Farha

Social media platforms and some news items here and there depict a Swirling of Information regarding how Qatar (that did a good job despite the racist overtones and undertones) bribed its way into hosting the World Cup, how even the EU (European Union) is embroiled in that scandal, and how that country employed Public Relation firms to Sport-wash its tarnished image! Frankly, I don’t know! Also swirling around is how MBS (Mohammad bin Salman) bailed out Jared Kushner to the tune of over a billion dollars. What was the Quid Pro Quo for that Deal, I wonder? I don’t know, because the more I feel I know, the more I am surprised every day by how much I, and All of Us, do not know regarding such Machinations!

This brings me to “Farha,” which some of you reading my post today may have heard of, and which is causing its own Swirling of Information on social media platforms and other outlets. It is a movie on Netflix – which is the largest streaming platform in the world – produced by Palestinian filmmaker Darin Sallam, I saw it, cried, got angry, and relived a whole lot of emotions that we, Palestinians, usually suppress, or send to the deepest corners of our souls revealing them to each other, or only when we are faced with yet another atrocity.

I am not going to tell you herewith any details about this excellent movie except to mention that it is about a fourteen-year-old girl, Farha, who witnessed what happened to her village in 1948 when her country was decimated and about 700,000 Palestinian Human Beings were displaced and expelled from their homes and land, aside from those who were mercilessly killed, homes burned down, children abducted, many tortured, raped and others traumatized forever. The movie – Jordan’s entry for the 2023 Academy Awards – is based on true events about “Farha,” her real name is Raddiyeh, who eventually finds her way to a Syrian refugee camp where she lives to recount her heart-wrenching experiences.

However – and this brings me back to the Machinations, Malfeasance and White-washing of History – I was absolutely shocked at the reaction that the movie engendered among many Israelis such as the far-right Avigdor Lieberman, who said: “It’s crazy that Netflix decided to stream a movie whose whole purpose is to create a false pretense and incite against Israeli soldiers.” Well! Well! I doubt that Lieberman is aware that many of us, Palestinians, have witnessed first-hand the atrocities committed by the Zionist Militias with the sole objective of creating a panic-driven population that would flee and, hence, create the lie and delusion that Palestine was a “land without a people for a people without a land.” It is unbelievable! And, even more unbelievable and outrageous are all of the hysterical Jewish American trolls who have been mounting a hate-campaign against this movie lest the world see and hear the Truth about what really occurred in 1948, and not the White-washed version. Moreover, the heroic Jewish and Israeli “Doves” who have been speaking the Truth to their own people and to the world such as Gideon Levy, Ilan Pappe, Miko Peled, Noam Chomsky and many others have been just as smeared by those Jews and Israelis who want to continue white-washing their history and pretending that they are the Only Victims in this world! Please read excerpts from what my friend Michel Moushabeck, founder, publisher and editor of Interlink Publishing, wrote: 

“In 1948, my family was expelled from its home in West Jerusalem during the Nakba at the hands of the invading Zionist forces. They were forced to abandon everything, while still carrying the key to our house. My family is now scattered all over the world constantly moving from one non-place to another.

If I were to meet you in a pub or a bar and you asked me to describe my family’s story in one sentence I would say: exile and starting over; exile and starting over; and exile and starting over. I would probably add a clarification that I did not repeat those words three times because I had too many beers. But my family’s experience of multiple exiles—from Qatamon in West Jerusalem, to East Jerusalem, to Amman, Jordan, to Beirut, Lebanon, to New York—is not unique; it is but one of the many sad episodes of “being Palestinian.”

. . . But our stories of exile, displacement, and injustice will live on, as will all our beautiful memories of our homeland. No one can deny us the right to tell OUR stories no matter how hard they try.

. . . Over the years, we have been the target of one Zionist campaign after another to smear our publishing house and discredit our books and authors. But each time this has happened, such attempts have failed and backfired.

. . . The screening of the movie “Farha” on Netflix, which resonates with Palestinians the world over, has angered Israeli government officials and triggered a Zionist social media campaign to discredit the film and the story it tells. It called on its supporters to give it negative reviews and even cancel their subscriptions to Netflix. Here again, the attempts to shut down the screening will fail and backfire.”

I will add to what Michel so eloquently and passionately states that my family experienced almost the same events as Michel’s family, and as did so many of the Palestinian People. These are Facts. However, in view of the Antisemitism glaring at all of us and emanating vociferously from the United States and Europe mainly, and which ALL the Jewish Organizations in the World have been decrying and searching for ways to counter this horrible racism and hatred, as well as the recent gathering at the White House chaired by First Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, titled: Epidemic of Hate, makes me appalled that they Never, Ever, Ever decry the Hatred, the Foul Words and the ugly Anti-Palestinian rhetoric and smear campaigns emanating from Jewish trolls in these United States against Anything Palestinian!! It is absolutely infuriating and wicked!

Lastly:

Merry Christmas to all and, especially, to all of you Valiant and Rebellious Christian and Muslim Palestinians who from Bethlehem, Palestine, Two Thousand Plus Years Ago, gave the World its Most Popular and Adored Rebel: Jesus Christ! In a World where Truth and Lies are horribly blurred, this Truth Cannot Be Ever Denied, Distorted, or White-washed despite using all the social media and news items in order to create more Misinformation in a world Swirling with Malfeasance, Rumors and Scandals! Moral Of The Story: The PR firms of the world can white-wash and sport-wash with all their available arsenals, but the Truth, in this day and age, eventually emerges, whether it is regarding Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or Anyone and Anything Else! Amen!