Thoughts about American Thanksgiving by a young American student

This article originally was published by the Free Arab Voice.  Unfortunately, although it was written by a young American student a number of years ago at the time of the second American invasion of Iraq, it still remains applicable.  

 

Thanksgiving and Iraq

by Amira, a 13 year old American student

There's a holiday coming up here in America that some people think is the best holiday Americans ever invented.  It's called Thanksgiving.  We were taught about it in school since 1st grade, how the Pilgrim Fathers met the Native Americans and they all came together to share their food in 'thanksgiving' for the beginnings of a new life in a New World.  Never mind how the Pilgrim Fathers later took all the land away from the American tribes for England and then later rebelled so they could rule it themselves.   That's called the American Revolution now.

And that's the story of the Great American Democracy, myths built on more myths.  I've been reading about Thanksgiving and how it's portrayed in our schools and how different that story is from what really happened.  Pilgrims didn't wear the sort of buckles they are shown wearing on their shoes and hats, it turns out, because those fashions were from a later period and they probably didn't eat turkey either.  I forgot how they proved that, but scholars have said it was unlikely, and it was only because of a footnote in some one's diary that the turkey was introduced to Thanksgiving.

If you dig further, you'll discover that most of the people who 'founded' the United States didn't believe in freedom at all.  The Puritans certainly didn't.  They prohibited most things that bring joy to humanity, and had humiliating and cruel tortures for those who disobeyed their rules.  Half the States in America only became part of the United States because the U.S. occupied them!  And when the South tried to leave the 'United States' to form its own nation, the U.S. fought one of the bloodiest wars in history to make sure that it didn't.  That's American-style democracy at work.

But what does this have to do with Iraq?  Everything and nothing, I guess.  Here we are, celebrating this holiday called Thanksgiving while we occupy some one else's country AGAIN and force our brand of 'democracy' down their throats.  Never mind that it's all lies.

That's another thing they make us do in school every year now.  Our school starts in September and there's a new holiday, called 9/11.   It usually is the second week of school but we have to drop everything to celebrate democracy and mourn for a lot of people who were killed in the Twin Towers.  Yes, it's sad that people lost their husbands and kids but what about the people our army and the Zionist army (paid and armed by U.S. dollars!) kills every day?  Isn't that sad?  9/11 is done and over but if killing people's families is such a sad thing, why do we keep doing it? 

9/11 now has become one of those patriotic holidays along with all the days on the calendar for Veterans.  I can't keep them straight, but I know there's Veterans' Day and Memorial Day and now there's 9/11 as if those people were killed in a war to protect democracy.  I don't understand why I can see that it's all illogical and I'm only 13 but most of the country seems to think it makes sense.    The fact that those people just were hard at the capitalist dream of making money when the events happened doesn't seem to make any difference.  They are dead patriots now and American flags sprouted everywhere after that.  Nobody ever tried to work out why a lot of the world rejoiced to see a war brought 'home' to American soil.  If they had, maybe there wouldn't need to be a 'war on terror'. 

Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and Afghanistan had nothing to do with 9/11 but right after that, America started going about telling other countries to join its gang, or else.  Then it invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and it's still continuing those wars, even though they are not declared wars, which only makes a difference apparently because it allows the U.S. to do anything it wants with the people it takes hostage.  They call it taking prisoners, but what's the difference really? 
I've heard that they took thousands of hostages here in the U.S. after 9/11 with the excuse that they thought those people might be terrorists.  Some of them still are in jail and can't even get a trial.  How's that for democracy?

So here we come to Thanksgiving and we are supposed to be all thankful because we live in the richest and most powerful country in the world and it's a democracy and this is the land of the brave and the free.  How can it be a democracy when people don't support the President but he still carries on doing as he pleases?  How can it be a democracy when you have to be rich or have somebody rich in your pocket if you even want to become President?

I think that democracy is another word for capitalism and by the way, they teach that in our schools as if it's the greatest system in the world.  That's really what America is.  It's the land of the free and the brave if those words mean that you have the right to make as much money as you like and spend it however you please, and you can step on any one else along the way and use people as stepping stones to get to the top. 

I'm not particularly proud of being part of this country where 12% of the people actually go hungry and don't have a decent place to live.  Another example of how this government tries to hide the truth is the way they won't even call it hunger anymore.  They coined a new phrase for it:  food insecure.  That makes it sound like it's some sort of mental problem rather than a physical need!   There's a new hope for the poor, though, and it's called the 'compassionate Conservative.'  That's a guy who has the right to do whatever he likes with his money and to pay less taxes than ordinary people but who, out of the goodness of his heart, throws a little charity towards the poor.  That way, he doesn't have to answer to anybody, but he can help the poor!  I don't understand how THAT can be democracy, to be honest.  If a man doesn't have to answer to the people, then he's in a more powerful position than everybody else. 

So let's talk about Thanksgiving and Iraq.  The people of Iraq are supposed to be thankful, I guess, because America invaded them for their own good and set up a democratic government for them just like the government we have here.  It doesn't seem that different, actually, because the members of our government and the American-sponsored government in Iraq are thieves and liars.   Just recently, a court in Iraq sentenced the President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, to death by hanging.  I guess that's a sign that democracy really has arrived. 

Any Iraqi who is rejoicing because the leader of his nation is going to be hanged like a criminal is not thinking straight.  After all, you only need to ask one question to see what's really going on.  What would have happened if the court had pronounced Saddam Hussein innocent and set him free?  Would he have been allowed his freedom?  That should show you what kind of freedom the Iraqis have now.

It's kind of interesting to read about how Saddam Hussein treated women when he actually was able to govern his country without the interference of economic sanctions by the U.N.  He told women that they could do whatever they wanted in life and that he was proud of the role that they had played in the revolution.  He supported a society where women could become doctors, engineers, university professors, scientists, lawyers and government officials.   He wanted to see all people educated and to give dignity to every kind of position people had in helping the nation become strong, whether it was a worker or a writer.  That doesn't sound like the monster that the U.S. is trying to create for all of us to hate!  

If Iraq became 'backward' at all, it's not because of Saddam Hussein but because of all those years of foreign sanctions.   The U.S. and its bully boys saw to that long before they invaded Iraq for the second time.  The Iraqi Resistance is managing to prove that the U.S. is wrong when it says it came to liberate Iraq and not to destroy it and I don't think the U.S. ever can win this war, especially if it keeps supporting the Zionists who never had any right to Palestine at all.

What really doesn't make sense either is the idea that the U.S. is busy promoting its idea of democracy left, right and centre but that if they don't like your leader, you had better watch out, because you will be next on the list to be invaded!  They go into somebody else's country and basically TAKE AWAY that country's leaders and government and then tell them, 'Here you go.  We're giving you FREEDOM.'  Well, if you can't just say 'NO' to the U.S., that's no freedom at all!

I thought democracy meant equality, but the U.S. is allowed to have nuclear weapons and the Zionists, who are no more than a foreign Occupier in Palestine, are allowed to have nuclear weapons, too.   They're making a big stink about Iran having nuclear power, though and everybody is furious with North Korea because that is a nation that decided to do what was best for its own interests.  Why is it that the Zionists never have to comply with any international laws, by the way?    It seems that America and the Zionists can fly over any nation in the world and drop bombs and the Zionists actually can invade Lebanon if they feel like it, but Saddam Hussein wasn't allowed to take back part of Iraq from the corrupt government that ruled in Kuwait.    How many States in America were taken away from other governments by force of arms?

A long time before America invaded Iraq for the second time, the government was giving support to so-called 'revolutionary groups' in Iraq who wanted to overthrow Saddam Hussein.   Those groups weren't called terrorists but any group or person who wants to overthrow the Zionist foreign government in Occupied Palestine is a terrorist and the U.S. and its allies would call the Iraqi Resistance now terrorists if they could get away with it.  The only reason they are forced to call them the 'insurgents' is because there are so many of them!  When the whole country is against you, it's kind of hard to explain them away as 'terrorists'. 

Of course, the revolutionaries who overthrew the British government in the States were not terrorists but heroes who now are known as our 'Founding Fathers'.  According to all the propaganda they dish out in school, America is supposed to support the oppressed and the idea of 'liberty and justice for all'.  So why isn't
America sending money to Hizb'ullah to keep the land of Lebanon free from foreign invasion?  Why isn't America sending money to the Palestinians to help them overthrow a foreign Occupation? 

The answer is simple and it's rather sad.  It's because America isn't on the side of the angels after all.  America supports oppression and repression when it suits its own interests and only makes a fuss about freedom when it's trying to blind its citizens to its real goals.  And if I try to say anything that doesn't agree with the official story in school, I am told to talk about something else.   That's democracy for you.

The significance of Palestine's status in the U.N.

Once upon a time, I would have repudiated the entire charade that occurred in the U.N. yesterday, declaring unequivocally that the road to liberation can be achieved solely through armed resistance to the Zionist entity, that the only just solution is a single, democratic State and that, therefore, any declaration that purportedly accepts the travesty of the two-state solution should not be countenanced AT ALL.

I was disgusted by Abbas and his shameful performances of sajeda to the Zionist entity and the U.S. but when I studied the text of the U.N. declaration, I realised that nothing whatsoever was lost in actuality although nothing much was gained. 

On Facebook, Mike Hanini Odetalla, explaining the significance of observer status to a customer of his, observed pungently that: 'My explanation: If the UN were a Brothel, the Palestinians would be allowed inside, but unlike other members, they cannot engage in sex, they can only watch...'

Is that dubious privilege worth the sacrifice of just Palestinian rights for return to the entire Homeland of Palestine?  Absolutely not.  And yet, in Law, all contracts are subject to the rule that, should one party be in 'fundamental breach' of the situation for which the contract was designed, the other party no longer is bound to the terms.   

We all know that the Zionists never have abided by a single contractual promise made to any international body, including the U.N.  Every statement in Abbas' speech that related to the Zionists dealt with a fantasy situation wherein the Zionist entity would cease to occupy the lands it has been raping systematically since 1967.  No more illegal settlements, no more foreign Occupation of those lands...  In other words, Abbas' undertakings might as well have been based on a situation where the planets suddenly would begin to revolve round Earth rather than the Sun.  Any individual anywhere in the world, even with no knowledge of international affairs knows that the Earth revolves round the Sun.  Any individual anywhere in the world, when presented with the hard facts of the Zionist programme, if  that individual were honest, would be forced to admit that it is the Zionists who are in fundamental breach of every U.N. resolution and who continue to defy international law and the U.N.

Today, in fact, one day after the U.N. vote, the Zionist entity announced the construction of 3,000 new illegal settlement homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.  In other words, the result of Abbas' declaration simply produced a new fundamental breach of international law (and every Israeli promise relating to peace) by the Israeli regime. 

I am an avowed radical and I could not support Abbas, but I feel now that he performed a necessary task yesterday in terms of the international community.  It was a degrading and humiliating job but somebody had to do it.  Now, Palestine simply must continue all efforts towards the goal of ending the Occupation, not only of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza but of every inch of Palestinian land.  If the world were to apply ordinary standards of justice to the Israeli regime, it would recognise the entire premise of the so-called State as one that could not be supported by any Nation that purports to believe in equality and justice for all individuals.  

Over a decade ago, a Palestinian friend of mine who refused to embrace the concept of armed struggle declared that the Zionist entity ultimately would meet a natural demise, based as it is upon a framework of lies and supported only by policies of apartheid.   While I respected his idealism to some extent, I still believed that only armed struggle was necessary if only to accelerate the process of this demise.  In fact, a significant number of those who call themselves 'Israelis' have become disgusted and disillusioned with their government both because of continuing Palestinian resistance and because of the endless crimes against humanity committed by that government.   The Zionist regime would continue to build illegal settlements and pursue its programme of ethnic cleansing irrespective of any Palestinian response to those actions, but the Palestinian people cannot be expected to act as lambs who go meekly and silently to the slaughter.

Furthermore, the Palestinian leadership may be corrupt but the Palestinian people are strong, steadfast and for the most part determined not to cheat their children of their birthrights.    Sadly, one can find corruption in all the Palestinian political fronts and organisations  which is why I believe that Unity in pursing the goal of creating a single, democratic State remains the only viable solution.  My trust is placed in every Palestinian Mother and every Grandfather who continue to hold the keys to their Occupied or Destroyed Homes and every Palestiinian Child who is determined to build a future, despite the horrors of Occupation and Death as well as the Fighters who are willing to water their native soil with their blood, whether they be Fatah, PFLP, Hamas or members of any other or no organisation.  The Cause of Liberation is just and will remain so however many leaders demonstrate corruption or cowardice.  Palestine will be free one day.  The Zionist entity HAS to crumble because it is contrary to every law of humanity and is founded only upon a web of illusions and outright lies.  American fundiing can continue to bolster its hold upon Palestine temporarily but one day the American people must recognise the stupidity of supporting a foreign Apartheid regime with billions of dollars that could be spent better on feeding and sheltering their own people.   America may have deep pockets but they are not inexhaustible and in a time of economic recession, the sheer enormity of the investment in a foreign regime that does NOT serve the true interests of the American people in any way, shape or form must become clear.  Media propaganda, however sophisticated is no substitute for shelter, food and employment.  Ultimately, one need not have faith in any fundamental sense of justice on the part of the American public.  One simply can have faith in the instinct for survival.

The U.N. vote yesterday is good for Palestine in that it brings it once again to the attention of the world and shows that the stranglehold of the Zionists on the media no longer exists.  The true nature of the philosophy of Zionism  conceived in the last years of the 19th century cannot be concealed forever.  Every crime against humanity committed in its name erodes the sophisticated propanganda that protect it.  In that sense, the Zionists may prove the authors of their own destruction as much as Palestinian resistance.


 leopard suddenly would lose its spots and become a truly 'democratic' state with equal rights for all individuals, irrespective of race or religion.