Dear Jpost.com reader,
I regret to inform you that we have decided to terminate the blog of Palestinian psychologist Mohammed K. Mukhaimar following an urgent request by him to do so.
Jpost.com approached Mr. Mukhaimar with a proposition to provide his thoughts and experiences to our readers on a regular web log (blog), and the blog was aired for the first, and unfortunately, last time this week Thursday.
Mr. Mukhaimar's first blog entry consisted of nothing more than a greeting and a short personal biography, with a promise of more to come. The responses to Mohammed's blog were not long in coming. Within minutes of publishing his blog, Jpost.com received hundreds of emails for Mohammed, most of which were extremely positive and encouraged him to continue providing a voice "from the other side" as it were. It seemed our readers were grateful for the opportunity to interact and connect with a personage so seemingly distant in geography, language, culture and ideology. Many had questions for Mohammed, many more just wanted to say "hello" and "thank you for being there", for taking that courageous step.
And therein lay the problem.
Several hours after his blog was published on Jpost. com, the website of The Jerusalem Post, a newspaper whose primary concern is the well-being of The State of Israel, Mohammed started feeling the creeping force of a largely radicalized Palestinian society. Mohammed called the staff at Jpost.com, and together with him, the decision was made to terminate the blog, for now.
I applaud Mohammed's courage and I respect him for his belief that one person, if he or she so wishes, can take actions that bridge the vast divides of hatred and misunderstanding between our two peoples, even if he is now forced to walk back along that bridge. The bridge is there Mohammed, you built it, and we, together with our readers, will wait with proud expectation for you to walk back on it at a time of your choosing.
Amir Mizroch
News Editor and Managing Editor - Internet
The Jerusalem Post
I had a friend who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. You could not have met a more thoughtful or kind man than Michel. Never a careless word was uttered nor was a thoughtless deed committed by Michel. It was only when I learned the story of his first 25 years in the midst of a radicalize camp run by the PLO that I understood that, for him, kindness and courtesy were conscientious acts of defiance he chose to use to keep his humanity intact. A decade and a half later, the lessons that Michel shared with me, I taught to my children whenever they faced an injustice situation that they could not change. Not all injustices can be righted but what we can do is remember and if the opportunity arises that we are the ones in a position of authority whether it be the playground or in the street, we can conscientiously chose not to follow the example that was put before us in the past.
Few of us here in the West realize the extent that the average Palestinian is brutalized and victimized by the PLO - generation upon generation, camp after camp. Because of Michel’s story and the stories of other Palestinians I have met in the safety and security of Canada I can understand the rise and appeal of groups like Hamas for the average Palestinian. Make no mistake; I am not absolving these groups of their acts of “resistance” or ideology based on the genocide of Jews for the salvation of the Palestinian people but I can comprehend the appeal. Hamas was born directly out of the tyranny and thuggery of the PLO.
Earlier in this week I posted a statement issued by the Palestinian Minister of the Environment accusing the Israeli’s of poisoning juice and toys imported into the West Bank and Gaza for consumption by Palestinians. As ridiculous and foolish as this statement is, make no mistake, the average Palestinian is so conditioned to not only accept them but believe them. I have no doubt that the Minister knows that his statements are false and he could not care as long as it serves his political end. This statement by the Minister of the Environment was not just a one shot deal. It represents an ongoing pattern of victimization that Palestinians have been subjected to for generations. But these statements are made not solely for the Palestinian people, but also for the larger Muslim community in the Middle East. Earlier this year I posted a story about 2 dogs that had wandered across the border into Lebanon from Israel. The reactions by the Lebanon villagers and soldiers to the "Israeli Infiltrators" are the logical consequences of the non-stop campaign of demonizing Israel. Many have despaired that a peace can be possible between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians but peace can never be possible as long as the Palestinian leaders and people hold on to their bigotry.
I applaud the decision of the Jerusalem Post to make the attempt to provide a direct dialogue with the “other” and I salute Dr. Mukhaimar for making the attempt to rise above those whose interests are in maintaining the state of bigotry, thuggery and tyranny in Palestinian society. It would do us all good to understand that not everyone wishes death to the Zionists but merely a place and a voice at the table.
2 comments:
Michel, I suspect, judging by his name, was/is a Christian. One can imagine that the PLO did not treat him well, largely because of that. Which makes his "act of defiance" that much more laudable.
Sorry, wrong there, he was born and raised muslim in a infamous PLO refugee camp in Lebanon. I should like to point out that living in the refugee camp in Lebanon meant that PLO thugs ran the camp which resulted in your daily financial or physical exploitation. Palestinians who left the alleged "safety" of the camp faced discrimination, exploitation or death at the hands of the rather large diverse Christian community in Lebanon.
Michel changed his name upon arrival in Canada and wanted to express his gratitude for refuge by taking on what he felt was a Canadian ethnic sounding name. I will give you one guess on where he originally settled in Canada.
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