What about the Palestinian tragedy in Iraq? [Archives:2006/938/Opinion]
Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh
Since the first days of Iraq's occupation, Palestinian brothers in Baghdad have suffered. They are subjected to different types of pressure, which recently reached its climax. They became targeted for murder, after being evacuated from houses they lived in for a long time. News agencies began reporting accounts of 'journeys to the unknown' about their fleeing caravans.
On this occasion, I remember a conversation with a Palestinian intellectual who visited Sana'a shortly after Iraq's occupation. In a qat session with some intellectuals, poets and university professors, including Iraqi and other Arab lecturers in Yemeni universities, I asked him about his expectations for the Iraqi situation. My inquiry was about what will become of the country, what direction it will go in and what will be left of it for the Arabs.
I was surprised at his prompt answer that the attitude toward Palestinians will be the yardstick that will reveal the new Iraq's destination, as it will disclose a positive or negative Iraqi attitude about national issues. If the new situation treated Palestinians in a nice manner, the occupation and its associates could not deviate Iraq from the national and Islamic course and it would remain part of their nation. However, if the opposite happened, then it would be an expression of the worst situation in the history of a great country.
There were many contributions on the issue, with one participant mentioning news infiltrated by news agencies and those coming from Iraq. It spoke of Mossad agents within U.S. and British armies, saying they are playing the part of intelligence. They wondered what direct or indirect harm would befall Palestinians in Iraq at these hands. Our intellectual friend answered that Mossad agents are a reality in Iraq, yet they can do nothing to Palestinians if their Iraqi brothers stand by their side and defend them. However, it will be a disaster if Iraqis change their attitude.
Three years after the conversation with this Palestinian friend, consecutive events have revealed the worst. Sky news agencies' reports began speaking of the tragic suffering of Palestinians. Some began fleeing across borders because of relatives' oppression, their crossing caravans containing the elderly, women and children. They remain in the desert wilderness because unoccupied brotherly countries neighboring Iraq so far are denying them access. It is as if their temporary hosting will straiten the land; however, it will only give them time to find a way out of their plight. Some may say that Iraqis themselves, in their ethnic and national constituents, are suffering the occupation's aftermath. This is true, but at least they are living among their clans and relatives, whereas Palestinians' special case makes their situation exceptional.
Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Maqaleh is Yemen's prominent poet and intellectual. He is the director of the Yemeni Center for Studies.
——
[archive-e:938-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-04-17-p:opinion]
