A message to my European friends

Dr.. Dr. Muhammad Makram al-Balaawi

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the European Parliament last week to support his country in the war against Russia. I was there and heard him speak. Unlike the Ukrainians, neutrality is the best we Palestinians can expect from our European friends. But European neutrality is not even an option when it comes to Ukraine and Russia.

I am not a head of state like Zelensky. I am just a simple man. However, I demand justice and I have the right to do so. I was born outside Palestine but the Israelis and their allies do not allow me to return to my homeland - despite my legitimate right under international law - or even to call myself a Palestinian refugee, because I was born in Jordan and given Jordanian citizenship even though my parents were born in Palestine. On the contrary, any Jew born anywhere in the world can "return" to their homeland on the grounds that their alleged ancestors lived there more than 2,000 years ago.

European friends tell me to be realistic and accept the facts, by which they mean that I should overlook the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that began in 1948, support Israel's right to exist on my homeland and accept whatever crumbs it decides to give me. On the other hand, for example, those who are known today as Italians. If they went anywhere in the old Roman Empire in its heyday, they would have the "right" to kick the British, French, Spanish, and any number of other people out of their homeland. Meanwhile, I asked my European friends, how many people would be "realistic" and accept such a "right"?

We, the Palestinians, were told to seek peace in a peaceful way, and we would have our own state living side by side with Israel. That is the theory. What we are not told is how and when this will happen? No European friend can answer this simple question. Moreover, why should we believe in the "peaceful" approach anymore? The PLO chose peace with Israel in 1993 and signed the Oslo Accords under a European umbrella. The PLO even agreed to coordinate security to protect the occupying state. In return, the Palestinians were supposed to have a state to call their own. It didn't happen. And why not? Where has the "peaceful" path taken us over 30 years of false promises?

Was Israel created peacefully in my homeland of Palestine? The truth is that it was built on the terror of Jewish militias such as the Irgun, Stern Gang, Palmach and Haganah, which later became the Israel Defense Forces. The state's violence continues to this day. Israel is a nuclear-armed power, while we Palestinians have nothing compared to the occupying state's army, navy, and air force. Who is willing to guarantee Israel's goodwill, and who will guarantee that we will get our statehood even in what remains of historic Palestine after Israel has seized more land for its illegal settlements, Jewish-only service roads, and the Apartheid Wall?

I must, with regret, remind my European friends that anti-Semitic pogroms took place in Europe. The ethnic cleansing of Jews took place in Europe. The Nazi Holocaust took place in Europe. And now, out of guilt and remorse, Europe is helping Israeli Jews do the same to Palestinians. You have committed your crime twice: Once against the Jews of Europe. Now you are helping the Israeli Jews do the same to us Palestinians. We did not commit anti-Jewish pogroms, ethnic cleansing or the Holocaust, but we have to pay for your actions. The so-called "Jewish question" in Europe is being solved at our expense.

You have armed the Israelis to the teeth, protected them in international organizations, funded them, and justified all their apartheid policies to the point where they are now convinced that violence against us is the only way to achieve their goals. Some are now talking about using the same tactics against each other in a civil war. Soon we may see Israelis killing Israelis because one group is not far-right enough for the other, and vice versa.

You know, my European friends, that the monster of fascism was born in Europe, and that Zionism is the bad offspring of fascism. Zionist Jews have sold out their non-Zionist brethren in religion in the past, and they seem to be doing it again now. After targeting Palestinians, Zionists and their allies are once again turning on non-Zionist Jews in Israel and elsewhere.

What will happen if Israeli injustice leads to the fall of neighboring Arab regimes and creates another regional war? The memories of the Arab Spring are still fresh in Arab minds. Indeed, the uprising lingers, as we can see in Syria. Millions of Syrian refugees have fled to Europe, joined by refugees from Afghanistan and other parts of the world, especially Africa. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that the world has become interconnected for the first time in years, while we cannot escape the consequences of the actions of other peoples, no matter where they are in the world.

More refugees in Europe means more anti-refugee sentiment and open racism, on which the far right thrives. Fascism is rising again on your doorstep, my European friends. You know what this means: More militarization and security of your precious open societies; more poverty as unbridled capitalism flourishes, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer; restrictions on freedom and democracy; and - again - war between European nation-states.

So, my dear European friends, I am not telling you to treat us Palestinians the same way you treat Ukraine. I am simply trying to sound the alarm. Unless you resist the pressure and intimidation of the pro-Israel lobby in Europe as it makes false allegations of anti-Semitism against anyone who dares to criticize Israel and its policies; unless you stop issuing a permanent blank check to Israel; unless you stand up to Israel and say enough is enough, no more protection, the state is not above the law and must abide by international resolutions. Unless there is justice for the Palestinians and real peace. If you don't do all this, everyone will suffer, not just us Palestinians. Learn from history, my European friends, especially your own. You can't say you weren't warned.