Who am I and what is it to you?

There are now more Palestinians living outside of Palestine as part of the diaspora than those who remain. I suppose this is not so surprising considering their history of more than half a century of conflict and in nearly all cases defeat. “Happiness is not to be enjoyed alone but has to be shared” proffered Karim to me as he poured me some of his fresh herbal tea. Born and raised in Jerusalem he has spent a considerable amount of his adult life adopting a nomadic existance as one of these scattered people and life as a daffodil picker on St.Ives was one of his incarnations during these wondering years. It is rare for foreigners to sing the praises of British cuisine but he holds Scottish muffins followed by a nip of whisky as one of the world’s great culinary delicacies.

Years of dislocation and reflection have graced the man with a melancholy yet inspired manner and his years of searching for understanding and new experiences have gifted him an insightful and philosophical lens through which to view life back home. Whilst we were sharing a flat together we spent many hours discussing everything from great British food to the history of Palestinian resistance. “There is no policy for peace, only a policy for power” he said as we lamented the reality of what people still insist on calling the “peace process”. Like Karim I believe the “peace process” has remained a misnomer for what is in affect a policy of continued occupation, military expansionism, racist discrimination and economic subversion.

Karim is a film maker and photographer who is currently working with a local cultural centre to educate young people and their trainers in the tools of his trade. His personal mission extends beyond teaching just the technical skills. For him it is about nourishing creative courage by honest, probing minds. Why? Because the survival of culture is pivotal to the survival of the Palestinian people.

A great success of the Zionists and a great failure of the Arabs has been the virtual complete dehumanising of the Palestinian people and their resistance. The consequences are grave. Firstly, those of us external to the situation become unable to truly empathise with their reality and therefore fall short of offering any significant level of support or pressure for change. However, perhaps more damaging is how the new generation of Palestinians are in danger of losing a true understanding of themselves, where they come from and the communities they compose. When vacuous political slogans and myopic religious dogma become the primary forms of personal and communal expression the forecasts are ominous. This truth is by no means limited only to Palestine! The mentality and means of true creative self-expression are integral to the development of a real peace process.