On the last two days of March, the Palestinian Cultural Club here in AUB erected a makeshift stand to commemorate what we Palestinians call “Yawm al Ard”, or Land Day. The stand- draped in a 20-foot long Palestinian flag- was more of a photo gallery than anything. On it were displayed dozens of images, each of which portraying an iconic landmark of some sort, and practically every major Palestinian city- whether in the territories or in what is now “Israel” proper- received its fair share of the spotlight.
Curious onlookers would pass by every few minutes, with some timidly inspecting a photograph or two, while others gleefully contemplated the sights of their native towns while recalling an old family tale or age-old memory.
And yet even though the posters displayed made no mention of the harsh reality that is the Palestinian condition, flashes of our tainted history were plain to see- for anyone with some basic understanding of the region’s history. For, in addition to the stirring photos of bustling Gaza marketplaces and beautiful Ramallah gardens, we were also reminded of some of the more sinister truths of our existence.
On that same stand, we saw the Hebron mosque- where Baruch Goldstein infamously opened fire on a group of worshippers while they attended Friday prayer. A few photos down that aisle, we notice the bright coloring of Jaffa oranges- symbols of a once-proud city that have now become one of Israel’s greatest exports (lagging only behind weapons and pharmaceuticals). Alongside them appears a photo of an old Akka neighborhood. But even there, something is ostensibly different; something in that image does not belong there- the walls on the city’s streets are plastered with posters of Israeli politicians.
Needless to say, these subtle snippets of our reality were largely ignored- simply for the fact that even now, in this day and age, it is safe to say that few people actually do have the knowledge needed to understand the history behind these photos- the 999,000 other words that pictures cannot express.
And so for some, the past two days have been a nostalgic stroll down memory lane- a solemn reminder of who we are, and where we came from. But for the rest of us, Yawm al Ard is much more than that; it is a blunt reminder of what we have yet to fight for.
Al Farouq .
(01/04/2009)
Also, hopefully we’ll be able to get the video that our friend Ola took of the event, and as soon as we do, we’ll post it here.
