GUEST BLOG: Lois Griffiths – How nasty, vindictive, spiteful can a regime be ?

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KHALIDA JARRAR

Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian feminist, lawyer, educator, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council , has been a human rights activist for many years. She is hated by the Israeli regime not just for her activism in support of  Palestinian prisoners but even more, for her efforts to take Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) .

She has been arrested many times, held in ‘administrative detention’, meaning no trial, no charge, no legal representation.

Khalida was arrested at her home in Ramallah on October 31, 2019. She was  sentenced to two years in prison for “inciting violence” and belonging to a “banned organization”, with reference to the PFLP. She is due to be released from prison in September.

On Sunday 11 July , her daughter Suha died of a cardiac arrest in Ramallah.

Palestinian lawyers pleaded for Khalida to be allowed to attend her daughter’s funeral.

The Israeli prison authorities refused!

In her grief, Khalida Jarrar wrote the following heartfelt  message.

I am in so much pain, my child, only because I miss you.
I am in so much pain, my child, only because I miss you.

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From the depths of my agony, I reached out and
embraced the sky of our homeland through the window
of my prison cell in Damon Prison, Haifa.

Worry not, my child.
I stand tall, and steadfast, despite the shackles and the jailer.
I am a mother in sorrow, from yearning to see you one last time.

This doesn’t happen except in Palestine.

All I wanted was to bid my daughter a final farewell.
With a kiss on her forehead and to tell her I love her
as much as I love Palestine.

My daughter, forgive me for not attending the celebration of your life,
that I was not beside you during this heartbreaking and final moment.
My heart has reached the heights of the sky yearning to see you,
to caress and plant a kiss on your forehead through the
small window of my prison cell.

Suha, my precious.
They have stripped me from bidding you a final goodbye kiss.
I bid you farewell with a flower.
Your absence is searingly painful, excruciatingly painful.
But I remain steadfast and strong,
Like the mountains of beloved Palestine.

 

Lois Griffiths is a Human Rights Activist.

41 COMMENTS

  1. Lois, thank-you for sharing this very moving poem.
    The Jewish regime have demonstrated how the persecuted can quickly become the persecutor. Given an ‘inch’ by the allies they have taken the proverbial ‘mile’ enabled by the NY bankers, and condoned by the world’s continued silence about their disregard for the terms of settlement.

  2. Griffiths’ heading could apply to the PFLP, of which Jarrar is a senior member, and which is recognised as a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Israel, having carried out numerous attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians in the Second Intifada. In 2014, Jarrar had two meetings with Walid Hanatsheh and Abd al-Raziq Faraj who masterminded the attack that killed Israeli teenager, Rina Shnerb, and seriously injured her father and brother while they were innocently hiking. No country in the world would release a security prisoner for whatever reason. Why the double standard for Israel?

    • Get it correct. Israel attacked first helped by Britian to clear off the local population from productive land and make way for Israeli settlement. Ya keep trying to deny it.

    • Gaby, I think it is disingenuous for you to quote US, Europe, and Israel’s ‘terrorist’ classification as some sort of valuable yardstick in this situation. Without trying to justify the actions of either side in this seemingly unsolvable conflict I try to remember one person’s terrorist is anothers freedom fighter.

      • Peter, have you noticed that the usual suspects on this site and the Jewish Council representative whose speech led to a walkout by Muslims are quite glibly perpetrate the lie that NZ has designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation?

        • aom, yes. If only we could all keep both eyes open when looking at these issues! Trying to solve centuries old problems by school yard “they did it first” rhetoric will get us no where – With the entrenched attitudes and misinformation I’m afraid the carnage will continue.

      • You’re the one being ‘disingenuous’. Freedom fighters don’t attack civilians, women, children and the elderly. They attack military targets. PFLP is also listed as a terrorist organisation by Australia, Japan, and Canada. They have committed terrorist attacks outside Israel, too. What does that achieve for ‘freedom’? You want to whitewash terrorism for a political agenda, same as Griffiths.

        • Not sure why you think freedom fighters don’t attack children, woman, and the elderly – I’m sure the victims of the Taliban would strongly disagree with you. So here in lies the conundrum – whilst both sides hold onto the past and continueing wrongs and will not look to finding a solution the arms manufacturers will continue to profit and the carnage will continue.

  3. What a story, guaranteed to tug at the heart strings; lets have a look at what Lois is NOT telling us.
    1. The header is misleading, it should more accurately be titled: How to whitewash a terrorist
    2. Ms Jarrar was, not is, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council which has essentially been defunct since 2007 after the Hamas terrorist group ousted the Palestinian Authority from the Gaza strip. and which was officially dissolved in 2018.
    3. As explained in Gaby’s post Ms Jarrah has been a member of a terrorist organisation for many years; being both a facilitator of and collaborator in terrorist activities.
    4. When was she released from prison in 2017 Ms Jarrar went straight back to work with the PFLP helping to perform all the tasks (recruitment of new members, planning and directing terrorist attacks, teaching hate to Palestinian children) a lady of her talents can be relied upon to fulfill.
    5. Unmentioned is the fact that her daughter, also a “human rights activist” whose funeral Ms Jarrar was not permitted to attend worked for an organisation with ties to the PFLP and claims that the pay-for-slay subsidies from the PA which both reward past and incentivise future terrorism are fully justified.
    But hey, Ms Jarrar can write a very moving poem of her personal anguish at losing a daughter; a grief unmatched in human experience and one which every parent can empathise with.
    Shame on those then who, like this writer, would use such anguish for whitewashing propaganda purposes.

    • Hmmm – seems the Times of Israel doesn’t quite see it your way, but then why would they. Newspapers are expected to deal in facts whereas you have given what appears to be a propagandist account that is noticeably absent of facts references or any shred of evidence.

      One could also make similar extravagant claims of, say, Ayelet Shaked who appears to have links to terrorists https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/kach-kahane-chai-israel-extremists. Only difference is that one is quite powerless and the other has all the powers of the Minister of Interior.

      If associations prove guilt as you seem to have asserted in the case of Khalida Jarrar, what is one to make of the Knessett associations of a PM who “Bennett is on record as advocating the murder of Palestinians taken prisoner. and says: “I’ve killed lots of Arabs in my life and there’s no problem with that.”

      • Oh looks who’s popped out of the woodwork again making accusations, naming Israeli sites which confirm those missing facts I mentioned, introducing a strawman article and deflecting from debating the facts in my post by asking antithetical questions.
        All without bothering to answer the last question I asked of them.
        Sorry pal, it doesn’t work that way.

      • Bugger – very belatedly realised the Times of Israel link was previously omitted: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-sentences-senior-pflp-member-to-two-years-in-prison/ dated 1 March 2021.
        The report needs to read objectively to the end with attention to the use of tentative accusative language and the doubts of the likes of officials and prosecutors. The other link is self-explanatory regarding terrorism not being a one way street and provided as a logical qualification of the preceding comment.
        So – how do the two references support the comment, ” …. making accusations, naming Israeli sites which confirm those missing facts I mentioned, introducing a strawman article ….” ?

        • Thank you for the extraneous reply.
          Sorry pal, it still doesn’t work that way.
          I refer you to the penultimate sentence in my previous comment.

          • Actually, a comprehensive response was prepared but after it was posted, it disappeared into the ether. Couldn’t be bothered doing a repeat as it is obvious that it would be a waste of time. Anyway, explicitly, what was the last question you asked? There don’t appear to be any question in you comment which consists of five dubious assertions that are not backed by any substantial evidence.

            Now, what the hell are you on about with ‘extraneous reply’ and your penultimate sentence, “Oh looks who’s popped out of the woodwork again making accusations, naming Israeli sites which confirm (it didn’t) those missing facts I mentioned, introducing a strawman article and deflecting from debating the facts in my post by asking antithetical questions.” What the hell do you expect, questions that supported your notions instead of challenging your assertions?

            Finally, your statement, “Shame on those then who, LIKE THIS WRITER, would use such anguish for whitewashing propaganda purposes” is intriguing. Since you were the writer, what was the cause of your anguish and why would you use it for propaganda purposes?

  4. The Media Yawns at the Israeli Army’s Death Squads
    By Gideon Levy August 02, 2021 “Information Clearing House” – “Haaretz”

    ” Israeli terror is at it again. The Israel Defense Forces’ death squads chalked up another successful week: four bodies of innocent Palestinians piled up between the two Fridays. There doesn’t seem to be a connection between the four incidents in which four sons were killed, but the link cannot be broken.

    In all these cases, soldiers chose shooting to kill as the preferred option. In all four cases another way could have been chosen: Arrest them, aim for the legs, don’t do anything or simply don’t be there at all. But the soldiers chose to kill. It’s probably easier for them that way.
    They come from different branches of the army with different backgrounds, but they share the incredible ease with which they kill, whether they have to or not.
    They kill because they can. They kill because they’re convinced that this is how they’re expected to act. They kill because they know that nothing is cheaper than the life of a Palestinian. They kill because they know that the Israeli media will yawn and not report a thing. They kill because they know that no harm will come to them, so why not? Why not kill a Palestinian when possible?

    They killed a 12-year-old boy and a 41-year-old plumber. They killed a 17-year-old youth and a 20-year-old young man attending a funeral, all in one week. An Israeli slogan during the 1948 war went “To arms, every good man,” leading later to the concept of the IDF’s “purity of arms.” Four in one week, for no reason, with no hesitation, with no terrorist facing them. Four executions of young men with dreams, families, plans and loves.
    None of the four endangered the soldiers, certainly not in a way that justified lethal fire. Thirteen bullets at a car driving by innocently, carrying a father and his three small children. Shooting a plumber holding a wrench and claiming that he was “moving rapidly toward the soldiers.” Three bullets at the stomach of a 17-year-old who was on his way to take his brother home.
    All this can be called terror; there is no other definition. All this can be called the actions of death squads; there is no other description. It sounds horrible, but it really is horrific…..”
    http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/56686.htm

    • if you spend 73 years trying to destroy your neighbours, then you have to accept the consequences. The Palestinians have rejected every offer of peace, every offer of their own state, every compromise in favour of perpetuating a bloody conflict they can never win and which has cost numerous lives on both sides because of their intransigence and rejectionism. Stop portraying the oppressors as the victims.

      • 700,00 indigenous Palestinians were driven from their homes in 1947-8. 400,000 before the War began.
        At least 25 massacres of civilians.
        “House after house … we’re putting in explosives and they are running away. An explosion and move on, an explosion and move on and within a few hours, half the village isn’t there any more.” – Jerusalem commander of Lehi, Yehoshua Zettler.
        “I stood them (two girls) against a wall and blasted them with two rounds from the Tommy gun,…“We confiscated a lot of money and silver and gold jewelry fell into our hands,” – Yehuda Feder of Lehi.
        “I saw a fair number of corpses,……I don’t remember encountering the corpse of a fighting man. Not at all. I remember mostly women and old men……An old man and a woman, sitting in the corner of a room with their faces to the wall, and they are shot in the back,…….That cannot have been in the heat of battle. No way.” – former Knesset member and Israeli government minister, Yair Tsaban.

        Go away with your silly propaganda. We know who has spent 73 years trying to destroy their neighbours.

        • I hope you take your own advice in the last paragraph. History demolishes all your fantasies in this post which ignores such crucial events as 3 unprovoked Arab invasions of Israel 1948, 1967, 1973…all with genocidal intent, and endless terrorism, intifadas, rocket attacks etc etc. Oh yes, we do know who’s been trying to kill their neighbours and who drove nearly a million of them out of adjacent Arab countries in 1948. You can say Palestinians (term invented after the humiliating defeat of 1967 when it became clear they had to resort to political tricks for the gullible) are the indigenous people ’til you’re blue in the
          face, but it still remains a lie. They are the colonisers, Jews are the indigenous people.
          https://jfedsrq.org/crconnect-section/did-jews-take-israel-away-from-palestinians

          • “unprovoked Arab invasions of Israel”
            Unprovoked? 400,000 Palestinians had been ethnically cleansed at gunpoint amid massacre and rape before the Arab League acted. You call that “unprovoked”. You are beginning to look like a nut.

            “endless terrorism, intifadas, rocket attacks etc etc.”
            It is called resistance. It has an honourable tradition. The stats tell the story:
            At least 2,172 Palestinian children and 134 Israeli children have been killed by someone from the other side since 2000.

            “drove nearly a million of them out of adjacent Arab countries”
            Another evidence-free assertion. In fact, the contrary is evidenced by those very Jews who left Arab Lands:
            “I was five years old in 1950 when my family reluctantl­y moved from Baghdad to Ramat Gan. We were Arab Jews, we spoke Arabic… We were not persecuted but opted to leave…”
            -Avi Shlaim, professor of internatio­nal relations, Oxford University­.
            “I came at the behest of Zionism…­…Nobody is going to define me as a refugee”
            -Iraqi-bor­n Ran Cohen, former member of the Knesset.
            “We are not refugees. [Some of us] came to this country before the state was born. We had messianic aspiration­s”.
            -Yemeni-bo­rn Yisrael Yeshayahu, former Knesset speaker.
            “I do not regard the departure of Jews from Arab lands as that of refugees. They came here because they wanted to, as Zionists.”
            – Iraqi-born Shlomo Hillel, also a former speaker of the Knesset.
            “Shlomo Hillel, Mossad’s man in Baghdad, makes no secret of the fact that in setting up Zionist cells, he had only one objective: to promote mass emigration­. ”
            -Adam Shatz, senior editor, London Review of Books.
            “Moroccan Jews…. expressed gratitude to King Mohammed V …for protecting them from the Nazis during World War II.”
            -Haaretz 28.01.05
            “all properties owned by Syrian Jews have been left untouched for when they choose to visit or return.”
            – Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the United States

            Iraqi Jews reject ‘cynical manipulation’ of their history by Israel, Zionists, writer Almog Behar tells EI.
            “It is far from the first instance of tampering with, exploiting, and deleting our history, but it is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and so … we formed the Committee of Baghdadi Jews in Ramat-Gan.”
            This is how writer, poet and activist Almog Behar described a decision by a group of Jews from Arab and Kurdish backgrounds to speak out forcefully against renewed Israeli government propaganda efforts to counter Palestinian refugee rights by using the claims of Jews who left Arab countries for Israel in the 1950s.
            https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/iraqi-jews-reject-cynical-manipulation-their-history-israel-zionists-writer-almog

            “I write this article for the same reason I wrote my book:
            to tell the American people, and especially American Jews, that Jews from Islamic lands did not emigrate willingly to Israel; that, to force them to leave, Jews killed Jews; and that, to buy time to confiscate ever more Arab lands, Jews on numerous occasions rejected genuine peace initiatives from their Arab neighbors.
            I write about what the first prime minister of Israel called “cruel Zionism.”
            I write about it because I was part of it.
            http://www.inminds.co.uk/jews-of-iraq.html

        • This might help you, Brewer.

          Basic History for the uninformed:
          * Before Israel, there was a British mandate, not a Palestinian state .
          * Before the British Mandate, there was the Ottoman Empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Ottoman Empire, there was the Islamic state of the Mamluks of Egypt, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Islamic state of the Mamluks of Egypt, there was the Ayubid-Kurdish Empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Ayubid Empire, there was the Crusader Frankish and Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Kingdom of Jerusalem, there was the Umayyad and Fatimid empires, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Umayyad and Fatimid empires, there was the Byzantine empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Byzantine Empire, there were the Sassanid-Persian Empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Sassanid-Persian Empire, there was the Byzantine Empire again, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Byzantine Empire, there was the Roman Empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Roman Empire, there was the Jewish Hasmonean state, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Jewish Hasmonean state, there was the Hellenistic Seleucid empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Hellenistic Seleucid empire, there was the empire of Alexander the Great, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the empire of Alexander the Great, there was the Persian empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Persian Empire, there was the Babylonian Empire, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Babylonian Empire, there were the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, there was the Kingdom of Israel, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the kingdom of Israel, there was the theocracy of the twelve tribes of Israel, not a Palestinian state.
          * Before the theocracy of the twelve tribes of Israel, there was an agglomeration of independent Canaanite city-kingdoms, not a Palestinian state.
          Actually, on the small piece of earth known as the Holy Land, there has been everything, EXCEPT A PALESTINIAN STATE.

          • If you have reached an age with sufficient skills to cut and paste without ever understanding the concept of indigenous rights and self-determination there is little I can do to assist your understanding.

            • Tell me about it Brewer. There is now another cut and past troll (see Anne with an E).that shows the same lack of self-awareness and determination to insult and mis-represent others.

              Don’t know about you but I’m thinking life is too short for engaging with Zionist/Kahanist tunnel-visioned propagandist trolls.

              Ironically my comment was obviously being composed about the same time as yours..

        • If you’re going to tout your knowledge of the history of conflict between Arabs and Jews and remain factual when doing so you will need to go back a little earlier than ’48 and widen the geographic area somewhat. You could try the Arab declaration of war on the fledging state of Israel, the 1941 Baghdad pogrom, the 1939 Arab riots, the 1929 riots as well as those in the early 1920s. Note in particular the role of Amin al-Husseini
          Gosh you could even go way back to 1066 al-Andalus, the “wonder” of medieval multiculturalism, tolerance and peace and harmony we are beseeched to exalt ad nauseum. Search for massacre of Jews in Granada. Under whose rule did that occur? Perhaps look at the 9th century origin of that little yellow star generally associated with 1930s Germany, or the relationship between the Fuhrer and the aforementioned al-Husseini.
          But if you do want to concentrate particularly on the expulsion of “Palestinians” maybe include the 400,000 from Kuwait, 30,000 from Libya and the expulsion of the PLO from Jordan. Lest you also be accused of perpetrating silly propaganda.
          No home for the expelled in Saudi Arabia, fatherland of the “religion of peace?” Perhaps they need to look at why and how Israel managed to repatriate their brethren expelled by Arab countries in that same 1947-8 era you’re so focused on. You do need to mention such inconvenient facts if you wish to avoid charges of subjectivity, bias, or prejudice you know.
          And is there a reason why you raise a tangential issue without commenting on the content of the article. It is most unusual to do so on blogs. Perhaps this one is different from most.

          • Did you cut and paste your list without researching what was claimed Anne? History is far more subtle than your list of names and dates. Usually there are two sides to the story. For instance, you have cited Haj Amin al-Husseini for obvious and valid reasons but ignored the fact that similar sentiments underline the Zionist/Kahanist intent that is in the ascendency in the Knesset. Also you failed to acknowledge that like al-Husseini, the Zionists weren’t too slow in negotiating with the 3rd Reich. You claimed that Muammar al-Gaddafi expelled Palestinian refugees and urged other Arab leaders to do likewise but conveniently failed to mention that the intent was to force Israel to accept the return of refugees that had effectively been rendered stateless. There are other similar examples but it is not worth the effort of highlighting them. However you might care to explain the significance if Granada which is in Spain. Bit off the reservation isn’t it?

            As for tangential issues, you seem to have mastered the technique quite well as your entries on this site demonstrate to a greater or lesser degree. It is a frustrating aspect of your ‘contributions’ that apart from usually being light on supporting evidence, they rely almost entirely on a supposition that no-one else has rights to ownership of the land that was obtained by acquisitive English colonists then subdivided to accommodate a Jewish homeland on part of the Palestinian Mandate land.

            You well know that Israel is a creation of the late 19th century Zionism – a political entity, not a religious one. (How strong did the Middle Eastern Jewish DNA feature among the initial adherents?). It has already been pointed out that the underlying Zionist intent to create a nation state was no different to that of ISIS with its aspiration to create their political-religious Caliphate on land belonging to others. Hopefully the similarities don’t elude you due to a case of tunnel vision.

            • Sigh. Do I have to show you the way it works?
              Very well then. From a previous conversation.
              “Sadly, there is such a vast minefield of human rights abuse occurring throughout the world. Do you comment on areas outside of the Levant at all?”
              Over and out.

              • Sigh, seems you have problems with the site as well.

                You have said, “Sadly, there is such a vast minefield of human rights abuse occurring throughout the world. Do you comment on areas outside of the Levant at all?” That statement doesn’t exist on this thread. At least you have framed it as a property punctuated question for once.

                Anyway, the answer is a simple and emphatic “YES”. Not everyone is a tunnel visioned one issue show pony!

                • Sorry Anne with an E, did you mean something historic on another topic? If so, provide a link and I will perhaps respond. No doubt I didn’t bother at the time as you had probably characteristically gone rogue and off topic. Besides, it seems a pretty irrelevant question, like, “How often do you change your underwear?”. My business – not yours!

                • Wonderful. Can you point me to a thread where you have commented on a topic apart from the Levant? Once I am assured you are not just a tunnel visioned one issue show pony we can resume debate on this thread and I can use my specialist cut and past (sic) skills.

                • Wonderful. Can you point me to a thread where you showcase your diversity so I can resume our exchange of opinion and showcase my skill in cut and past (sic)?

                  • Sorry but I am not offering you the invitation to spread your garbage internationally. Besides activism involves much more than comments on websites.

                    Nice move to avoid putting up though, much in line with your other diversionary tactics, failure to back up your wry assertions and evidence free propaganda.

                    • I’ll take that as an admission you’re just a tunnel visioned, one issue show pony then. Too funny.

              • Anne, I’m afraid those 2 are outstanding examples of the old but wise adage: the mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it contracts.

                • Why thank you Gaby. Being guided by another old, but wise adage: to be forewarned is to be forearmed I will take note.

  5. aom, yes. If only we could all keep both eyes open when looking at these issues! Trying to solve centuries old problems by school yard “they did it first” rhetoric will get us no where – With the entrenched attitudes and misinformation I’m afraid the carnage will continue.

  6. OK “history” buffs. Here is a question.
    For around 700 years (5th century through 11th century CE), the area we now call Palestine was majority Christian.
    How did this come about?
    Was it through:
    A massive influx of Christian immigrants?
    The adoption of Christianity by the Jewish?
    The adoption of Christianity by non-Jews?
    Other?
    Its a serious question. Please provide references to substantiate your answers.

      • No takers from our resident Kahanists aom. Why am I not surprised?
        700 years of Christian History is a great deal more than:
        “The extended kingdoms of David and Solomon, on which the Zionists base their territorial demands, endured for only about 73 years…Then it fell apart…[Even] if we allow independence to the entire life of the ancient Jewish kingdoms, from David’s conquest of Canaan in 1000 B.C. to the wiping out of Judah in 586 B.C., we arrive at [only] a 414 year Jewish rule.” – Illene Beatty, “Arab and Jew in the Land of Canaan.”

        • Another period of rule was the Hasmonean Herodian era – you should note that national rule in the age of empire was tenuous everywhere for long periods of time.

    • Was there a Jewish majority till the 4thC? (when Rome adopted Christianity) Were Christians a majority after Moslems arrived around 600CE?

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