I’m sick of The Wall.
I’m sick of the checkpoints between Palestinian cities.
I’m sick of illegal Israeli settlers and settlements.
I’m sick of having the Hebrew language on my ID card.
I’m sick of people not knowing anything about our history
but knowing so much about Jewish history.
I’m sick of people ignoring the Palestinian Right of Return
and accepting the Jewish Law of Return.
I’m sick of the Oslo Agreement which no one here
wanted in the first place.
I’m sick of the Palestinian Authority having zero authority.
I’m sick of watching my father being humiliated at checkpoints
by people my age and younger.
I’m sick of my international friends having to lie about
coming to visit; being interrogated, strip-searched
and sometimes deported in the process.
I’m sick of people not understanding
what “occupation” is.
I’m sick of being scared all the time.
I’m sick of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
being a normal state of being here in Palestine.
I’m sick of how ineffective the UN has become.
I’m sick of International Humanitarian Law
not applying to the State of Israel.
I’m sick of how fighting for basic human rights for Palestinians
or being critical of Israeli policy
is so often labelled “anti-Semitic”.
I’m sick of the fact that everybody forgets I’m a Semite.
I’m sick of hearing Israelis complain about discrimination
when the State of Israel was founded on a principle of ethnic purity.
I’m sick of living in a time
when racial profiling has become acceptable.
I’m sick of constantly being treated as a suspect.
I’m sick of how mainstream media portrays us and our situation.
I’m sick of the whole world caring about Gilad Shalit
when there are more than 7,000 Palestinians inside Israeli prisons.
I’m sick of trying to defend myself, friends or countrymen
and being labelled a terrorist.
I’m sick of the fact that everywhere I go
I can see The Wall, a settlement or Israeli soldier.
I’m sick of
63
years
of Israeli occupation.
(Transcript of a video poem uploaded on YouTube by Death2Munchkins on May 12, 2011.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bIO4W3nxGaM
Archived from Communalism Combat, June 2011 Year 17 No.158/Voices