To the Editor,
I am writing to address deeply concerning sentiment published in the Opinion section last week following the Bethlehem Library’s event on Dec. 5 with Israeli activist, Miko Peled, in which the writer took to calling Palestinians and their supporters present at the event, “Hamas supporters.”
Having been among their ranks myself, I can assure you that we are anything but “terror supporters.”
Civilians in Gaza are suffering the brunt of Israel’s aggressions, with 1.9 million Palestinians currently displaced from their homes, over 20,000 civilian casualties, and thousand others missing or injured. There is no humanitarian aid entering the land because the United States refuses to support a ceasefire resolution, deeming the significant loss of civilian lives inconsequential, mere collateral damage in a larger mission to destroy Hamas. We are made to believe that this is simply what happens in a war, and that we must be okay with it.
Pro-Palestinians are not “Hamas supporters” as many appear to believe. We are calling for an end to the near-centuries worth of Palestinian suffering, and this should never be confused with supporting terrorism. Such racist sentiments have far too often been attached to Middle Eastern or majority Muslim-supported liberation movements when it is simply not true.
We are supporters of a free Palestine, one in which Palestinians are granted safe passage back to their ancestral homes, in which they are treated equally to their Israeli neighbors. This is not a genocidal sentiment, but one that calls for the liberation of all. This is what we stand for, and there is nothing hateful in this.
The library serves as an academic forum, for community members to congregate and share ideas in a neutral space, and I commend the Bethlehem Public Library for standing its ground and allowing the program with Miko Peled to resume as planned.
I would like to end this letter by drawing attention to the ongoing plight and attempted erasure of the Palestinians. This series of aggressions are not an isolated incident, but just one in many over the past 75 years under Israeli occupation. We call for a ceasefire because it is our moral responsibility as humans witnessing the atrocities occurring in Gaza.
Sumaiya Nasir,
Latham
This story was featured on page 4 of the January 3rd , 2024 print edition of the Spotlight
