Some months ago, a small book club I belong to had the book "I Shall Not Hate" by Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish on our list. I was very moved by the book. Subsequently, the book club invited Dr. Abuelaish to come and speak about his book, and I had the pleasure to meet him. I now regard him as a friend. Notably, Dr Abuelaish's story was mentioned in Barack Obama's recent speech that mentioned 1967 borders to resolve the conflict. Here is what Dr. Abuelaish had to say about the idea of equality in a Jewish State...
(signed) a friend
I think this debate about recognition of the State of Israel as a Jewish State is nonsensical. The State of Israel is recognized internationally as a state. Whether Israel is a Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or a secular state is something for the people of Israel to decide for themselves. This should be defined by the articles outlined in a formal constitution. To date, no such constitution exists.
Just as Israel is recognized internationally, Palestinians want nothing less. We want to have a recognizable state. Palestinians have no recognizable passport. It’s a travel document. If Palestinians want to travel, they produce a humiliating piece of paper that tells any border services there is no state of Palestine. For a Palestinian to travel outside of Palestine, all countries require a visa and most of the time visas are denied. Refugees in the Diaspora are not allowed to visit their beloved ones. The children are separated from their parents and families. Anyone seeking family reunion needs to get permission from Israel to visit their beloved gets permission for a limited time - if they were granted a permit at all. Palestinians within Occupied Palestinian territories are deprived of their freedom within their own territories.
A Palestinian is not permitted to move freely within the West Bank or Gaza. That means a person cannot decide to visit a friend or relative freely, one cannot make any plans whatsoever. When mobility is disabled in this manner, it is oppressive and harmful to the psyche of a people. This collective punishment has to end.
Israel restricts Palestinians' access to their agricultural lands if they are close to a settlement and limits how much they can export. It keeps Palestinians from building or expanding their homes and demolishes those built without permission – hundreds of them each year. It refuses to grant them access to the water beneath their land, or to the electricity grid, or even permission to install solar panels; it denies them permits to build schools or medical clinics. None of these things are permitted in century-old Palestinian villages that Israel now re-defines as "closed military zones." It is injustice when Palestinians are thirsty for a drop of water and those illegal settlers enjoy it for their swimming pools.
Where is the human rights and justice and humanity we all stand for and belong to?
The Jews of Israel have the right to safety and security, just as Jews in Britain, Canada and the US enjoy safety and freedom to practice their faith. Palestinians must also feel secure in their own lands. Why should any current policy make Palestinians feel 'secure'? It's time for Palestinians to live free, safe and secure in an independent Palestinian state side by side to to an Israeli state where all people are safe and secure.
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If the rights of non-Jews are dictated by the law of the land, why are Palestinians being forced out of their communities to make way for Jewish settlers? Why did the law of the land turn a blind eye to their construction, and continue to support them on the international stage? Security concerns do not justify providing Palestinians with dirt roads and squalid housing, and Jews with spacious villas and swimming pools with smooth highways. How can these kinds of policies make Palestinians feel 'equal' in any state, be it Jewish or non-Jewish?
Izzeldin Abuelaish, MD, MPH, is a Palestinian physician and infertility expert who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. He received a scholarship to study medicine in Cairo, and then received a diploma from the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of London. He completed a residency in the same discipline at the Soroka Medical Center in Israel, followed by a subspecialty in fetal medicine in Italy and Belgium. He then undertook a masters in public health at Harvard University. Before his three daughters were killed in January 2009, Dr. Abuelaish worked as a senior researcher at the Gertner Institute at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv. He now lives with his family in Toronto, where he is an associate professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. See http://www.daughtersforlife.com/ for more information.
