The US Left & Palestine

Greetings,

A question to my progressive friends.  Why is the US left so damn silent 
about the Palestinian issue?  It seems ironic to me that while the US media, 
in its very biased ways towards Israel, is obsessed with the Middle East, the 
Left is deadly silent, whispering very few words on the issue.  Please, 
someone give me a serious response to this.  There are probably some good 
historical reasons for this and I would like to hear them.  

I'm sure it's not due to any simple explanation like "the left does not view 
Arab Palestinian lives as worth fighting for," as some of my Arab colleagues 
have claimed.    Obviously not since they have been quick to respond to 
injustice and oppression wherever it may show its ugly face.  Rightfully, 
whenever injustice occurs in Latin and Central America, China, Eastern and 
Western Europe and the US, the US Left speaks out loudly, if not on the 
street at least among themselves.  But why not Palestine?  Why the silence?

It's not ignorance that explains it, since many of us regularly discuss 
issues we are not familiar with.  Nor is it due to the fact that it's an old 
issue that has bored us to death.  We discuss many old issues that have 
persisted decades, even centuries.  Likewise, it is not due to any racist 
dislike of "the Islamic Orient" since many of us have persistently fought 
such racist politics on a daily basis.  And lastly, and most controversial of 
all issues, it's not due to the fact that the US left is extremely 
uncomfortable discussing anything related to Zionism since it may touch on 
the ugly history of Western anti-Semitism?  No, obviously not since many of 
you are willing to be critical of Zionism when discussing it at a one-to-one 
basis.

So why the silence?  
Are all the above allegations wrong?  
If they are wrong, as I hope, then please give me alternative explanations.  

Does one have to be Arab or Muslim to talk about this issue?  Should we leave 
this issue to be discussed only by the very racist, anti-Arab, anti-Muslim 
Media and political officials?  For the sake of a meaningful left I hope not.

Khaldoun Samman
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Our people's suffering is silent.
No one hears our suffering.
No one hears our children's cries.
No one hears our mothers' cries.
No one hears our mothers' mourning their children.
They only hear the stones.

We are invisible in our suffering.
We are invisible in our pain.
We are invisible in our death.
Our suffering is invisible.
Our pain is invisible.
Our death is invisible.
But every one sees our stones. Our stones are not invisible.

Our rage is silent.
No one hears our rage.
Our fears are silent.
No one feels our fears.
Our mothers are silent.
The stones are not silent.

Our children are not silent any more.
Our children grow hard and they die hard.
Our children are fed up with silent death.
They are fed up with silent cries.
They are fed up with cries for justice.
Silent justice died with the thousands of freedom martyrs.
Silent justice died a thousand times with Mohammad Durra.
Silent justice died a thousand times with every child martyr.

There is no silent justice any more.
Justice is not a free bird any more.
Justice is a thousand Thorne birds.
Justice is a sling shot in the hands of our children.

Our children like stones because every one sees them.
Our children like stones because every one hears them.
Our children like stones because every one feels them.

Mothers, plant a stone in your children's hair when you comb them every
morning.
Mothers, plant a stone in your children's lunch boxes every day.
Mothers, give your children stones for their daily allowance.

The nearer the dawn, the darker the night.
Freedom is like the early morning bird,
which starts to sing as it feels the light of the day.
Our people are morning birds.
They sing when they feel the light of the day.
They feel the dawn is coming, and they sing loud beautiful tunes.

Our rage is not silent any more, even if they can not hear it.
Beware our children's lunch boxes.
Beware our children's black hair.
Beware our morning birds.
Beware our children singing in the morning.
Beware our children when they taste freedom,
for there is no stopping until the birds of Jerusalem sings again.

Our birds of flesh will defeat your birds of steel.
Our birds of love and hope will defeat your birds of fire and hate.
Our birds singing in Arabic will defeat your hateful foreign settlers.

Our birds over Palestine are birds of hope and light,
chasing the sunshine rays of our land,
chasing butterflies over our olive fields,
singing love tunes for our land,
dancing with joy and hopes of freedom,
painting the skies with their beautiful bright colors,
flying ever so high to see the land from sea to sea.

Beware our children's rage.
Beware our children's stones.
Beware the scream of our butterflies.

Mohammad Chehab