About the Palestinians

Palestinians are the most misunderstood people on earth. They are portrayed as suicide bombers, terrorists by the media. They are often captured on camera by the media when they are throwing stones or shouting aggressively. They are depicted as nothing but a bunch of savage people who have been trying to reclaim their homeland from the Israelis.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not on the Israelis side cos I know well that they have illegally occupying the land of the Palestinians. I remember once that during a prayer meeting, we were asked to pray for Israel so that God would bless their work. Of course, I didn’t follow the instruction cos I could not be in agreement with the preacher. So, instead of asking God to bless the work of the Israelis, I prayed that the Israelis would come to their senses and stop killing the Palestinians.

I remember once that my preacher depicted the Palestinians and the Israelis as the descendants of Abraham (from two different wives). According to my preacher, if Abraham looked down through the window from heaven, he would feel sad and regretted that he married two wives, which resulted the `sibling fighting’. Well, preachers tend to say the most unexpected things sometimes. For a while, I thought this was really funny. Please pardon my ignorance. Of course, God was not all that pleased with my behavior of taking the whole issue as a joke. So, He decided to open my eyes and ears to see and hear the truth.

Time moved on and I naturally forgot about the Israelis- Palestinians conflict cos it has been going on for years and years and everyone seems to grow tired of it. Then, last year, under forced circumstances, I had to take up this job in Kuala Lumpur. Of course, I was very upset cos I had to give up my freedom and work full time like everyone else but when God wanted to have His way, there must be a purpose behind it.

One day, my General Manager forwarded me an email sent to us by another NGO, asking me to post the info about the Palestinian Film Festival on our website. There is a saying: curiosity kills the bird, right? Is it a bird or something else? Never mind, I guess you get what I mean. In this case, curiosity has been causing me so much grief So, I logged on to the website of this NGO and found that what they have been doing is quite interesting especially their community projects in the Palestinians refugee camps. So, I decided to attend the film festival to show my support.



The Palestinians Film Festival

Children of Shatila
This is a documentary directed by Mai Masri back in 1989. The documentary highlights the sufferings of many Palestinians who live in the refugee camp of Shatila in Beirut. The documentary kick starts with a voice of a child telling the story of Shatila Camp as the camera moves slowly showing the degrading condition of Shatila Camp. “This is where the massacre of Sabra-Shatila took place. There were dead people everywhere. They were buried with bulldozers. The dead lied all along this street. The bulldozers dumped them in a big ditch. Palestinians and Lebanese from all walks of life died here. Many were killed with machete. My aunt was killed as well. That is where they cut her head off.” the voice said. This is the untold story of the Palestinians.

There are children playing in the bombed out buildings with holes here and there. A boy is walking in Shatila camp which really looks unsightly as a result of frequent attacks by the Israelis soldiers. This is where the Palestinians call home. This is where the shocking and horrific Sabra-Shatila massacre took place back in 1982.

The camp is home to 15,000 Palestinians and Lebanese who share a common experience of displacement, unemployment and poverty. Fifty years after the exile of their grandparents from Palestine, the children of Shatila camp attempt to come to terms with the reality of being refugees in a camp that has survived massacre, siege and starvation.

The boy who does the walking is Issa. He was 10 years old when his father died. Since then, he has worked as a brass ware seller, a blacksmith and a vegetable seller but couldn't hold on to the jobs for more than two weeks. Finally, he starts working for the Co-op and he meets Ali.

The documentary focuses on two children in the camp. Farah, age 11 and Issa, age 12. When these children are given video cameras, the story of the camp evolves from their personal narratives as they articulate the feelings and hopes of their generation.

That night, two documentaries were screened. There was only a handful of people attended the screening. There I was, finding myself weeping uncontrollably from the beginning of the screening until the end of the screening. I was angry and sad. I was angry because of my own ignorance. I was sad because the world without a conscience has forsaken the Palestinians based on religious belief. That night, I knew I was not weeping alone. God was weeping with me.

I watched most of the documentaries and films screened during the film festival. During the final night of the film fest, I bought the black and white Palestinian shawl which was handmade by the Palestinian refugee in Beirut. I also bought the other black and white long scarf printed with the map of Palestine.

Then, one day, while at work, I found a book in the store room of my workplace. The book is called From Beirut to Jerusalem, written by Dr. Ang Swee Chai. Dr. Ang was a volunteer doctor in Beirut who witnessed the shocking massacre at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in West Beirut. The unarmed Palestinians were systematically butchered like animals. Later she went to Jerusalem to testify against the Israelis in the Kahan commission.

The core principle of journalism is to lend a voice to voiceless. Early this year,I found myself sending an appeal letter to the Israeli embassy when the Palestinians were under attack. Subconsciously,I have taken up their cause.

The Palestinians have been attacked again. Please send an appeal letter to the Israel embassy in your country, calling for immediate halt to the gross aggression in Gaza.

Mission accomplished

I am truly deeply sorry for the long long silence. Okay, let's get back to the story. In my last post, I was in K.L. Then, I thought `divine mission' accomplished and it was time to leave. I checked out from the guest house and planned to leave in the evening. Then, a friend called, asking me to fire dance in a club the following night. Great...Quick job and quick money cos I needed the money to pay my credit card. I still have to pay for this laptop. See, my laptop is featured in the beginning of the experimental video presentation I made for the film festival.

So, I checked in to the guest house again. so, the following night I did the performance. Everything went well. Phew. Actually, I always feel really nervous when ever I perform. I am a occasional fire poi dancer, writer and video artist. I try to do as many things as possible since I don't really have a real job now. It suits me well. When you don't have a fix income, you have to walk by faith, not by sight. If you have little faith, you will not be able to live like this. you will worry sick cos you don't know when is the next pay cheque.

Of course, I did screw things up. That was why I got a full time job for seven months cos I couldn't pull it through anymore. That's a big price to pay for your freedom. You can have the money (a fix job with stable income)and lose your freedom or you can have your freedom and lose the money. Life is tough, there is no way out. I really wish I could have both and great faith.

okay, then after a week, I packed my things and gave away most of my things to the christian lady I met in the interview. Finally I managed to get rid of my things and leave K.L. I really felt so grateful to that Christian lady who came to my rescue. Most of my things would be sold at a charity to collect fund for the church. Good! That was what I wanted. In the beginning, I planned to give away my things to salvation Army but I am not sure whether there is a Salvation Army in K.L.

So, I packed again and ready to leave. Then, a friend asked me to be a gallery sitter for an exhibition. After a day of contemplation, I agreed. So, I stayed back for 9 days. I actually spent 3 weeks in K.L before I headed back to my hometown and then caught the train to Bangkok to attend the opening of the film festival.

I planned to be there for 10 days but ended up spending 3 weeks there. There were so many things going on in Bangkok while I was there. It was not easy to accomplish the `divine' missions in Bangkok. I am so glad that I made it there and came back in one piece. Phew...see, every time I went to Bangkok, crazy things happened there. Last time it was the coup, this time it was the protest that went out of control. I came back before the protesters sealed the airport and bombs and all that shit.

What's next? Oh Lord please continue to provide.

I will try to write what happened in Bangkok in my next post.