Doc Jazz looks back upon 2010

The end of 2010 is nearing, quite shortly after the start of the Islamic new year 1432. It is obvious that the rhythm of day and night, moon cycles and earth rotations around the sun can be counted and numbered in different ways according to ones culture or religion.

At work however, I am accustomed to entering the Gregorian date and year many times a day, and as such this is a rhythm that has some meaning to me, and to the majority of the people in the world. Therefore, this looks like a good time to look back at this year, and see how it has been for Palestine. Click here to listen to Doc Jazz’s song ‘2010’.

Talks: much ado about nothing

As Palestinians, we have a turbulent year to look back upon. The Palestinian Authority in this year went from proximity talks, to direct talks, to parallel talks with the zionist enemy. While these diplomatic efforts have only resulted in the dashing of hopes for those who had any faith in these endeavors, and yielded no positive results whatsoever on the ground, they managed to keep international news agencies busy because of the involvement of high-level diplomacy. All in all, they were much ado but nothing.

Boycotts and International Action

The international community raised its voice more loudly against the Israeli occupation than before, through intensified BDS actions, and by stepping up its opposition to the siege of Gaza with help convoys and other activities. The most impact was made by the Freedom Flotilla, which was attacked by the Israeli Navy in a ruthless and gruesome fashion, and ended up with nine Turkish martyrs and a heavy strain on Turkish-Israeli relations.

Anti-wall protests

Anti-wall protests in Ni’lin and Bil’in continued, and the detention of prominent non-violent anti-Wall activists such as Jamal Jumaa (who was freed in January after a lot of international pressure) and Abdallah Abu Rahma, elicited loud voices of protest at the international level, including Amnesty International, the European Union and The United Nations.

Lack of Palestinian Unity

Showing only slightly positive signals of improvement, without any tangible results, the division between Hamas and Fateh has continued throughout the year. Palestinian unity has remained a distant dream, seemingly so easy to put into practice, but proving consistently to be given only secondary importance to the interests of political parties and personal interests.

Jerusalem threatened

Israeli efforts for the de-Arabization of Jerusalem were stepped up this year, without evoking significant protest in the higher political echelons. Families continued to be evicted from East Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, and Israeli forces intensified their efforts of terrorizing the Palestinians living in these areas, especially children, of which hundreds were detained and often beaten.

Israeli efforts to undermine the Al Aqsa mosque were raised to a new level of alert, when due to Israeli excavations under the Temple Mound, a road spontaneously caved in, leaving behind a huge crater. The alarm over the dangers that threaten the very existence of Al Aqsa was barely raised in higher diplomatic circles, despite undeniable evidence that zionist preparations for the so-called ‘rebuilding of the Third Temple’ are practically in their last stage of finalization. Click here to listen to the Doc Jazz song ‘Run for your Life’, which addresses these threats.

Settler Violence

Settler violence against Palestinian civilians and properties in the West Bank and Jerusalem also increased this year, with settlers engaging in a new wave of direct attacks on civilians through the use of personal vehicles, often trying to disguise their murderous hit-and-runs as traffic accidents. They also continued and stepped up their efforts to set fire to and rampage across Palestinian orchards and farmlands, in efforts to destroy the livelihood of Palestinian farmers. In sharp and ironic contrast to the attitude of the Israeli army, which in practically all instances lent its support and protection to the settlers engaging in these animosities, the Palestinian Authority’s firemen rushed to help rescue Israelis from the raging fires at Mount Carmel in recent days.

Palestinian Prisoners

The plight of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners continued, remaining in jail in the majority of cases without a fair trail under ‘administrative’ detention. Despite the desperate efforts of their families, they have rarely managed to attract the world’s public attention. The mind-boggling contrast with the sole Israeli prisoner of war in Palestinian custody, Gilad Shalit, is outright impressive and illustrates the biased attitude of world media and politicians towards the plight of Israelis and Palestinians. Click here for the (older) Doc Jazz rock song ‘Child Prisoner’, about the horrendous conditions of Palestinian children in Israeli jails.

International activists for Palestine

Through all these harsh events, the efforts of international activists from all corners of the world must be given kudos and  praise. They come in all thinkable ages, nationalities and colors, they speak all the languages of the world and they adhere to a huge variety of religions and world views. What unites them all, is their dedication to oppose the racist injustice that is perpetrated against the indigenous population of the land of Palestine. For this very reason, it is important to also stress the importance of keeping this unity, which is not always proving to be easy. Efforts by some will be criticized by others, and some are unable to handle this criticism, resulting in internal strife among international activists for Palestine, which can only weaken its efforts.

Joined efforts

It is important that all those who are putting their efforts into promoting the Palestinian cause stay in contact with each other despite their differences. In the same way as we can expect no progress within Palestinian ranks if Hamas and Fateh do not forge a unity together, we can also not expect true effectiveness of international pro-Palestine solidarity efforts if instead of coordinating together, they are bickering, fighting and smearing one another.

Message for 2011

I will end this overview with a call upon all those around the world who believe that Palestine should be free, to step over their differences and look at what they have in common: a strong wish for the freedom of Palestine, and a deep resentment towards the racist ideology of zionism.

Hopefully, this coming year will continue to yield more music from the Doc Jazz studio. The large increase of members in the Doc Jazz Fan Page on Facebook is tremendously encouraging. Perhaps music, as an international language of human beings, can help to keep people, who have all these different views, working together for the same goal. In any case, I wish you all a wonderful 2011 – and let’s try to make it a better and stronger year than 2010 !

You may say I am a dreamer … but I am not the only one!