LETTER: On Human Rights
Editor,
Jamila, a 13-year-young Lebanese girl, hopelessly tried to fight her disease. Maybe she would succeed to live and see her imprisoned father Jawad. Jamila was born five months after the Israelis kidnapped her father Jawad from a Lebanese village in December 1988.
And since then he has resided in Israeli prisons. Of course she never met her dad, and Jawad will never meet his only child. For 13 long years, Jamila and her mother, Fadila suffered the bitterness of having a kidnapped father and husband. Jamila will not suffer now, but Fadila continues to live in her sorrow. Why?
I shall tell professor Siporin why. We didn’t invade Israel, and we didn’t start to kill Jews. The Israeli army invaded our land, massacred our people, kicked people from their homes, and when we tried to resist, we are called terrorists, anti-Semitic and violent.
For what sin shall we always be sewed whenever we ask for a normal life? Until when shall we be punished for crimes that Israelis committed against us? Mr. Siporin was bothered when he saw that picture, and that sign saying, “Sharon, don’t forget that your soldiers are still here.” When I go back home, I will add another sign saying, “Sharon, don’t forget that our people are still in your prisons.”
For 22 years, Lebanon tried through all diplomatic channels to make Israel withdraw from Lebanese lands in accordance with United Nations resolutions. But it was in vain. When some people grouped themselves and tried to liberate their land and their people, they were called terrorists. If terrorism is to fight for your own freedom and dignity, then I am proudly one.
We don’t want a world without Jews, nor do we want to kill Jewish people. Jews have lived in Lebanon and most Arab countries for a long time, and they enjoyed freedom and dignity. But the problem now is the Israeli aggression.
To Sharon I say, “Give the land back to its owners, set free the Arab prisoners and try to view human beings equally.”
To the elite, who are misleading the masses, I say, “Research history more, and try to be more objective.”
To Jawad I say, “Jamila died, but your hope shall never die; your parents, your wife and your friends are waiting for you, and your people will do their best to free you and free all other heroes who sacrificed their lives and their freedom for the life and freedom of others.”
Hadi Jaafar is a graduate student in irrigation engineering. Comments can be sent to him at hadij@cc.usu.edu.