AN AMERICAN HERO IN GAZA

No matter if the Shah is black or white;
the pawns will always be sacrificed in the fight.

- Amel Hanan

I probably have been wrong about the Americans all this while. For long I have viewed them as blood-thirsty and violent xenophobic paranoids who have no civilized appreciation to other people's rights and cultures. However, last night news about an American activist seriously wounded by the Israeli troops in Gaza has opened my eyes as to how human some Americans may actually be.

U.S. Citizen Critically Injured in Demonstration in Ni’lin

By Teah Lunqvist (Sweden) - International Solidarity Movement

An American citizen has been critically injured in the village of Ni’lin after Israeli forces shot him in the head with a tear-gas canister. Tristan Anderson from California USA, 37 years old, is currently being taken to Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv. Anderson is unconscious and has been bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. He sustained a large hole in his forehead where he was struck by the canister.

“The Israeli soldiers were standing on the hill looking over us firing tear-gas canisters straight into the crowd. Tristan was hit and fell to the ground. He had a large hole in the front of his head and his brain was visable. I tried to stop the bleeding, but he was bleeding heavily from the head, nose and mouth.”

“Tristan was shot by the new tear-gas canisters that can be shot up to 500m. I ran over as I saw someone had been shot, while the Israeli forces continued to fire tear-gas at us. When an ambulance came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with the soldiers, the ambulance passed.”

Tristan Anderson

The first thing that came to my mind was, "What was this American man doing in Palestine? Isn't the US an ally to Israel?"

The more I think about it, the more I understand why that American activist took part in a demonstration against Israeli occupation in Nilin Village. It was for peace. There's so many violence in this world and people keep getting hurt day after day. Peace is something that is legendary nowadays, like the Holy Grail of which existence the Christian theologists believed in. Achieving peace would be like holding a living myth in your hands.

Those born with humanity inside their hearts believe in the existence of peace and the possibility of achieving it. This faith gave them courage to stand up and struggle for peace. This is the true meaning of "jihad".

What Mr. Tristan Anderson did was an example of the true jihad. This man went to a war zone in a country he is a stranger to; he has shared the Palestinians' pains who were targeted by the Israeli oppressors; he has tasted the people's sorrow living in a war-torn world; he has braved himself to voice out the world's cry for peace through non-violent protests. Even Obama's inauguration did not move me as much as Anderson's struggle.

Anderson is not the only American who was targeted by the Israeli troops. Ms. Rachel Corrie, a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was killed by a bulldozer operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during a protest against the destruction of Palestinian homes by the IDF in the Gaza Strip in 2003.

"Rachel was an unarmed peace activist trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian pharmacist, his wife, and three children. She believed that nonviolent direct action against the Israeli occupation would make Palestinians, and also Israelis and Americans, more secure. Rachel stood there to protect a home and family in Gaza because the United States and Israel rejected a UN proposal to send international human rights monitors there. International activists went instead. Rachel stood there protesting illegal home demolitions that the United States opposes on the record yet fails to stop -- destruction that we support with billions in annual military aid to Israel for bulldozers, Apache helicopters, F-16s, and more."

- Cindy Corrie (Rachel's mother).

The late Rachel Corrie.
May God bless her noble soul.

Rest in peace, Ms. Corrie.

In the meantime, there are many American activists stuck in Palestine fighting for a cause. I am ashamed with myself and with the mild support the world has extended to Palestine compared to the fearless efforts made by these American activists to seek peace for Palestine. I mean, look at me... I put up pics in Flickr asking people to boycott Israeli and American products in protest against Israeli occupation in Gaza. But I did this in the comfort of my home, safe and sound from the reality of war that I never really witnessed. Has my protest come out with any fruition? No.

Look at us. We have been clawing at each other for political powers like what happened in Perak, organising demonstrations over unimportant issues like the PPSMI system, and debating on stupid racial differences while the world is crumbling around us. Why are we creating this illusionary barrier inside a dying world?

What have we done to save Palestine? Is by sticking posters about Gaza's suffering in blogs help to free Gaza? Have our talks and debates on Gaza prevented more people from being wounded and killed? How much money is needed to be donated through the media to ensure that peace in Gaza is established?

The reality is, we Asians are only as ignorant as the Arabic nations when it comes to saving human lives. We are nothing more than empty vessels - we talk the talk, but we don't walk the walk. How useless we become when other people are in dire need of help. Our people easily take their frustration out into the streets for so-called reformation or democratic causes, but when it comes to humanity crisis no one comes out in the open to say anything about it. Those protestors who took part in demonstrations against the Sultan of Perak and the PPSMI system - how come they didn't have the same courage in protesting against Israeli occupation in Gaza at Palestinian streets like the Americans did? Hypocrites. All they did was protesting for fun - there is nothing sincere in Malaysian street demonstrations anymore.

So how is Mr. Tristan Anderson is doing?

"Anderson underwent surgery and was in serious condition," said Orly Levi, a Tel Hashomer spokeswoman. Silverman said skull fragments and a portion of his right frontal lobe were removed. He also suffered major trauma to the bone surrounding his right eye.

Mr. Tristan Anderson, please get well soon. Hang on there. I pray to God for your health and full recovery from your injury. Thank you for putting your life on the line for peace... and for opening people's hearts to the possibility of finding peace. Thank you for being a hero.

"HERO" BY NICKELBACK is playing in my mind today.