This land has been said to be thrice holy. It is in Hebron that the tomb of the patriarchs of the three so-called religions of the Book, or revealed religions, is located. Jerusalem is home to the remains of the great temple of the Jews built in the 1st century AD called the Wailing Wall, which is the holiest place for the Jews. It was in Bethlehem that David, King of Israel and Jesus the Savior of Christians were born. It was in Jerusalem that this Savior was crucified, buried and resurrected. It is always in Jerusalem that the Prophet Muhammad of the Muslims made his nocturnal journey to the seven heavens, on his horse Buraq, in the company of the angel Gabriel. And this is where the Mosque of al-Aqsa is located, the third holiest site in Islam. Shouldn't there be three more love on this earth?
This land was divided between two peoples who claimed it, two cousin peoples, two brother peoples, since they both claim the same ancestors, those who are buried in Hebron. In principle, the two peoples should live in harmony, even merge to form one. What went wrong? From Gaza to Ramallah via Jerusalem, Jenin, Hebron, Tel Aviv, Ashquelon, Haifa, Nazareth, all we hear is gunfire, the sound of tanks, rockets and bombs, tears and calls for hatred. Two peoples who should love each other, complement each other to be the salt of humanity. All they have been able to develop is the hatred of the other. One crushes the other with its omnipotence, and even refuses it the right to exist. And the other only dreams of revenge, of rockets to fire. Non-existent people, someone said. So a non-existent people can die and disappear without anyone being moved. And every day, the children of Gaza, of Jenin, of Ramallah, of Bethlehem, of Jerusalem, of Jericho, of all Palestine are dying, and no one hears their cries of pain. Normal. They do not exist. And then currently, another people, a real people that one, is dying at the gates of Western Europe. Poor Palestinians! What an idea to throw stones at these soldiers, when the Ukrainians are bombarded by the Russians with real bombs. You know that throwing stones is terrorism. And that does not forgive. And your elders couldn't find anything better than launching rockets. The penalty is death for the stone thrower and collective punishment for the rest of the clan. Houses destroyed, burned, fields of olive trees uprooted, traffic ban.
Poor children of Gaza. The largest open-air prison in the world. Everything is polluted there. The sky is polluted, the earth is polluted, the water is polluted, the air is polluted. Suffer in silence, die in silence please. Poor children of Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Jericho, Bethlehem. For you it is not an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but a lot of shattered heads and a lot of burnt houses for an eye or a tooth.
"I can't breathe". I can't breathe anymore, said black American George Floyd when he choked under the knee of the white racist policeman. The Palestinians have long been unable to breathe under the knee of the occupier. They have always suffocated. The children of Palestine have not played, smiled or laughed for a long time. They don't cry anymore either. What would that be for? Nobody looks at them, nobody sees them, nobody listens to them, nobody hears them. Because they don't exist.
Did we say a two-state solution? What future Palestinian state when Gaza is regularly bombarded at the approach of each election or when there is a crisis on the other side, in Israel, when the West Bank is almost entirely occupied by Israeli settlements? Look on a map and see what remains for the Palestinians to create their state. In any case, no one wants this Palestinian state. Neither in Israel, nor in the United States, the great masters of the game. Nor perhaps even among the Arab brothers of the corner. So ? Then the children of Palestine will continue to die and no one will raise an eyebrow. Let us remember that a few years ago, a Palestinian medical team came to treat patients in our country free of charge. They made them smile again. Let's spare a thought for their children who no longer know how to smile. And, in these times of Muslim and Christian Lent, of Jewish Easter and of the death and resurrection of Christ, let us pray that peace will return to this land and between these two peoples that everything should bind for life.
By Venance Konan
*This article has been translated from French into English by Marcus Boni Teiga
