Returning To Gaza – Abu Yousuf
Ishmahil Blagrove speaks to Abu Yousuf, the founder of the humanitarian aid charity Interpal, about the Palestinian holocaust, Israel's recent terrorist attacks on Gaza and his desire to return to the land of his birth.
What is your opinion of the current international response to the Israeli bombardment?
Unsatisfactory! I think this is a total shame on the International Community; they have disappointed the Palestinian people. I don’t think they have done anything reasonable for the Palestinian people.
Why do you believe Israel has not been held accountable for it’s actions?
Israel has not been held accountable because of the lies of many countries and it is these countries that support Israel with all of its weapons and it is them that encouraged Israel to launch this war.
You are Palestinian and have not been back since 1967; why have you decided to come back now?
I decided to come back a long time ago, but whether I have been able to do so, that is another matter. There is no Israeli presence at the moment; the borders are not controlled by the Israelis because if they were controlled by the Israelis, I might be arrested. My ambition has always been to return to my country, because this is my country, I lived here and was born here and I am putting this into the minds and hearts of my children. One man asked me how do you make your children love Palestine so much, and I said, because we gave it to them with the milk that they sucked from their mothers breasts.
I left Palestine in 1967 and since then, I have not been able to return. I hope to see something nice, but the best of it will be meeting with my people, seeing the reality and seeing the ways in which we can help our people. I might not stay forever in Palestine but at the end of it, I want to see the situation, I want to see the work that I have been doing to help the Palestinians, what we have achieved and what they need from us to achieve in the future.
What are conditions like in the West Bank and now in Gaza after the siege?
Conditions are terrible and they continue to get worse. I can say that the situation in the West Bank is much worse than the situation in Gaza, because until today there is this thing in the West Bank that they call the separation wall, but I call it the occupation wall and there are killings taking place on a daily basis against the Palestinians. Movement is very much restricted, people cannot go and leave the West Bank at the time they like, or come back at the time they like. So, I believe the situation in the West Bank is much worse. Plus the Israeli presence and the Israeli settlements, illegal settlements that they have. The land was stolen from the Palestinians. Those people who came from nowhere and are always killing the Palestinians, they take most of the water, they take most of the electricity.
Some would suggest that Hamas is responsible for the situation in Gaza; would you blame Hamas?
I blame the Israelis first of all, because the Israelis are the occupiers, the illegal occupiers. Definitely Hamas is not saying that it is not responsible for what has happened, because they see that resistance is one of their rights and whenever we resist you will be faced with actions.
At the moment the narrative surrounding the Israeli/Palestine conflict is quite simple. Israel trying to defend itself and Palestinians trying to kill them. What can be done to reverse this?
Well, this is a total lie! Who is occupying who? Are the Palestinians occupying Israel? Palestinians have never occupied other people's land; it is there land that has been taken away from them. Who killed 5000 people, is it the Palestinians? Who injured more that 50,000 people, is it the Palestinians? And who destroyed more than 60,000 houses, or housing units, is it the Palestinians? It is Israel that killed 5000 Palestinians, it is Israel who injured 50,000 Palestinians, it is Israel who destroyed more than 60,000 Palestinian houses. It is Israel who is occupying Palestinian lands. What they say always is that it is Palestinians who kill civilians and what I say is that Palestinians might kill Israeli civilians, but Israel always kills Palestinian civilians. If Israel claims that it has the right, then definitely the Palestinians have more rights to resist and to stay and defend themselves.
Many Zionists claim that Israel is the promised land, do they have a claim to it ?
The Zionists claim that they are a people without a land, coming to a land without a people. Who can tell me when Palestine was an empty land. Where was Jesus? Where was Moses? Where were all the people? Palestine has always been occupied by Palestinians and when we refer to the Palestinians, this does not just mean Muslims; it means Palestinians who are Muslims, Christians, Jews and otherwise and it is the Palestinian who chooses to become a Christian or a Jew, who chooses to become a Muslim. So this land was never empty of a people and when you tell me these people had no land, then from where did we come? Is a British Jew not British? Is a German Jew not German? Is a French Jew not French? Then why isn’t a Palestinian Jew, Palestinian?
Do you believe in the two state solution?
Any solution is a good solution as long as the Palestinians have rights. We would welcome anyone to come and live in our country, but not to kick us out and take our place. We lived with the Jews all of the time throughout our lives, we can live with them again and again and again, but if someone forces you out of your country, then I just cannot see any justice in this. So, a two state solution is a good solution, if all of the Palestinian rights are being observed and a one state solution is a good solution as long as the Palestinian rights are being observed.
Who refused the Road Map, was it the Palestinians? No! Who refused Annapolis? Was it the Palestinians? No! Who refused the Arab initiative, was it the Palestinians? No! It was Israel who refused all the time to compromise on anything. Many Palestinians have agreed to the two state solution and look what Israel is doing every day to the Palestinians.
1st June 2009