By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- The most recent example of a purported hate crime is the shooting of three Palestinian university students in Burlington, Vermont. The fact that all three were wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf most likely made them targets for yet another madman in America. As much as everyone has the right in America to identify themselves with religious, spiritual, ethnic or other types of symbols – it would be better NOT TO especially in the current and volatile political environment in the U.S. It’s a lovely thought to think that anyone in the U.S. is free to express themselves as they want and to wear whatever they want and there will never be any consequences.
That’s just NOT true anymore because clearly, there ARE consequences.
Consequences for expressing yourself, consequences for representing one side or another in the form of dress or accessories or what you say. This is especially true where the Israel-Palestinian conflict in Gaza is concerned. No one can feel safe walking down any street in America anymore wearing a yarmulke or a keffiyeh because it’s considered “taking sides.” You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t because to SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, you will always be on the wrong side of the situation. More often than not, in America’s tense political environment, there are plenty of people who are NOT acting ‘politically correct.’ All it takes is ONE madman to wreak havoc on a community or to murder someone in cold blood simply because they represent someone or something that another person doesn’t understand or doesn’t know anything about.
One thing we all know for sure is this: IT CAN’T CONTINUE.
Living and working in America means that you have freedom which the American Constitution affords each and every individual. But flaunting that freedom to make a point, one with no words, just won’t cut it anymore. We have got to realize that being conscientious is a privilege and part of being able to handle our freedom wisely. Though I don’t advocate for hiding your beliefs, I do advocate for CAUTION and PRUDENCE. That means know where you’re going, know where you’re walking and THINK TWICE before you decide to wear a type of clothing that could provoke the madman in anyone, to become unleashed. None of us really know who we’re talking to or walking beside anymore and we can’t always know. That’s why in the interest of being wise, young people and ALL of us must learn to make STRATEGIC DECISIONS.
Sure, you’d love to wear your keffiyeh or your yarmulke but ask yourself WHY you feel compelled to wear it NOW.
You can’t take back your life once you’ve lost it, you just CAN’T.
As much as you think you’re making a statement to the world, what you’re really doing is making yourself a TARGET for the various madmen in your vicinity. Does everybody on the street or in the restaurant really need to know your position on Israel or Palestine, right here, right now, with your clothing or accessories?
The answer is simple: NO, THEY DON’T.
And you don’t need to prove anything to anyone about your position on anything or anyone. Life is not black and white nor is it simply full of grey areas either. It’s complicated and none of us are helping one another or anyone’s cause by identifying as ONE or THE OTHER.
Let’s find an OPTION that resonates with the ‘WE’ of the situation that represents WE STAND UNITED AGAINST ALL BIGOTRY, HATE CRIMES, RACISM and APARTHEID.
Period.
As an anonymous member of a divided community on the Israel-Palestine issue, as the author of this article, I implore ALL OF YOU whoever you are to STOP and THINK BEFORE YOU LEAP. Leave the yarmulke and leave the keffiyeh at home where they both belong. You know who you are INSIDE, you don’t need to prove it on the outside. You don’t need to prove it. Who you really are is NOT your yarmulke, not your keffiyeh, not your Torahs, not your Korans. Who you are is a HUMAN BEING at home on a GLOBAL PLANET where we all need to work, live and play TOGETHER as ONE.
Not as our ‘identifying factors’ but as a united front to end the senseless and ruthless violence that any group or any individual perpetrates regardless of what symbolism their accessories or clothes represent. We are not here on this planet to remain silent in the face of blatant injustice, we are here to speak out, to speak up for HUMAN RIGHTS.
And THAT does NOT depend on your ethnicity, your race or your religion.
Period.
