One of my colleagues, an enlightened, well-read, open-minded, inquisitive Englishman, asked me today: "What is happening in Palestine?..".. I paused, and thought to myself: "Yeah.. What the f*** is happening in Palestine?!!..."
What possible explanation can I give him?.. How can I tell him that they seem to have taken complete leave of their senses in Palestine?.. How can I justify the killings?.. The cruelty that Palestinian is inflicting on Palestinian?.. The destruction to everything resembling an infrastructure, not by the hands of the Israelis, but by the hands of Palestinians?..
How can I say to my enlightened, well-read, open-minded, inquisitive colleague that this is the curse of the Middle East?.. that back there, if your enemy does not succeed in killing you, then your brother will... That Palestinians, and Arabs in general, do not need Israel to persecute, kill, torture and humiliate them.. we can do it to each other far more effectively than any one else can!..
How can I insult his intelligence and say: 'It is all the fault of interference by the Zionists, and meddling by the Western governments?...'
Or should I tell him what today seems to be the painful truth?.. that, perhaps, we, the mighty Arabs, are not fit to govern ourselves?... that we are not capable of talking to each other?.. that the word 'discussion' in our deranged lingo has come to mean 'beating the living daylight out of your opponent'?.. that 'victory' means killing everyone who does not share your narrow views of the World?.. including your own mother, if necessary?..
Call me defeatist, but on this occasion, I simply looked at him and said: 'My friend.. it is complete meltdown..'.. I then walked away, trying to hide a small tear in the corner of my eye...
(Photo: Chaos in Gaza. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk)
