November 10, 2004

Amman, Jordan

Dear Israel:

Today I couldn’t stop thinking about you.  I spent the day at the Talibieh camp in Jordan.  I asked many questions, took lots of photos and made notes. Tonight, instead of putting my notes together in the form of an article (which I hope to do sometime soon), I find myself compelled to write this letter to you.

Do you have any idea of the scope of the tragedy your fathers created?  Oh, please!  I can hear you already repeating the nonsense that the Palestinians left because they were told to. One does not know a refugee until one has walked a mile in his particular shoes.

What would you have done if you had been in their place at that time?  Would you have fled to safety or would you have stayed and surrendered to one of the cruelest armies in the world?  Why don’t you be my guest, and step into the shoes of these refugees.

Oh…sorry, of course you will not.  These shoes are too dirty, too insignificant; too worn out and way too small for you to squeeze your foot into.  Well, I have news for you: what goes around comes around.  If you don’t face up to this injustice you have created - this false premise for building a nation, this big lie - you will never find peace.

Yes, I know you think the refugee problem is not your fault. The Arab countries should have absorbed these refugees.  Do you even have a clue how ridiculous that sounds?

Why should any nation clean up your mess, and why on earth would any Palestinians give up their orchards, their groves, their homes and leave with only the clothes on their backs to be settled elsewhere?  What gives you the right to condemn these millions to this horrible fate?  And please, don’t say God, because that makes me really fume.  We are all children of God.

Speaking of children of God, I saw many of them today at the camp. They all seemed as human as you and I. Five fingers on each hand...two eyes on each face…the works.   In fact, I saw in these camps some of the cutest babies in the world cuddled up to their moms, smiling, waving, drooling, and chewing on anything they could grab.  Rest assured, the infants at the camps are happy.

The minute they begin to walk, however, leaving the comfort of their mom’s bosom, something begins to die in their eyes. The toddlers at the camps are not happy, they are quite not curious – they’ve already seen too much or maybe too little.  The three year olds have hungry eyes; some have eyes that can pierce right through you. They are the epitome of deprivation.


The teenage boys are either suffering from depression and withdrawal or they become thugs and street kids. The teenage girls are broken and helpless. The girls marry the boys, the boys grow into unemployed men, the girls grow into tough women with many children, way too many.

The women work; they clean the houses of those who were able to flee the camp trap. The men sit in the cafes, drawn in their impotence, cursing the day that Israel was created.  A few make it out and move up in the world but the majority do not. They inherit their misery one generation after the other.

What do you mean what does this have to do with you?

Do you know that I made a point of asking every refugee I came across why they ended up in the camps, and they all said, “Because of the Jewish Army”. And no, giving them Arab nationalities will not help - maybe a little, but it will not undo the injustice. 

You keep talking about the "holocaust" and believe me, that was a horrific crime against humanity. You talk about the suicide bombings, and I have condemned them until blue in the face. But today I realized there is something that is equal to, if not worse than, being blown up or murdered. I witnessed a fate that is truly horrific. I felt the cold embrace of eternal despair and endless agony.

Face it, Israel. You screwed up. You drove out a proud nation, stole their land, disrupted their lives and tossed them into the middle of the desert. And you expected them to carry on, to forgive, to forget.

What the hell were you thinking?

Memory and Peace: August 2003 by Dorit Shippin
While you had no responsibility for what happened in the Holocaust, we have full responsibility over the suffering we have caused you...What is important is reconciliation. The events of 1948, while not a Holocaust, were a terrible disaster. The Jews must understand this. There must be recognition.”

Related: Palestine Center Report - The Palestine Refugee Crisis

Part X Oh Canada...

Index & Introduction Reports from Amman Jordan My Palestinian Diary

Part XII Arafat, The Face of Palestine