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Thomas in Palestine
(International Solidarity Movement, Summer
2003)
Thomas's Writings
Thomas's Pictures
Biography of Thomas
My name is Thomas and I am a History
student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. My family are originally from Lebanon via the Island of
Cyprus. In 1974 when the Turks invaded Northern Cyprus my family was
expelled from our native lands and home, and have to this day never been
allowed to return. Through my studies of history throughout my schooling
I became very aware of the injustices committed against the people of
this world by their so called "rulers"; be them despots, kings,
dictators, or presidents. I came to realize that no matter the political
system, be it a fascist dictatorship, a Communist dictatorship, or an
unrepresentative democracy the rich elites of society always used their
influence, power and wealth to dominate, subjugate and brutalize the
people whose labor in fact kept the wealthy in power. It has been the
same all throughout history, just called different names, and disguised
by differing means.
In high school I was the founder of my schools Model United
Nations, and this experience, combined with my political beliefs segued
into social activism. Through work and experience with the Model UN at
my school, the question of Palestine came up. Originally, as a staunch
Anti-Fascist and scholar of the second World War, I had been a supporter
of Israel primarily through a common misunderstanding of the "peaceful"
origins and aims of the Israeli state. Through the Model UN I came to
see that the creation of the state of Israel had been conducted at the
ultimate cost of the lives of the indigenous residents. That revelation
was followed by the shocking revelations of the massacres of
Palestinians, the home demolitions, the refugees, the illegal
occupation, the settlements, and the defiance of 69 UN resolutions
calling for an end to the occupation and the recognition of the human
rights of Palestinians. Throughout the later part of my high school life
I became a vocal advocate of the rights of Palestinians, but it remained
just a minimal part of my social justice work as a whole.
As a Junior I was vice president of a Student group opposed to the
unconstitutional policies of our schools administration. The Student
Opposition Council (SOC) was born out of a complete lack of voice for
the Students at our high school, and sparked by the outrageous sixteen
day suspension handed down to a student who had wrapped a present to his
girlfriend in a box and carelessly tossed it into a bathroom after
removing the present from it, sparking a "bomb scare". (Incidentally
the President of SOC was one Peter G. who recently served 6
months in prison as a political prisoner for actions at the School of
the Americas at Fort Benning Georgia.) SOC was opposed to such
unconstitutional policies such as search and seizure, (the "right" of
school officials to search and seize property, or vehicle on school
property), portal to portal (the "right" of school officials to suspend
or expel students arrested off school grounds for "crimes" such as
possession of alcohol and drugs), the "no hat rule", and the depriving
of 18 year old students to legally smoke tobacco on school grounds
(while teachers and older guests where permitted). In the last two
months of junior year, SOC with the backing of the majority of students
began to confront the administration, giving me my first experience of
underground radical politics. First a petition for student rights
containing signatures of at least 600 of the schools 1200 students were
delivered to the administration promting them to schedule a meeting
with SOC to discuss student grievances. SOC was assured that we were to
meet with the principle, but were instead given an uninformative and
unsuccessful meeting with the Vice-Principal. This obvious dismissal of
student concerns and the resulting actions by SOC blooded me with my
first taste of organizing and direct action. For a month SOC and the
administrations response paralyzed the school with direct actions.
Sit-ins and rallies were held in front of the administration offices,
jamming the halls and preventing movement (The school was severely
overcrowded, with many students forced to learn in trailers and packed
classrooms) and illegal flyer-posting occurred daily. As Vice-president
of SOC I was in charge of the flyering and mobilization for the
rallies. The administration responded with harsh measures using
football coaches and physical intimidation to break up rallies and
suspending anyone caught in possession of an SOC flyer without a
hearing. At the height of the SOC movement our president was suspended
for his role on organizing and for a personal direct action (wearing a
t-shirt denouncing the administration and their lies). With his
suspension I became de facto president of SOC and was in charge of the
massive flyering campaign denouncing Peter's suspension and demanding
Student rights. The campaign hit its climax in the last few weeks of
school when SOC sent a letter, written by myself and backed by the
students, to the principle demanding that she
and the administration resign for crimes against the students (The
students who delivered the letter were detained for 3 hours, then
suspended). The administration refused, but a year later the principle
was fired, and the administration cleansed of some of its corrupt
elements. The school newspaper headline for that month read "Revolution
fever hits Madison."
As a senior, I briefly presided over a weakened SOC before its
eventual disbanding, but my activism for student rights continued and
SOC reunited later in the year for a one day student protest in support
of an ongoing teacher "strike" for higher wages. As a senior, I moved
from Student activism into the arena of National social justice
activism. During the 2000 election (the fall of my senior year) I became
very involved with the National Green Party and the campaign of social
justice advocate Ralph Nader. After school I would take the Metro into
DC to work as a volunteer at the National Headquarters, and before the
election I worked backstage as a volunteer at the Nader Super rally in
Washington DC. This involvement with the Green Party and the exposure
to the realities of the American "democratic" system (A system where
Republicans and Democrats get their public money after their
conventions, but third parties get it after the election is over, a
system where third parties are banned from debates by the debate
commission made up of democrats and republicans, a system where the
person winning the highest number of votes does not get elected due to
the elitist "electoral college", and a system where money dictates
success), convinced me that America is not and never has been a true
democracy, and that there is no democracy when only two parties are
involved because not every ones' political beliefs can fit with the
agendas of only two parties. The most obvious proof of this is the fact
that not even 50% of the American people feel enfranchised enough to
vote. This is also, in my opinion, the most damming indictment of the
corrupt American democratic system.
In the Spring of Senior year with my rejection of American
"democracy" complete I attended my first mass demonstration, the amazing
and confrontational World Bank/WTO protests in Washington DC. The first
mass protests since the amazing victory of social justice activists in
Seattle. I had been to many minor/local protests before, including many
Anti-Nazi demonstrations, but this was the first time I was exposed to
the amazing Internationalism of Social Justice advocates. I experienced
the amazing convergence of many diverse movements united by the the
common goal of confronting oppression wherever it reared its elitist
head. During the illegal Monday march on the World Bank building I was
on the front lines and was pepper sprayed in the face by the DC Police
department, backed up with gun-toting national guardsmen. I received
chemical burns around my lips and eyes, and could not open my eyes for
20 minutes, I was fortunately rescued by a protest medic who dragged me
away from the police and administered vinegar to my eyes. After I had
recovered I returned to the front line where, amidst a police attempt to
charge down a group of Anarchists I was battened in the arm, suffering
long term injuries. Through this experience it became clear to me that
the function of the police in society is to protect property and the
rights and privileges of the ruling class. We, the people, are shut out
of the secret meetings of the richest people in the world, and then when
we try to exercise our fights to free speech and demand access to the
secret meetings where the fate of millions of poor and third world
citizens are determined the state, and with their hired guns, the
police, brutalize us and beat us. It became clear to me that Capitalism
was the enemy of the people and the friend of the elites and rulers, and
the idea of the nation state with its police, army, and beaurocratic
functionaries are artificial creations designed to divide the world's
population and the common people from each other. It was also clear
however that we, the common people of the world had yet to come up with
a solution. Some people touted Communism, Socialism, or Anarchism as
the solution, but all have failed us, and have not brought the people of
the world closer to uniting against oppression and Capitalism. I decided
at that moment watching the people, my brothers and sisters be charged
down by the police that I would never be an "-ism." I would pursue only
one goal through my activism and my life, and that was solidarity with
the oppressed wherever they may be in the world, and support of any
peoples in their attempts to free themselves from oppression.
As I entered Virginia Commonwealth University I knew my activism
was destined to increase by leaps and bounds. During my first semester
of University I met a very like-minded Jewish Socialist whose name I
will not mention. Through countless political discussions and classes
we became very close friends and, as freshman made it our objective to
fill the considerable void of social justice activism at our
school. Being like-minded people, the issue of Palestine, and the
overwhelming oppression of the Palestinian people immediately sprung to
our minds as a focus for our energy and activism. Free Palestine Now!
was hence born as a grassroots social justice movement uniting students
against not only the oppression of the Palestinian people, but the
tyranny of US consumerism and it's attempts to pacify students by
inundating us with advertising, television, and greed.
Two years, much organizing, many debates, many arguments, and many
protests later I embark on this, my journey to support my oppressed
brothers and sisters dying for their freedom in Palestine. Through my
body, my blood, and my solidarity I hope and aim to show the Palestinian
people that they are not alone in the world. We have not forgotten
them, we have not abandoned them, and we never will. If we remain silent
to oppression, we become accomplices in its horror.
In solidarity with all the oppressed people of the World,
Thomas |
