Al-Arqash Journals of Gaza War

 

Journals of War: Al-Arqash 2023

مذكرات الارقش لحرب غزة 2023

Al-Aqsa Flood

Independent voice from Palestine. Suppose you want to hear an independent, free, and honest-to-the-bone opinion and a future-oriented voice living on the ground in Palestine, someone who holds a different vision for future generations and is willing to ask questions that defy some underlying assumptions. In that case, this blog post is for you.

My vision: Personally, I see no possible solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than a one-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians have equal rights under the laws of the same political entity. And yes, Palestinians will need to imagine a different Palestine where there will be Jewish neighbors, and Israelis need to give up the idea of a Jewish majority and superiority and the need to control the land and Palestinians militarily. This small space, spanning from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, needs to be owned and shared by both, based on the idea we think is common sense, but sadly, it is not: the idea that no religion is inherently better than another or that it holds the ultimate truth.   In my opinion, this kind of solution is better than the current situation, despite the complicated and unjust practices that will continue, especially the racial and religious complexes. But instead of blood and war, it will become a fight to implement equality for Palestinians and other racial minorities inside this one new political entity, similar to many current Aborigine communities and racial struggles worldwide. It will become a different struggle. It will witness an upgrade, ironically a more human one; we would at least join the discussion in the international community for racial and ethnic equality and religious tolerance.

Al-Arqash Memoire was a book I read when I was young, written by the Lebanese writer Macha’el Nu’aima, known in English as Mikhail Naimy. It was the journaling of a muted and silenced man describing the mundane events of his everyday life. An orphan seeking a home and a job, whom nobody cared about, and he had no other way to express his experiences or be heard other than journaling. In his everyday musings and reflections, he posed deep existential and philosophical questions. Inspired by this book, I write my journals of this war.

Meaning of the word Al-Arqash: The word in Arabic means something that has white and black spots. It symbolizes, among many things, the duality and unity of everything.