It was 1AM of 14 December 2008 when I read the news that the Austrian President Dr. Heinz Fischer would visit my homeland Palestine, and the neighbouring, occupying country, Israel.
Painful tears fell down, I covered my eyes with hands, and I continued crying. The image of my old mother, my brothers, my sisters, my family and my homeland came before my eyes like a video tape. The yearning to see my mother besieges my feeling and my thoughts.
Six years and five months have passed since the Israeli occupation threw me out of my homeland. For six years and five months I have counted the days, the weeks, the months and the hours in the night. It is very difficult to forget your past, or to run away from your memories.
Who will compensate me for my suffering in the exile? Why should the Austrian government take responsibility for what the Israeli occupation did to me? Why should not Israel compensate my suffering, just like Europe, which still compensates the Jewish victims of the Holocaust? Are the Jews the only humans, and are their victims the devil? It is not fair to let the Israeli crimes be hidden behind their history. It is not fair to live the injustice in your history, and to do the same injustice to another nation. It is a crime to continue living without homeland, and identity.
The people in jail are allowed to see their families and relatives. I need a homeland and an ID. I woke up to the painful memories to find my tears washing over the keyboard of my computer. My tears strangle me, and my words stop in my throat. I was not able to say one word to my partner standing next to me, asking what happened.
Dr. Fischer, the President of Austria, was going to visit Palestine. I dreamed and wished that I accompanied him to see my mother. I want to see my mother; I want to see her before she dies. She is 85 years old. I want to see my family, this is one of my basic rights. I collected my broken feelings and strength, and I wrote a letter in German to the President of Austria, Dr. Heinz Fischer (here 60KB PDF).
Dear President Dr. Heinz Fischer
My name is Kawther Salam. I am a Palestinian journalist and human rights activist. I live as a refugee convention since 2002 in Vienna as a result of the campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the state of Israel against the Palestinian in my hometown the city of Hebron. I love Vienna and I love the Austrian people, I declared my love by writing my book “Das ist Wien” and becoming a member of the socialist party, SPÖ. I also love my family in Palestine.
I miss my mother, my brothers and sisters. Since six years and 5 months I have not seen them. My mother is now 85 years old, and my brothers and sisters have their families in Palestine and they can not visit me in Vienna.
For me, it is not possible to travel to Palestine because my life would be in danger from both sides, the Israelis and the Palestinians. I have been exposing the crimes, the scandals and the violations of the Human Rights of the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority through my journalistic work.
I have been exposing these crimes of both sides in various lectures at universities and radio broadcasts. I also post regularly my articles on the Internet.
I heard that your Excellency will travel soon to Palestine. For human considerations I ask you to allow me to join you in your trip to Palestine to see my mother under your full protection. I am worried that my mother will die before I have a chance see her again.
After my visit I would also like to return to Vienna, where my Austrian partner lives, and where law and human rights are respected. If you allow me, to travel with you, I promise that I will obey all of your instructions.
As a photographer I will be able to take care of photographing your journey to Palestine and Israel. If my request to join you the travel is too late, I ask politely to consider that you have me as a companion in your next trip to Palestine.
I finished writing my letter at 3 o’clock in the morning. I went to bed very late and destroyed, I was not able to sleep, I fought with my thoughts and tears in bed until I slept.
On Sunday morning, I woke up at 10AM, putting my clothes on and running to house of President Dr. Heinz Fischer to give my letter to the guard.
It is not difficult to reach the president house in Vienna, nobody harasses, stops or shoots you if you go to the house of the President of Austria. Such of criminal actions just happen in Israel and the other corrupted Arab countries, where the residents can not walk in the streets were their corrupt Presidents live.
President Dr. Heinz Fischer had already left and arrived in Israel on Saturday, and my letter waited in his office until his return on Wednesday Dec. 17, 2008.
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Israeli Conscientious Objectors
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it would be hard to not feel your pain…..I’m sorry that Israel’s policy and practice, since its inception by man – not God – has mirrored almost exactly the conditions which prevailed in Nazi Germany during the worst exceesses of that war. The pathetically tiny puddles of land which passes for Palestine denies life as utterly as the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and ‘wrong thinkers’ were denied life sixty years ago.
You suffer a holocaust just as surely as did those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and God knows how many nations, tribes and families throughout history.
It is an obscenity for Israel to pretend to be anything but a jack booted, fascist and rather nasty blot on the landscape. It would be wrong to deny the individual Jews who also recoil in horror at what Zionism and its consequential denial of God’s basic law have achieved. What the hell is so hard about being fair and honest with your neighbours?
I wish I could sooth your spirit but can only assure you that, although it won’t change your situation, your words express the ongoing grief which very many of us feel in the wider world.
Comments about the Holocaust are OFF-TOPIC on this Blog. Please refrain from posting such comments in the future.
Current laws make it necessary to redact or delete ALL comments about the Holocaust, as any discussion of the issue is a potential transgression of enacted laws.
You will never see your family again. Continue to live in luxury on the dole of the idiot Austrians who took you in. You are nothing but a terrorist whore and you will never set foot into the holy land of the Chosen people of God . Death to Arabs! Death to Islam! Long Live Israel!
Comment:
This was posted by magdarobinson [at] gmail [dot] com from 68.197.113.17. Please do NOT descend to her level of hatred when posting replies – persons who are not able to be responsible for their own words are the most accurate comment about themselves.
The same person has apparently also posted a hateful comment at the following website (look for “magda robinson”: http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2008/page/2/
And here a rather insulting Email, apparently from the same person, was posted by the recipient:
http://www.topix.com/us/politics/2008/11/stop-the-election-accurate-vote-count-impossible
fuck you draconius. how dare you! you are an idiot who has no compassion for another human being who is suffering. some day you will know how this man feels. it is justice for your words.
kawther- i pray that you will see your family soon.
You are correct that the leadership of both sides are corrupt. That is because they both serve the same master. In fact all “leaders” of their respective countries serve the same master.
The word “God” is a title instead of a name. “God” backwards is dog as in the dog star Sirius or Lucyfer. The people that the middle east belongs to is the sons of Jacob, given to them by the CREATOR. The people that control both sides of the middle east at this time are the children of Cain, Ham(Naamah), Canaanites, Esau, Ishmael’s daughter, other middle eastern nations, Dan. The Spanish Edomites(Sephardic), Khazars(Ashkenazi), and the Palestinians(Edomites and Arabs) are their scapegoats. “Jews” and “Palestinians” are both made up names by Cain, Esau, etc. Cain(Gen 3:16) is the beginning of the serpent seed and Esau(Gen 27:40) married into the line and wants his birthright back. Esau serves the same god that Cain does, Lucyfer(Isis, Venus, Aphrodite, Hera, Ishtar, etc). Cain, Esau, etc control the “east” and “west”. Thesis/antithesis/synthesis. As long as people keep blaming America, Israel, Arabs, Russia, China, Europe, Spanish countries, or whatever, the serpent seed will continue to win.
What a horrible thing to say, #3. What’s wrong is wrong, nothing will change that. Also, how do you know you’re the “Chosen People of God?” What kind of god of horror is that? What kind of morals are those? I see pictures of people now wallowing through the garbage looking for food. Is that appropriate behavior of the “Chosen People of God” to show to others? Are you following the Talmud?
Draconius…you are obviously part of the tribe of lizard people. Half my family belongs to that tribe.
Some of the best and brightest I have known. I have sadly…oh so damn sadly come to see them for what they are as a tribe. Evil incarnate.
Your words to that man were so horrible yet reflective of your tribe…a backwards tribe. You my friend are helping many to see the light, and with the light, we see those scurrying in the shadows.
You help bring this about.
I never would have believed what I have come to see. I grew up in a very racialy unbiased place. I am sad to see that the tribe that thinkss it is best…God’s chosen, is fallen oh so far. Man…I am just so sad, and to see your words….you bring it in and you will bring it down upon your bretheren.
wow. “Draconius Horribilis”, what a pathetic excuse for a “person” you must be. you should be ashamed of yourself. there is NO GOD, but there IS KARMA! May you reap what you have sown very soon! YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! We all will.
You shouldn’t play with your little pee pee in public Dreckass Horrible.
Draconius Horribilis, do you imagine that God approves of your abuse of this poor woman? You are deluded, if you do. The “Chosen people of God” are those who do God’s will, and God’s will is to care for the widow and orphan, to bind up the wounds of the stricken, to show mercy, generosity and kindness. That is not what your words do. They are hateful and vicious, adding injury to injury. For the sake of your soul, I urge you to ask forgiveness of this woman. Ask her to pray for you, because I assure you that God will recompense the injured, and HIs justice will avenge the abused and persecuted.
Dearest Draco,
Eat (…).