.

-That I can go just about anywhere without a pre-approved visa, whereas they spend months waiting for a visa that they are unlikely to ever attain.

Honestly, far worse than bullets and bombs is sheer boredom and no hope for the future. Nothing is more a depressing thought to me, than the idea that most of my friends in Palestine will go on after studying double-majors in universities to either sit home unemployed or work crappy street-jobs. Most of them will stay in the refugee camps, hardly leave their city, let alone their country, and live the rest of their lives in utter boredom or resistance. No mother should ever expect her child to grow up and spend the rest of his life in prison.

A young girl asked her father how I was able to leave…imagine having to explain that to a child. It was my last night in the camp. That very same night, that young girl pulled her baby brother away from the door as she heard Israeli jeeps driving through the streets. Age 6 and she already knows the sounds of an Israeli jeep. No child anywhere on earth should know the sound of a military jeep’s tires.

May Allah (swt) reward us all and help the oppressed across the planet. May he grant them, as well as all of us, with patience, steadfastness, and faith. Ameen.

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

Hospitality

What kept me enjoying each and every moment of Palestine was certainly the hospitality and caring nature of the people. I once was told that guests are treated this way, as a famous proverb says, because a guest is a guest sent by God and followed by angels. They certainly take this idea to heart, as just about everywhere I visited, I was greeted by smiling faces inviting me in for a cup of tea and coffee as well as the regular meal. By the end, I was so worn out from going house-to-house every single day. Of course I never wanted to feel like a burden, but they actually enjoy whipping up a dinner for foreigners there. Every visit begins with tea and ends with coffee. There’s no such thing as a “short-visit” in Palestine. Forget the idea of rushing.

Will I return again?

I feel inseparable from this land. I feel an emotional attachment to it on every level; be it my family’s Jewish heritage, my Islamic beliefs, my long-lasting and life-changing friendships or my need to help those suffering on both sides of the conflict in some way. I cannot just forget it and block everything out of my memory, though this conflict has caused a lot of family and community disputes for me. I’m not exactly an optimist, but I do want to go down on the right side of history. Insha’Allah, I will make this conflict my key issue and the rest of my life’s work. Not a day passes that I do not reminisce about Palestine.

I do, however, wish to see other areas of the world before returning to Palestine for an extended period of time.

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

Religion in the West Bank:

I was rather disappointed upon realizing how secular a majority of the people were. The women wear hijab, but it seems nothing more than a cloth and something their ancestry had grown up practicing. Very few men actually pray, including those who are knowledgeable about Islam. Women are more likely to pray, as they are often indoors. Most people have crazy myths regarding the religion that have been inserted in due to the conflict. A lot of the people look down upon the men with big beards wearing the traditional clothes. A lot of the teenage males drink, watch pornography, and chase after female tourists.

I’m tired of Palestinian nationalism. It’s time for Islamic revivalism. Nationalism has yet to work anywhere on earth, and it surely is not working in Palestine.

Palestinian Women:

Women in Palestine are extremely strong and bright. Palestine has a long-running tradition of education despite the conflict and economic difficulties. Females are extremely educated and have great potential. They are not disadvantaged in the workplace from what I saw. Never will a woman have to work a cruddy job that she never wished to do, as would be the case for a male, seeing as the male is responsible for economically supporting the family. A woman would either work a job she has always dreamed of, (i.e. a teacher, a doctor, a nurse, etc.) or more than likely, not work at all.

On the other hand, there are unnecessary chains and restrictions set on girls. Most males could easily get away with yelling at their mother or father, dating a girl, staying out late into the night, or even losing their virginity. To the contrary, most girls are kept on a very tight leash with an unfair bias against them. I never like to judge other cultures in harsh ways. But I could tell this was not something that only I understood as a western and Caucasian male. Sisters of male friends complained to me of unfair treatment. A lot of it is caused by the conflict. Women need to be propped up as good potentials for marriage, because the economic situation caused by the conflict puts families in a position that they wish to marry of their daughters as quickly as possible. But sadly, I have my doubts that such practices will end anytime soon, even if the conflict is to come to an end.

Unfortunately, a lot of women are treated as slaves. Males are completely dependent upon their mothers and sisters. I grew very close with a refugee family, and completely threw them off when I offered to make tea for the wife and daughters. Oh- the controversy that would be caused by a male cooking for his wife! It works out well for farming families, when the men are out in the fields while the women cook and clean indoors. But that only comprises of a small percentage of Palestinians. Especially for families that face unemployment, it is unfair in my opinion for men to sit down and watch television as their wives work all day to keep the family happy.

On the other hand, to have each person take care of different issues in the home keeps some necessary structure to the family-life and keeps families close-knit. I think the breakup of the family structure in America is a leading cause for drug-addiction, homosexuality, pursuit of destructive forms of happiness, and so on.

There is good and bad in every culture. There are positives and negatives to the treatment of women in America, as is also the case of women in Palestine. At the end of the day, women are the most prominent figures in society. They make up 50% of the population but also bring up the other 50% (males) and teach them their values and morals. Palestinian women practically live for their children, and nothing clings stronger than a mother to her son or daughter- a beautiful image that I do not think will ever leave my mind. Families are just so close-knit and caring there!

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

Non-Violent Resistance:

Most resistance in the West Bank is non-violent. It’s the violence that makes media headlines, however, that violence nearly entirely ended in 2006. I strongly encourage those in support of the Palestinian struggle to offer their support to the non-violent protests in Nil’in, Massara, and other villages protesting weekly against the separation barrier that has cut off large portions of their farmland.

Protesters won in Bil’in after five years of non-violent struggle, when the Israeli courts decided to reroute the fence away from their farmland. So these protests are somewhat successful and useful. Protesters are met with military force, and 16 people have been killed. I must say that it was by far the most frightening experience I had while in Palestine.

The sound of rubber bullets, stun grenades, and teargas cannisters shooting in all directions from military weapons is extremely discomforting, especially when you cannot see because teargas and ‘skunk-spray’ have clouded up your eyes, burned your nostrils and throat, as you clumsily try to figure out the safest route out of the ‘conflict-zone’.

Furthermore, non-violent and artistic forms of resistance are sparking up all around Palestine. Nearly every city and refugee camp has a community center where children are taught traditional Palestinian dance, art, and tales to keep their heritage alive, as well as implement art as a form of expressing their difficulties as a means of non-violent resistance.

In my mind, every Palestinian home built without a permit (which is just about every home), every farmer that continues to work his land despite military orders, and every Palestinian case in the Israeli courts is a form of non-violent resistance that is often overlooked.

Internal Palestinian Dispute: Hamas VS. Fatah

Internal disputes have halted just about all political progress in Palestine. In the West Bank, where Fatah is in power, Hamas is extremely suppressed and persecuted. The opposite is true in Gaza, where Hamas is in power. A majority of people are tired of these partisan politics and wish for their political parties to come to some sort of deal.

Fatah is extremely corrupt and few people will deny that fact. They’re practically a mafia: supporting those who provide them with money and support, while wiping off those who speak out against them. I had met many people who spent years in Palestinian Authority prisons for speaking out against the Government. Quite sickening if you ask me, though it has become not only a norm in Palestine, but throughout the larger Arab and Muslim world.

On the other hand, Hamas is not seen as the great alternative. Art, music, movies, and other well-appreciated Western activities are common hobbies in the West Bank, to which Hamas tends to stand against. Usually those people who are overly strict and unfriendly are referred to, in a joking or mocking way, as “Hamas”- so it certainly does not seem to me to carry along a positive tag. Furthermore, a lot of Palestinians do feel that Hamas policy in Gaza has only encouraged further Israeli aggression.

Of course, views in matters such as these vary person to person. Also, do not forget that other parties exist. The PFLP (Communist Party) is quite popular as well.

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

“How Do Palestinians View…?”

I cannot help but cringe at this question. People constantly ask me,

“How do Palestinians view Hamas?”

“Do Palestinians want the destruction of Israel?”

“Do Palestinians believe in a two-state solution?”

There is no answer to any question implying that an entire society thinks a homogeneous way. All societies contain a diverse set of views. I found families in the West Bank so sympathetic towards Israel that literally tears dripped down their cheeks at the site of a funeral on television for two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. Then, to the contrary, there are graffiti images of swastikas and suicide bombers bearing AK-47′s in their martyrdom poses along just about every wall.

Major Problems in the West Bank:

Just about every area confronts different issues. Israeli soldiers patrolling the streets are a rare sight now-a-days in the West Bank since the Palestinian Authority has been handed power of policing all major cities. But almost all cities still face night raids and rather frequent arrests. Most Palestinians seem to have family and friends in prison. From my observation within the refugee camps, a majority of men over the age of 18 had been imprisoned at some point throughout their life.

The separation barrier (be it the wall of the fence) have cut off a significant portion of farmland from Palestinians and have shot a bullet into the heart of any previously existing economic growth. It has left a lot of farmers unemployed, cut off several Palestinian villages from the West Bank, has destroyed the tourist industry that once flourished, and has put a lot of Palestinians that once worked in Jerusalem out of work. Palestinians are also no longer able to reach the beautiful city of Jerusalem and pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque without a permit. Permits are hard to gain, and therefore, the Dome of the Rock has become the symbol of liberation and I personally witnessed Palestinians tear at the thought of visiting Jerusalem once again.

Settlements are a major issue. For those who do not know, they are basically Jewish plots of land built within the Palestinian territories. The settlers are in fact, “Imperialists,” or maybe more-so, pawns of those wishing to annex the West Bank. Some families move to the West Bank for practical and economic reasons, while other move for ideological and religiously-motivated reasons. Settler violence runs rampant and the Israeli Army tends to close their eyes to it, and maybe command them with a light slap on the wrist, “stop please.” Yeah, I’m not joking about the, “Please.” I actually saw them politely ask a settler in Hebron to stop throwing rocks at Palestinians. Of course, rocks thrown in the other direction are met by teargas, rubber bullets, battons, and stun grenades.

In August of 2009, 63% of Americans polled said that the U.S. does need to support Israel. In June of this year, 58% of respondents shared the same view; by July only 51% of respondents said the U.S. needed to support Israel.

Only 19% of German respondents said they felt “warm” or “very warm” feelings toward Israel, while 50% responded they experienced “very cold” or unfavorable feelings toward Israel.

In France, the data were a little better, but Israel did not achieve widespread public support there either: 24% said they felt “warm” or “very warm” feelings toward Israel, while 31% felt “cold” or “very cold” feelings toward it.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, the situation was similar to that in Germany, with 49% percent saying their feelings toward Israel were “cold” or “very cold.”

Read full article: U.S. Support for Israel is Decreasing

ACTION ALERT

(BAY AREA 06/30/2010) –  Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 117, which declares California’s support of Israel’s deadly May 31 attack on the Freedom Flotilla. The bill also affirms the state’s support of Israel’s siege on Gaza and its “right to protect and defend itself.”

The American Muslims for Palestine asks its supporters in California to call their sate senators and demand this bill be defeated in committee.

The Freedom Flotilla, a fleet of nine vessels bound for Gaza with more than 10,000 pounds of donated humanitarian and medical supplies, was attacked by Israel while in international waters. Nine unarmed humanitarian activists were killed; several others were injured. Israeli commandoes arrested and detained the nearly 800 surviving activists.

Sen. Strickland calls these peace-loving civil resistance volunteers “terrorists.”

“Israel has every right to ensure their country and their people are kept safe from terrorists. …Just like every other country in the world, Israel has the absolute right to defend itself,” Strickland said in a press release.

“That Sen. Strickland would compare these unarmed, humanitarian activists to terrorists is unconscionable,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian, chairman of American Muslims for Palestine and professor of near eastern and ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. “What Mr. Strickland is doing is taking the focus off of Israel’s illegal actions in international waters that resulted in the deaths of nine innocent people and the illegal detention of hundreds more. It is unthinkable that in the land of freedom and justice, we would have an elected official that would not only praise such rogue behavior but would sponsor a bill officially sanctioning it.”

TAKE ACTION

SCR 117 has moved to the Senate Rules Committee for assignment. It is imperative that supporters of justice in California call upon the members of the Rules Committee to keep this bill from advancing.

• Call your state senators and demand this bill be defeated. Find your senator by clicking here.

• Attend the next Rules Committee meeting. The committee meets at 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday in Room 113 in the California State Capitol building.
• Contact the Rules Committee members to demand the defeat of this bill. Senators on the committee are: Darrell Steinberg (chair); Samuel Aanestad (vice chair);  Gilbert Cedillo; Robert Dutton; Jenny Oropeza. Get their contact info at http://www.senate.ca.gov/ftp/sen/committee/STANDING/RULES/_home1/PROFILE.HTM.

TALKING POINTS

• Israel’s siege on Gaza is illegal and has no basis in international law
• 90 percent of Gazans rely upon the United Nations for food aid
• Israel allows in less than 25 percent of needed and necessary humanitarian items
• The passengers of the Freedom Flotilla were unarmed civilians trying to take items such as wheelchairs and prefabricated homes to Gaza
• Israeli commandoes killed nine unarmed civilians in international waters, a grave breach of international law
• One of the dead was an American citizen.

The American Muslims for Palestine is a national, grassroots organization whose mission is to educate the American public about issues relating to Palestine and its rich cultural heritage. For more information, contact Kristin Szremski, director of media and communications, at 708.598.4267, ext. 22 or media@ampalestine.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To learn more, go to www.ampalestine.org.