Kathianne
08-16-2024, 07:17 PM
Very long, there is an audible, but that's not for me:
https://www.thefp.com/p/palestinian-traitor-risking-everything
The Palestinian ‘Traitor’ Risking Everything to Speak OutHe condemned the Hamas massacre. Now, his life is in danger. ‘I’m scared as hell. But this is how change happens.’
By Bari Weiss
August 15, 2024
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A few months ago, we learned about a young man whose name we’re withholding, which is something we very rarely do, because he insists it’s for his safety.
This young Palestinian man is from a small village in the West Bank, and he grew up there with limited access to water and without a regular supply of electricity. Most of the kids he grew up with dropped out of school and went into manual labor. But this young man chose a different path. He won a scholarship to leave the West Bank and to study abroad for college. He ended up earning three degrees in three different countries. And then he landed a tech job with an Israeli company, of all places. (For context, among the 360,000 workers in the Israeli tech sector, there are only a few dozen Palestinians from the West Bank.)
His story is one of setbacks, hardships, and discrimination, but also of hard work, perseverance, unlikely friendships, and in the end—against all odds—success.
But then his life was ruined. . . by a social media post. On October 7, he woke up in his home in the West Bank to the news of the massacre happening inside Israel. While some people in his community celebrated, he was horrified. He posted online how he felt: “What sad and horrible news to wake up to and out of words and unable to digest what’s going on right now. I’m Palestinian and firmly stand against this terror. I pray for the safety of my friends, colleagues, their loved ones and everyone else affected.” He continued to post about how he felt—six posts in total.
Suddenly, he says, 500 people unfollowed or unfriended him on social media sites. People blocked him on WhatsApp and, in real life, people stopped speaking to him altogether.
And then, people started calling him a “traitor.” And as he told me in this interview, the word traitor means something in the West Bank. “It means they are going to kill you.”
Since that day, he hasn’t been able to commute to Israel to work. The crossings are closed, and the work permits for Palestinians have been suspended. He stays home with his family, and he doesn’t go out because he says it’s just too dangerous. He feels isolated, unsafe, and scared for himself and for the safety of his family.
I asked him if he regrets what he posted. He said no. He said that remaining silent in the face of the atrocities would have made him no different from those who committed the crimes.
I often talk about courage and about the courage to speak your mind even when it’s unpopular or dangerous. I often reference my personal heroes, people like Natan Sharansky or Masih Alinejad. But so few people are willing to walk in their footsteps in real time, in real life, when the stakes are the highest imaginable.
My guest today is one of those people. Today, he explains where he gets the strength to speak up, even if it means risking his life, and why it matters to him to say what he believes.
To listen to my conversation with him on Honestly, click below or scroll down to read an edited transcript.
On speaking to us anonymously:
I'm reading the transcript, long. Worth it thus far.
https://www.thefp.com/p/palestinian-traitor-risking-everything
The Palestinian ‘Traitor’ Risking Everything to Speak OutHe condemned the Hamas massacre. Now, his life is in danger. ‘I’m scared as hell. But this is how change happens.’
By Bari Weiss
August 15, 2024
Like
Comment
Share
A few months ago, we learned about a young man whose name we’re withholding, which is something we very rarely do, because he insists it’s for his safety.
This young Palestinian man is from a small village in the West Bank, and he grew up there with limited access to water and without a regular supply of electricity. Most of the kids he grew up with dropped out of school and went into manual labor. But this young man chose a different path. He won a scholarship to leave the West Bank and to study abroad for college. He ended up earning three degrees in three different countries. And then he landed a tech job with an Israeli company, of all places. (For context, among the 360,000 workers in the Israeli tech sector, there are only a few dozen Palestinians from the West Bank.)
His story is one of setbacks, hardships, and discrimination, but also of hard work, perseverance, unlikely friendships, and in the end—against all odds—success.
But then his life was ruined. . . by a social media post. On October 7, he woke up in his home in the West Bank to the news of the massacre happening inside Israel. While some people in his community celebrated, he was horrified. He posted online how he felt: “What sad and horrible news to wake up to and out of words and unable to digest what’s going on right now. I’m Palestinian and firmly stand against this terror. I pray for the safety of my friends, colleagues, their loved ones and everyone else affected.” He continued to post about how he felt—six posts in total.
Suddenly, he says, 500 people unfollowed or unfriended him on social media sites. People blocked him on WhatsApp and, in real life, people stopped speaking to him altogether.
And then, people started calling him a “traitor.” And as he told me in this interview, the word traitor means something in the West Bank. “It means they are going to kill you.”
Since that day, he hasn’t been able to commute to Israel to work. The crossings are closed, and the work permits for Palestinians have been suspended. He stays home with his family, and he doesn’t go out because he says it’s just too dangerous. He feels isolated, unsafe, and scared for himself and for the safety of his family.
I asked him if he regrets what he posted. He said no. He said that remaining silent in the face of the atrocities would have made him no different from those who committed the crimes.
I often talk about courage and about the courage to speak your mind even when it’s unpopular or dangerous. I often reference my personal heroes, people like Natan Sharansky or Masih Alinejad. But so few people are willing to walk in their footsteps in real time, in real life, when the stakes are the highest imaginable.
My guest today is one of those people. Today, he explains where he gets the strength to speak up, even if it means risking his life, and why it matters to him to say what he believes.
To listen to my conversation with him on Honestly, click below or scroll down to read an edited transcript.
On speaking to us anonymously:
I'm reading the transcript, long. Worth it thus far.