Sorotan buku: Palestin, aku cinta padamu

Buku Dari Beirut ke Jerusalem amat menarik untuk dihalusi dan isinya datang dari hati yang luhur oleh seorang panganut Kristian bernama Dr. Ang Swee Chai. Tambahan pula mutu terjemahan ke bahasa Melayu yang amat baik berjaya dilaksanakan oleh unit buku Harakah, seolah-olah penulisnya menulis dalam bahasa Melayu.

Ada bahagian tertentu dalam buku ini membuatkan hati saya terasa begitu hening dan sunyi. Begitu syahdu dan menusuk kalbu. Sunyi dan terasa begitu jauh dari keriuhan. Di suatu sudut dunia, sekumpulan manusia dilanyak tanpa belas kasihan dan dunia hanya menyaksikan kejahatan Israel tersebut.

Bacalah bagaimana tanggapan awal Dr Ang terhadap teroris dan Islam. Bagaimana beliau mengaitkan Islam itu agama teroris, dan akhirnya beliau mengubah 360 darjah tanggapan awal tersebut.

This is the story of Dr Ang Swee Chai, a Penang-born orthopaedic surgeon, and her flight to war-torn Lebanon in 1982 to treat the wounded and dying. This new edition, twenty years after the Zionist terrorism in Shabra and Shatila which killed thousands of Palestinian civilians, is a tribute to the ongoing struggle against Zionist occupation in the Holy Lands.

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When US President Barack Obama called on Palestinians to practice nonviolence, I laughed just like Mahmoud. Palestinians like Mahmoud have never needed to be told about nonviolence. The English word may be unfamiliar but the steadfast, daily acts of resistance known as nonviolence are nothing new. In the south Hebron hills, Palestinians face Israeli soldiers and violent Israeli settlers who are illegally expanding their settlements and attacking Palestinians, including children walking to school.

In response to this profound injustice, Palestinians are organizing demonstrations, refusing to comply with military orders, filing complaints against settlers, and courageously working their land despite the risk of arrest and attack. They don't need President Obama to tell them to practice nonviolence.

Palestinians have practiced nonviolent resistance for the last 60 years. From the "Great Revolt" during the British Mandate to the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, to the loose-knit but powerful community-based movement of today. Certainly, it's inaccurate to omit armed resistance from Palestinian history, but it is equally false to claim that Palestinians are unfamiliar with nonviolence. President Obama missed the point in his Cairo speech -- Palestinians do not need to be admonished towards peacefulness. It's radical Israeli settlers and the Israeli government who do.

Instead of preaching to Palestinians, Obama should insist emphatically on the dismantlement of Israeli settlements that violate international law and the enforcement of laws to prevent Israeli settlers from attacking Palestinian villagers, a frequent occurrence in the south Hebron hills. After 42 years of Israeli military occupation, it is time for an American president to call on Israel to stop its violence towards Palestinians. (Read more)

Berkaitan: Barack Obama, satu usaha baik tetapi belum dapat dipuji
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