Reminding the World that Human Rights Abuses Continue on Al Quds Day

We are not here today to remember the human rights abuses that go on daily in the world. We are here to remind, because we don’t forget, and we won’t forget. And indeed, it’s the least we can do. We will all leave here tonight, drive off in our cars and sleep in our soft comfy beds in safety, while somewhere across the world a woman is raped, and somewhere else a child starves, and in yet another place a family cowers in a bomb shelter, and their struggle for a life of equality and peace is something we all admire.

We live in an upside-down world, and the blood has rushed to our brain so fast it’s making our heads reel. Where truth is overpowered by lies and spin. Where the value of a life is no match for the value of a dollar.

Al Quds is a day to stand up against the injustices that the mighty of this world inflict on the meek. It’s a day to remind the world that the demolishing of homes in Palestine will not stop because we ignore it. The building of settlements will not cease because we choose to look the other way. The raids, the bombings, the checkpoints, the siege that has killed so many – they do not go away just because the news hasn’t reported it. They are always there, just like that wall – they are always there – constant, towering reminders of apartheid and barbarity.

Just earlier this year, we saw an example of Israel’s brutality. We saw Israeli forces indiscriminately kill over 1,000 civilians, over 350 of which were children according to UN reports. We saw them target UN workers, ambulances, schools and shelters. Meanwhile, Israel has yet to implement key elements of the Security Council’s resolution 1860, and the violence and siege continues despite pleadings from the UN for Israeli compliance. In fact, the UN Secretary General submitted a proposal to Israel back in June for UN-led civilian reconstruction projects for housing, medical clinics and schools, but Israel has not even responded to the proposal. Meanwhile, Israel’s contempt has been unconditionally supported by the United States government. The United States has been the only reason the UN Security Council has been unable to take more effective measures to address Israel’s non-compliance. In addition, the U.S. gives 1/3 of its foreign aid to Israel, and when Israel brutally attacked Lebanon in 2006, while the rest of the world watched in horror, the United States gave it 210 million dollars worth of jet fuel so that it could continue its operations. And throughout it all, Israel has justified its actions by citing its right to exist, but meanwhile they deprive an entire group of people their right to existence by taking from them life, liberty and equality.

And let’s also remind the world of the atrocities in Iraq that resulted from the US-led invasion and occupation. What occurred in Iraq was nothing short of rape. The occupiers sowed strife among the people while they split up the spoils. It is a fact that people of different ethnicities and religions have lived side by side in Iraq for centuries. It is a fact that the US-imposed sanctions and the US-led invasion and occupation have destroyed more lives than Saddam’s rule ever did or ever could. It is a fact that the new US-backed government of Iraq has done nothing to promote civil or human rights in Iraq, and indeed has committed much of its own torture, censorship and corruption. The refugee crisis caused by the war has created a generation of children forced out onto the streets and of women forced into prostitution because they have no other means of survival.

Since the war began, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in Iraq – and this is the conservative estimate. This year alone, thousands of Iraqis have been killed so far. 5.8 million people have been uprooted from their homes, and of that figure, less than 1% have been able to return. And of these refugees, the United States has given in a whopping 835 asylum to live here.

And then there is Baghram prison in Afghanistan. The new Guantanamo Bay. We were promised by our new president that he would shut down Guantanamo Bay, and truthfully, he is doing this. What many don’t know, however, is that he is moving many of those detainees to Baghram prison in Afghanistan – the site of torture and abuse of prisoners that compares only to Abu Ghraib. And recently, the Obama Administration filed a memorandum mimicking the arguments of the Bush Administration for why they should not be required to inform the detainees of the reason for their confinement – a fundamental right universally recognized among civilized nations.

So then what do we do? Yes, we live in an upside-down world, but if we all stand up we can make things right again. And we can start here by supporting others in their struggle for fundamental human rights. We can help the Palestinians by seeing to it that our government no longer supports Israel’s atrocities. We can help the Iraqis by supporting their right to self-government through an immediate and real end to the occupation, not the bloody limbo we have placed the Iraqi people in now. We must constantly reject torture and illegal detention and any attempt by any administration to justify it. These things cannot be up for debate. It is our duty to the brave people of this world struggling for survival and equality. We cannot be complacent because through complacency, we become guilty.

2 Responses to “Reminding the World that Human Rights Abuses Continue on Al Quds Day”

1. Polprav says:

   October 22, 2009 at 1:51 am

   Hello from Russia!
   Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
2. Christina Abraham says:

   October 22, 2009 at 10:20 am

   sure, no problem.