Home Sweet Home
I knew I was back in Palestine when I saw two guys smoking under a large glowing “No Smoking” sign. I was back in the land of contradictions; the land of the illogical. The taxi driver that took me from the border to Hebron put on his seat belt only when he was on Israeli controlled roads in fear of a ticket. When he was back in Palestinian territory, he removed it. So in the hour and a half trip from Jericho to Hebron , he put on and removed his seat belt five or six times. What I could not understand was the reason why he kept removing it. It would be more convenient to just keep it on. It did not make sense to me.
A guy on the taxi was talking about the dangers of smoking while he was sucking on a cigarette. When I told him that he was smoking, he said he tried to quit, but could not. Well, I guess his attempt to quit gives him the right to contradict himself so openly.
My brother-in-law, who is fairly educated, believes that god gave us the right to kill non-Muslims; that the purpose of Islam is to conquer the world. Yet he believes that Islam is peaceful; that the daily bombings in Iraq are carried out by the CIA. I have heard this ideological nonsense from almost everyone here. Ideology seems to define this region. Logic and objectivity have been forsaken.
I do not know if Palestine ’s problems can be fixed at all. There are too many variables. Every visit convinces me more and more that we have made the decision to collapse as a society. I try to think of solutions, but my decisions are clouded with anger and confusion. I am angry at everyone here for letting the situation deteriorate like this. I believe that any third world country can develop. However, such development cannot occur with a self-destructive ideology.
It might be too hard to think at the moment….things are so chaotic. Better, developed perspectives may come to you when you leave. Social overhaul seems impossible, but the truth is the nations of the world aren’t working together as well as we could. Palestine needs to stand and think rationally on its own, of course, but the nation will never get to that point without some outside help (and I think that includes Palestinians who have lived and been educated outside the borders, but still have compassion to assist).
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