A video showing a Palestinian boy with a broken arm being held in a chokehold and at gunpoint by an Israeli soldier is a teachable moment for the world. Indeed, the young boy, who was protesting with others against Palestinian confiscation of land and throwing stones, is in a state of fear and anguish as the soldier with a machine gun pins him against a large rock. Meanwhile, several women and a young girl, the boy’s mother, aunt and sister, desperately attempt to pry the soldier from the boy with the girl biting the soldier’s hand. The stunned soldier is ultimately pulled away from the scene by another soldier, but only after one woman is able to forcibly shield the young boy with her own body. Evidently, the human struggle was captured after a protest march against the expansion of the Jewish Hallamish settlement in the West Bank.(1)
Each
year at the beginning of school, it is required in World History to
teach the Out of Africa Theory and Peopling of the World. After learning
how archaeological, anthropological, and mitochondrial DNA findings
show that modern humans evolved from a common ancestor, I always pose
the question as to why this is important to understand. Along with the
evolution of larger brains to reason with and imagine, the greater
dexterity which allowed humans to make tools, the capacity for speech
and cooperation, or the ability to adapt to climate change and
inhospitable environments; the students learn how modern humanity is
more similar than different. In actuality, people today are so alike
genetically that evidence also suggests they descended from a small
group of humans in east Africa, a common matrilineal ancestor called
Mitochondrial Eve.
I
plan on using the shocking images of the Israeli soldier pinning the
young boy against the ground, including their facial expressions of
fear, mistrust, pain, and distress. We will also discuss the young
Palestinian girl risking her life to free the young boy. The students
will as well study how the women came to the young boy’s aid, and how
they desperately struggled against the soldier and his machine gun,
eventually shielding the young boy and freeing him. Next, we will notice
how every individual involved in the human drama had hands and arms,
legs and feet, a face with eyes to see and a mouth to speak, and ears to
hear with. We will also infer that each person had a mind to reason
with and imagine, and a heart for the capacity to experience emotions.
In other words, we will notice the many similarities between the
Palestinians and Israeli soldier, including our own.
In
addition, students will evaluate how Israel frequently expands into
Palestinian lands, and how Palestinians retaliate. In fact, Israel
eventually occupied the West Bank and Gaza. Although Palestinians have
accepted a smaller state with the signing of the Oslo Accords, Israel’s
expansionist aims-met by Palestinian resistance-continues to be
relentless, threatening an already volatile region of the world. Coupled
with the destruction of homes and food supplies, punitive raids and
blockades, and armed checkpoints and walls of separation, some
Palestinians have had to endure violent human dispossession. Meanwhile,
some Palestinian groups retaliate with their own raids into Israel, or
by firing rockets or by indiscriminately killing Israelis with homicide
bombers. In the end, Palestine’s human geography suffers, as does
Israel’s.
Without
a doubt, then, the images and Palestinian-Israeli histories will be a
teachable moment, especially since the differences that humans emphasize
are often mental constructs imposed by society. Despite humanity’s
commonality, its mitochondrial Eve, most people unquestionably acquire
hurtful biases and prejudices. Others are socialized with deceptive
ideologies and destructive forms of behavior towards others. Yet, this
does not change the certainty that humans will be remembered for how
they treated each other. Neither will it prevent individuals from
resisting human injustices, or coming to the aid of a 11-year-old boy
who is held in a chokehold and at gunpoint by a soldier. Even more so,
human commonalities should encourage more negotiable and liberated and
peaceful human geographies instead of militarized ones.
Although
the graphic images were captured by the Tamimi family, known for
creating provocative situations and then filming and editing them in a
way that discredits Israeli soldiers (See note below), it does not
change the certainty that humans evolved from a common ancestor and
therefore, share many commonalities. On the scale of the universe, in
which human eras are extremely short, Palestinians and Israelis will
continue to provide teachable and sometimes humane moments for my class,
the most important one being peaceful coexistence with others. Will the
same be true of the world?
Photos as portrayed by the Tamimi family:
(1) See “Palestinian Women Bite, Fight Off Israeli Soldier Trying to Arrest 12-Yo Boy". August 30, 2015. (Note: The practice of the Tamimi family filming and then editing videos to gain sympathy for Palestinian causes is called Pallywood. At the same time, some pro-Israeli bloggers are claiming the event was staged.)
Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on
Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52
Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And
Consumerism in the Context of John‘s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other
Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality,
History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com.
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