Let My People Go!

When I was growing up, I was fond of a genre of songs that at that time was referred to as “Negro spiritual.” I guess today we would call these songs African-American spirituals or slave songs. I found out later that many of these songs talking about Israelite bondage in Egypt and the yearning for the Promised Land were actually songs of code for the enslaved of the Old South of our United States.

I have been thinking lately of the of the one that has these lyrics:

Let My People Go

When Israel was in Egypt's land:
Let my people Go!
Oppress'd so hard they could not stand,

Let my people Go!

CHORUS: Go down Moses, 'way down in
Egypt's land:
Tell ol' Pharaoh, Let my people go.

The Lord told Moses what to do:
Let my people GO!
To lead the children of Israel through,
Let my people Go! CHORUS

Your foes shall not before you stand:
Let my people Go!
And you'll possess fair Canaan's land,
Let my people Go! CHORUS

I believe without a doubt:
Let my people Go!
A Christian has a right to shout,
Let my people Go! CHORUS

Now the reason this song has recently come to mind is that 1) CODEPINK: Women for Peace has recently had and now has a delegation to the people of Israeli-Occupied Gaza, especially the children, 2) President Obama recently delivered a major speech at Cairo University addressed specifically to the Arab and Muslim worlds and 3) Pres. Obama’s envoy to the Middle East, former Sen. George Mitchell is to be in the area this week.

Beginning with the middle, a portion of President Obama’s speech in Cairo on June 4 was given to addressing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Here are the relevant excerpts:

The Holy Koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent is as -- it is as if he has killed all mankind. And the Holy Koran also says whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind.

…

On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they've endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations -- large and small -- that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: The situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.

…

At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.

And Israel must also live up to its obligation to ensure that Palestinians can live and work and develop their society. Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be a critical part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress.

…

Too many tears have been shed. Too much blood has been shed. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of the three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, peace be upon them, joined in prayer.

On the morning of Pres. Obama’s speech, members of CODEPINK delivered to the U.S. embassy in Cairo two items that were accepted by embassy staff members. In a tremendous act of citizen diplomacy, the first was a CODEPINK-initiated letter from Hamas addressed to the President inviting him to visit Gaza. The letter ended this way:

The International Court of Justice stated in July 2004 that the whole of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem are occupied Palestinian territories designated for Palestinian self-determination, and that the Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal.
Not one of the 15 judges sitting on the highest judicial body in the world dissented from these principles.

The main human rights organizations in the world, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have issued position papers supporting the right of the Palestinian refugees to return and compensation.

Each year in the United Nations General Assembly nearly every country in the world has supported these principles for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. Every year the Arab League puts forth a peace proposal based on these principles for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Leading human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch have also stated that Israel’s siege of Gaza is a form of collective punishment and therefore illegal under international law.
We in the Hamas Government are committed to pursuing a just resolution to the conflict not in contradiction with the international community and enlightened opinion as expressed in the International Court of Justice, the United Nations General Assembly, and leading human rights organizations. We are prepared to engage all parties on the basis of mutual respect and without preconditions.

However, our constituency needs to see a comprehensive paradigm shift that not only commences with lifting the siege on Gaza and halts all settlement building and expansion but develops into a policy of evenhandedness based on the very international law and norms we are prodded into adhering to.

Again, we welcome you to Gaza which would allow you to see firsthand our ground zero. Furthermore, it would enhance the US position; enabling you to speak with new credibility and authority in dealing with all the parties.

Very Truly Yours,
Dr. Ahmed Yousef
Deputy of the Foreign Affairs Ministry
Former Senior Political Advisor
to Prime Minister Ismael Hanniya

The second item CODEPINK delivered was a petition of 10,000 signatures, including mine, asking President Obama to visit and witness Gaza. That afternoon, during the speech, CODEPINK was outside of Cairo University with a giant pink banner that read in both English and Arabic, "Obama Stop Funding Israeli War Crimes”.

In a commentary that included her reactions to the President’s speech, Fatimah Shalash, a Lexington Palestinian-American, wrote in the June 7 Lexington Herald-Leader:

The homemade rockets used by Palestinians are pebbles compared to Israel's million-dollar weapons funded by U.S. tax dollars. The U.S. gives $7 million a day to Israel. In early February, it had already given Israel at least $2.55 billion in military aid for Fiscal Year 2009.

Obama did not go into detail of what violence Israel has transformed that money into, nor its war crimes against the Palestinians. He did not speak of the sleeping children and old women who have died in attacks on Palestine.

She ended:

Unfortunately, Israel is repeating the cycle of what happened to its own people. It oppresses Palestinians every day with indiscriminate killing, blocks humanitarian aid to civilians, builds walls to cut them off, and jails men based solely on their ethnicity. Violence is not the answer. Yet, it has been Israel's own answer over and over, and America has paid for it. At least 6,348 Palestinians and 1,072 Israelis have been killed since September 29, 2000. There is no justification for this violence. As Americans, we must demand an end to it. If you think the Palestine-Israel conflict does not concern you, you are wrong. This is your money and your country.

Regarding the mentioned spiritual, I do believe the tables have been turned. The Israeli heirs of those Israelites are now oppressing and holding the Palestinians in bondage, especially those in Gaza. President Obama did not visit the enclave next to Egypt when he was in the region. No member of his administration has been there to see what our military aid has inflicted. As former Sen. George Mitchell, the president’s envoy, is in the region this week, he should go see the destruction from the recent Israeli war and ongoing bondage that is there.

The Palestinians, as well as the Israelis, are God’s people. The peoples of the three main faiths of the Land are all spiritual children of Abraham. President Obama should firmly tell the Israeli pharaoh to let the people go.

End the Occupation
End the Seige
Open the borders
Set ‘em free