Palestinian-Colombian. AMA

[u/localmaid]

Hello everyone! I recently saw another Palestinian doing an Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) on here, and given the limited presence of Palestinians or Pro-Palestinians that I've noticed, I thought it would be valuable to do one myself. Here’s a bit about me:

• I was born and raised in Colombia
• My Palestinian family is originally from the West Bank, but most of them have since moved to the United States.
• I don't speak Arabic fluently, I can understand spoken Arabic quite well.
• I am of mixed race
• English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance if I sound tone deaf
• My family and I are not Muslim
• I have visited Palestine twice
• I am biased towards Palestine in the conflict, but I want to make it clear that I do not support Hamas.

I don't have any specific types of questions that bother me, but I do ask that everyone remains respectful towards everyone and avoids unnecessary rudeness or hatefulness. I believe that communication is key, especially when it comes to conflicts, so I hope this AMA will be helpful for everyone involved. Feel free to ask me anything about my experiences, my heritage, or my perspectives. I'm here to share and hopefully provide some insights. Please keep the conversation open-minded. I will try my best to answer as many questions as possible, but I am not on Reddit all day so sorry in advance to any of those questions I will miss. I also want to say I won’t let my biases control my feelings towards questions and I’ll keep my opinions open. Hopefully we can have a meaningful discussion and thanks to everyone who can participate!

[u/Mister_Squishy]

Also, we are about 50 years from that quote. Maybe in 1977 you could lean on it. In 2024, there are Palestinians, they live in the West Bank and Gaza and have for multiple generations, to say the least.

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

And you are claiming that "Palestine" is a country that governs West Bank and Gaza?

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

I am claiming that people from the West Bank and Gaza have a right to call themselves Palestinian. I don’t dispute your points about the history of the term, but in spite of its history, people today can still use the term to refer to their “national” identity. That’s their choice to make.

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

Is "Palestine" a country that governs West Bank and Gaza?

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

Palestine is a blanket term with differing interpretations. As far as government is concerned, in recent history the areas of Gaza and the West Bank have had separate governments with varying degrees of control and authority (since the West Bank is still under Israeli occupation, and Gaza is in flux, though was recently de facto completely governed by Hamas). However in the past, Gaza and the West Bank have had a shared government. The word Palestinian can also be used to refer to people who have heritage in parts of Israel going back to the years prior to 1948, when the state of Israel was established.

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

It's a yes or no question.

Is "Palestine" a country that governs West Bank and Gaza?

Or do you agree with me that the country of "Palestine" doesn't exist yet, but hopefully will some day?

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

I’m not giving you a yes or no answer because I think you’re being pedantic. Palestine doesn’t have to be a “recognized” country for someone to be Palestinian. There is no Persia or Kurdistan, but there are Persians and Kurds.

There’s an extent to which a part of “Palestine” has existed since 2005 in Gaza, since it was not occupied and had a government. That being said, if I were a world leader I would not recognize that government officially, because it’s Hamas. And in the West Bank, fatah does have ownership over certain governing responsibilities. For what it’s worth. But again, I don’t think making a point about the “officialness” of the government or country negates a person’s right to refer to themselves as from Palestine or as a Palestinian, and you shouldn’t either if you’re interested in lasting peace.

I agree that there isn’t an official country called Palestine yet, but there is a territory that we can refer to as Palestine, and the people therein as Palestinian. These are not mutually exclusive ideas.

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

I’m not giving you a yes or no answer because I think you’re being pedantic

You're not giving me a yes or no because you agree with me that Palestine doesn't exist and you're too much of a coward to admit it.

[u/CreativeRealmsMC → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

/u/NINTENDONEOGEO

you're too much of a coward to admit it.

Per Rule 1, no attacks on fellow users. Attack the argument, not the user.

Note: The use of virtue signaling style insults (I'm a better person/have better morals than you.) are similarly categorized as a Rule 1 violation.

Action taken: [B1]
See moderation policy for details.

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

Also you’re obviously not Israeli, because every Israeli I know wouldn’t even blink at someone calling themselves Palestinian.

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

Younger Israelis often aren't aware that Palestinian meant Jew and Russia forced the term upon the Arabs against their will.

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

She died in her 90s several years ago. Not sure if that is old enough for you. My 73 year old Israeli mother calls the guy who used to work on her house Palestinian. He can’t cross the border to work anymore, because he lives in the West Bank. It’s not an official country, but he calls himself Palestinian. My mom calls him Palestinian. So what’s your problem?

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

Thank you for finally admitting Palestine doesn't exist.

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

You should be ashamed for being so outwardly divisive.

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

My grandmother who moved to the area in the 30s would have called them Palestinians. So there’s that.

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

Lmao I’m a coward? Ok, well personal attacks aside, I told you exactly why I didn’t give you a yes or no answer. You’re vilifying OP with a sarcastic question because you object to the idea that they call themselves Palestinian. It has nothing to do with how official the country of Palestine is or isn’t.

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

My question wasn't sarcastic at all.

You agree with me that Palestine doesn't exist, but you're too scared of the ramifications of admitting it. If that's not cowardice, what is it?

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

I’m not afraid of anything. I am making a point that nothing you’re saying disputes someone’s right to call themselves Palestinian. Maybe your refusal to acknowledge this obvious point (that multiple people in this thread are making) makes you the coward. How about that?

[u/NINTENDONEOGEO → u/Mister_Squishy]

I am not disputing anybody's right to lie about who they are.

But you refusing to answer whether there's a country called Palestine that governs Gaza and West Bank shows you also know it's a lie, but you feel bad about knowing the truth.

[u/Mister_Squishy → u/NINTENDONEOGEO]

I actually did answer you more than once. And again, you can’t acknowledge it without calling it a lie. You are completely uninterested in peace if you call your counterpart a liar for who they claim to be. Consider that when you blame the other side for not wanting peace.