For those yet hopeful that a compromise settlement can be reached between Israel and the PLO whereby the Arabs agree to forgo their purported claims inside the post-agreement, sovereign Jewish State, a recent article in the Saudi Arabian Arab News might disabuse them of that idea. The author of the article, Fawaz Turki, is a columnist and poet living in the United States.
Writing in the leading Saudi English-language daily, Turki waxed poetic about "the key". Referring to the "keys to their homes that Palestinian refugees left behind when they were expelled from their country in 1948," the writer declared that "you would rather throw yourself in front of a truck than give it up."
Turki claimed that the symbolism of the keys, and the near-holy respect accorded them, proves that "the Israeli entity has failed to wipe out the Palestinian people's historical memory...."
The lynchpin to that memory, Turki explained is the "Catastrophe" ("Nakba" in Arabic) of the foundation of the State of Israel. It is, according to the American Arab writer, "a catastrophe so unique in scale, intent and consequence that it has entered the essential repertoire of every Palestinian's consciousness, defining his inward preoccupations and identity. Its uniqueness is anchored in the fact that nothing like it had ever happened to any other community in human history - that a people, hailing from across the ocean, would assault another, expel them en masse, and then rob them of their entire patrimony."
As a result of this, Turki continued, "the starting point to meaning is embodied in the concept of Al-Awda (the Return).... The Nakba's terminus, in other words, will be that day of grace when the native son reclaims his land."
Until then, the Arab News article stated that understanding the "Catastrophe", "you may gain insight into how a shahid, or fallen patriot (pathetically translated into English as 'martyr', a term that is a function of the evolution of Christian iconography), would go on a suicide mission in pursuit of a cause he knows he's not going to be around to see triumph."
Summarizing, Turki wrote: "No ferocious rage equals that, for Palestinians, triggered by an assault on their concept of Al-Awda. That's what the leaders of the Israeli entity, true monsters by any definition, were doing in the Rafah region these last three weeks, assaulting a people because they have maintained their historical memory. But in this case you don't blame the beast of prey for being a beast of prey. We blame the United States for making it all possible."
Writing in the leading Saudi English-language daily, Turki waxed poetic about "the key". Referring to the "keys to their homes that Palestinian refugees left behind when they were expelled from their country in 1948," the writer declared that "you would rather throw yourself in front of a truck than give it up."
Turki claimed that the symbolism of the keys, and the near-holy respect accorded them, proves that "the Israeli entity has failed to wipe out the Palestinian people's historical memory...."
The lynchpin to that memory, Turki explained is the "Catastrophe" ("Nakba" in Arabic) of the foundation of the State of Israel. It is, according to the American Arab writer, "a catastrophe so unique in scale, intent and consequence that it has entered the essential repertoire of every Palestinian's consciousness, defining his inward preoccupations and identity. Its uniqueness is anchored in the fact that nothing like it had ever happened to any other community in human history - that a people, hailing from across the ocean, would assault another, expel them en masse, and then rob them of their entire patrimony."
As a result of this, Turki continued, "the starting point to meaning is embodied in the concept of Al-Awda (the Return).... The Nakba's terminus, in other words, will be that day of grace when the native son reclaims his land."
Until then, the Arab News article stated that understanding the "Catastrophe", "you may gain insight into how a shahid, or fallen patriot (pathetically translated into English as 'martyr', a term that is a function of the evolution of Christian iconography), would go on a suicide mission in pursuit of a cause he knows he's not going to be around to see triumph."
Summarizing, Turki wrote: "No ferocious rage equals that, for Palestinians, triggered by an assault on their concept of Al-Awda. That's what the leaders of the Israeli entity, true monsters by any definition, were doing in the Rafah region these last three weeks, assaulting a people because they have maintained their historical memory. But in this case you don't blame the beast of prey for being a beast of prey. We blame the United States for making it all possible."