September 23, 2005
We
are facing an important historical moment and this moment must be
confronted with clarity, vision, and purposeful action. Events in the
world are rapidly changing and our ability to put them in a political
context is critical. This political context and analysis must allow us
to make connections among events that, on the surface, appear not to be
connected. The occupation of Iraq and the devastation in New Orleans,
for example, are deeply linked and unless we understand these
connections we will be lost.
We must confront the ugly reality that we all
live in a society and under a system that is willing to spend 300
billion dollars to occupy and destroy Iraq and kill thousands of Iraqis
and at the same time ignore its own citizens, leaving them to drown to
death, forcibly expelling and dislocating them, and essentially
ethnically cleansing the gulf coast of its African-American population.
And I ask you: who is the real terrorist here?
We must confront the ugly reality that our
government is willing to invest its massive economic and military
resources in the colonial exploitation and imperial thievery of
indigenous people of color all over the world and continue its profound
neglect, disregard, and subjugation of people of color and people
without resources here in the United States.
And I ask you: who is real looter?
Is than black brother taking milk and diapers
for his family the looter? I imagine the media someday showing a
picture of George Bush in Iraq with the caption: "Savage looter in Iraq
stealing the natural resources of the people of Iraq".
How do we confront the ugly reality that our
government is willing underwrite and pay a quarter of a million US
dollars to each of 8000 illegal Israeli settlers who left land that was
stolen and colonized 40 years ago from Palestine, yet they refuse to
give a penny to US citizens who have lost everything and have been
forcibly displaced from their own land on the Gulf Coast.
And I ask you: who is real criminal here?
The so-called war on terror and occupations of
Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are in reality a racist war against
Arabs, Muslims, Latinos, Blacks, Asians and all oppressed people and it
is having a devastating effect on our communities here and in our home
countries. Wealth and resources are being consolidated into the hands
of the few and oppressed people are being displaced, dislocated, and
disconnected by the brutal colonizing juggernaut called "American
Democracy".
And this is the beautiful vision of democracy that we are imposing on the people of the Arab World and beyond.
We are all complicit in this travesty of
justice and we must share some of the responsibility. We cannot rely on
platitudes and slogans as the sole form of our activism and resistance
to these injustices.
Seeing bumper stickers that say
"Anybody but Bush" are very disturbing because they simplify the
analysis of very complex problems to a single person. Are Cheney,
Rumsfeld, Perle, or Wolfowitz really better that Bush? The feckless
Democrats are no better; they do not have the spine or the will to
stand clearly against the brutalities of occupation in Baghdad or New
Orleans.
I would argue that Bush is not the problem.
Bush is the symptom. Bush is a symptom of a larger, deeper, systemic
problem rooted in a system that believes in the domination and control
of people, resources, and markets. It is a system believes in profits
and not in justice and equality for all people. The occupation of Iraq
and lack of response in New Orleans have lifted the veil to vastness of
the lies, racism and contradictions of our society and so-called
democracy. We need a deeper and more complex political analysis and
goes beyond the platitude of the day and that can make the connections
between Iraq and Louisiana.
So when we say, "Bring the Troops Home Now",
we also mean "Bring Haliburton Home Now", "Bring Kellogg, Brown and
Root Home Now", and "Bring the IMF and the World Bank Home Now".
When we say "End the occupation of Iraq", we
are also saying, "End all occupations-- end the occupation of
Afghanistan, of Palestine, of Haiti, of the Philippines, and end the
economic occupations of Cuba, Venezuela and Latin America". We are also
saying end the occupation of Bayview Hunters Point, Oakland and New
Orleans because they are occupied too.
When we say "Collage Not Combat", we are also
saying "Jobs Not Combat", "Healthcare Not Combat", "Justice Not
Combat", "Dignity and Respect, Not Combat" and "Freedom Not Combat"
And when we say "Free Palestine", we are
demanding freedom for all oppressed and occupied people, where ever
they may be. When we demand the right of return for all Palestinian
refugees, we are also demanding the right of return for all displaced
and dislocated people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Gulf Coast.
Finally, unless the people of Iraq, Palestine, BayView and New Orleans are free, no one is free.
© Copyright 2005 by AxisofLogic.com
* This is the text of a speech given at Mission High School on September 21st, 2005 for the George Galloway National Tour.
Dr. Jess Ghannam is Board Member of the Gaza
Community Mental Health Program, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and
Chief of Medical Psychology at the University of California San
Francisco. He is a grassroots activist and member of Al-Awda San
Francisco and Al-Awda's international executive committee. He currently
serves as the president of the San Francisco American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee. He is also a member of the National
Council of Arab Americans, the Free Palestine Alliance and the Justice
in Palestine Coalition. He is also the co-host of Arab Talk on KPOO
Radio--Thursdays, 2pm, 89.5FM.
Dr. Ghannam travels every three months to
Palestine where, over the past 12 years, he has established clinics in
Gaza City, Jabaliyah, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah under the auspices
of the Gaza Community Mental Health program. The writings of Dr.
Ghannam and other friends of Palestine are listed below.
Additional articles by Dr. Jess Ghannam
