We say we don’t want to leave without him. “Can one of our Israeli friends stay here?” we ask. The soldiers refuse, and a gun is raised. It points straight at us – and we begin to back away. “Move on,” we’re told.
Soldiers walk Abuhejleh out of sight around a hill, and as we make our way back to where the road was dug up, Rabbi Dana tells us she’s worried. … We don’t want to leave Abuhejleh, and so the waiting begins. What was promised as a few minutes becomes 30 minutes. Then 45. Then 90. What appears to be the same drone comes back, flying lower, with its camera pointed at us.
Eventually, our IDF contact calls back. He assures us that Abuhejleh is safe, and he strongly advises us to leave the area “for our safety.” So, reluctantly, we do. … We sit down with Abuhejleh to make sure he’s OK and to ask what happened after he was separated from us. He tells us that after he was led away, blindfolded and handcuffed, he was driven to a military office in a nearby settlement where he was mocked and questioned for hours.
“They say it’s our land. It’s not your land. So you must forget it,” he says. Later, when we would ask the IDF why he had been detained, they would provide no comment.
Now that he’s home, he assures us he’s unharmed. And as we’re about to leave, we ask if he plans to go back to see his land, even after today’s incident.
“I will go back. Don’t worry,” he says. “They will arrest, and I will return back – until I will fix my land. It’s our land.”
He is actively and openly supporting and funding a genocide but we’re not allowed to call him mean names?
I don’t accept your characterization. And despite what the last person said, it is a zero sum game. Do I need to draw you a diagram of how Trump would be worse in just about every possible way, including for Palestinians?
Obviously Biden is better than Trump. The Democrats and Republicans are both bad. Yes, the Democrats are less bad, but things aren’t going to get better if we just refuse to criticize them because of this.
As long as we’re stuck picking between Democrats and Republicans I’m going to continue to vote Democrat and encourage others to do so, but I’m not going to hide my reservations nor accept mockery for refusing to toe the party line.