Firstly,
humanity and human rights should be our prime concern as peace makers and peace
caretakers. I was helped by people I have never met in my life when i was stuck
in Gaza and was being prevented by Israel to go to Spain to complete my
masters. My newfound friends, who were different
in colour, religion, nationality and language, assisted me without any
pre-existing conditions. They initiated a media campaign to pressure
public opinion so that Israel would allow me to leave Gaza, simply because we share
the most important aspect of what can bring all peoples together and that is
humanity.
When I
asked them why they helped me, someone that they had never before met, they
replied that they believed that what was happening to me was unjust and that
they were in a position to help me and so they did what they felt was natural
and right. It is important to
stress here is that humanity and a belief in universal justice can transcend
all nations and all tribes. At
this point, I would like to bring to your attention an important verse from
Sura al-Hujurat of the Quran which highlights this point:
O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made
you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may
despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is
(he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well
acquainted (with all things).
Secondly,
we should never overlook or undermine our power as people to make
significant changes in the world today. When I was stuck in Gaza and was
struggling to leave Gaza for nearly two months, we did not give up. We created peaceful
and powerful tools and strategies to put pressure on the Israeli
state where we knew it would be most effective: public opinion. We were
determined that our efforts would succeed, and that is first and foremost
because we believed that we would succeed from the very beginning.
So, first
and foremost the strategy was to affect the sphere of public opinion and
second, we needed to find the proper tools and access points to achieve this
goal. Through our access to social
media networks and local Catalan media and through another Spanish media
contact in Jerusalem, we managed to reach the Spanish mainstream media that
reported my story in the major Spanish media outlets, and it spread like a
wildfire! The major social media tools that we
used included Facebook, Online Petitions and Twitter, however it wouldn’t have
been successful had we not taken the effort to reach a more broad audience
through traditional media outlets.
However we likely would not have been successful in reaching the mass
media without firstly instigating the social media campaign.
Thirdly,
we learned to never be afraid to demand your basic human rights because it is
yours and no power on earth should deny you these rights. These are not simply the rights
outlined in the UN Charter or the Geneva Conventions, but God given rights,
irrespective of any international organization or piece of paper that they are
written on.
Fourthly,
all human rights violations should be documented because it is the only way to
raise awareness of these plights to a wider audience. It is important that we
stand beyond all deprived and vulnerable people. There are
so many people on earth whom their voice is voiceless or they do not have
the means to bring their voices to the attention of the world. Thus, it is our
duty to help give them a louder voice.
And
finally, in situations of injustice, never wait for others to assist you.
We should always take the lead to change realities of unfairness and injustice.
We should always utilize all possible means available to us in order to remove
or contribute to removing injustice. Others will be convinced later
and take the initiative and complete the path.
Watch Mind the Strip
