{"id":16236,"date":"2024-10-21T13:13:30","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T10:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/?p=16236"},"modified":"2024-10-23T12:19:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T09:19:43","slug":"the-death-of-meaning-how-language-betrays-palestine-and-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/the-death-of-meaning-how-language-betrays-palestine-and-lebanon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Death of Meaning: How Language Betrays Palestine and Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Foreword: At this point in time, I trust everyone stumbling across this piece is well-aware of the 76 years of occupation, invasions, wars, and injustice which Israel has incurred over Palestine, as well as Lebanon and Syria. I need not tell you about any of their countless atrocities nor the bloody history that accompanies them. If you feel like you need additional information, the internet will not fail you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the past year, I\u2019ve grown to realize that words no longer hold meaning. They\u2019re just empty vessels made up of letters, plastered on papers, on websites, and on social media posts, and thrown around in speeches by members of the \u201cinternational community.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I used to think there was a set of words that was reserved for \u201cspecial\u201d occasions; a vocabulary that would only be used in humanity\u2019s darkest times. I (naively) believed that these times were few and far between, and that this set of words would have to gather dust before we would bring them back out again. And yet, for the past year, without fail, this vocabulary has been the only one we can muster up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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But you see, we\u2019ve overused this vocabulary so much, it feels like the words it includes no longer describe the situation properly; they feel like they\u2019re too little, too soft, too low-impact to encompass what\u2019s currently happening in Palestine and Lebanon \u2013and what the occupation has been enacting for the past 76 years, with impunity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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For the sake of not risking you getting lost in the maze of thoughts that I am trying to transport from my mind to my keyboard, I\u2019m going to walk you through, one by one, each word, phrase, or statement which, in my mind, has become null.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cOur world\/we\/ the international community has failed Palestinians\u201d<\/b><\/p>

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Perhaps this statement comes from a place of good intentions. Maybe it\u2019s a well-meaning attempt to acknowledge the overwhelming injustice that Palestinians have faced for decades. Maybe I shouldn\u2019t be too quick to dismiss it as hollow rhetoric. But when you hear this phrase over and over again, it starts to ring empty. It becomes a statement of resigned acknowledgement rather than a call to action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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The truth is, \u201cfailure\u201d implies that there was a sincere effort to begin with. Leaders of the very countries that refuse to place arm embargos, that consistently funnel money into the very forces that are killing Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians, that supply the very weapons, and that ally with the occupation say that they\u2019ve \u201cfailed\u201d Palestinians. Under the same breath, they make their speeches, calling on the \u201cinternational community\u201d to act and asking the beast to be tamed when they (1) make up the \u201cinternational community\u201d and (2) feed and sustain the beast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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The international community hasn\u2019t \u201cfailed\u201d Palestinians by accident. By saying \u201cWe\u2019ve failed,\u201d the world distances itself from the complicity it bears. It\u2019s as if the issue is out of their hands; an unfortunate circumstance rather than a deliberate decision. Therefore, this statement is an excuse for those in power, and people in relative places of privilege, to absolve themselves of responsibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cThoughts and prayers\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

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This statement is perhaps one of the most universally repeated, most tiresome, and most frustrating things to read or hear when tragedy strikes. Again, I need not say that I know it may stem from good intentions. Nevertheless, it\u2019s also a reflex; a way to express sorrow without feeling responsible. The truth is, this statement offers a momentary escape from guilt, a brief signal of empathy that requires no real action.<\/span><\/p>

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\u201cThoughts and prayers\u201d are easy. They don\u2019t require individuals to confront the root causes of violence. They don\u2019t challenge people to demand or seek accountability. They don\u2019t compel governments to stop supplying weapons to an occupying force that has <\/span>wiped<\/span><\/a> out 1206 Gazan families off the civil registry in one year. They don\u2019t put an end to the occupation\u2019s <\/span>targeting<\/span><\/a> of paramedics and first responders in Lebanon. They allow the average person to carry about their day after uttering these three words, the thought of all those who have been slaughtered in Palestine and Lebanon to be pushed into the deepest crevices of the brain, no longer to be thought of.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cInjured\u201d<\/b><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

I first started contemplating the word \u201cinjured\u201d when a friend of mine pointed out how limiting it is. It got me thinking. The word \u201cinjured\u201d sounds almost trivial, like a scrape or a bruise, a condition that will eventually heal over time. It fails to capture the sheer brutality of the violence that the occupation is inflicting on people in Palestine and Lebanon, and the irreversible damage they endure as a result.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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To call the survivors of these attacks \u201cinjured\u201d is to diminish the reality of what they go through. It ignores the limbs that are blown off, the children who wake up without arms, legs, or even parents, the men and women whose faces are left unrecognizable. Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry <\/span>estimates<\/span><\/a> that over 10,000 Gazans have lost a limb in the past year, 4000 of which are children. Following the pager attacks on September 17 & 18, when Israel <\/span>detonated<\/span><\/a> thousands of pagers and wireless devices used by members of Hezbollah across Lebanon, an ophthalmologist caring for the patients said he has \u201cnever had to remove this many eyes before\u201d in the 25 years of his career.<\/span><\/p>

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\u201cInjured\u201d suggests recovery, but for many, there is no full recovery\u2014 there is only survival, and survival often comes with a body\u2013 or mind\u2013 that will never be whole again. Another individual suggested the word \u201cmaimed\u201d as an alternative, and it makes more sense to me. Maimed bodies reflect the depth of trauma \u2013both physical and psychological\u2013 that extends far beyond the battlefield. These are not just \u201cinjuries\u201d that fade, they are permanent markers of the violence inflicted upon them by the aggressor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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“Massacre”<\/strong><\/p>

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A massacre should stop the world in its tracks. I have long associated this word with historical contexts \u2013 granted, near-historical contexts. I am reminded of the likes of the\u00a0 <\/span>Deir Yassin Massacre<\/span><\/a> in 1948, the <\/span>Sabra and Shatila Massacre<\/span><\/a> in 1982, or the <\/span>Qana Massacre<\/span><\/a> in 1996. I\u2019m sure older generations have lost their faith both in the (weight which the) word (holds in the international community) and the world itself, before me. Now, in some way, I feel the same.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Phonetically, the word still remains heavy: I cannot say it without feeling the effort my mouth\u2019s muscles put in. Yet my mind cannot understand how this word does not evoke the reaction it should. Maybe that\u2019s why I\u2019ve lost some faith in what it can represent.\u00a0 Each time we use the word, everyday we uncover a massacre in Gaza, in the West Bank, or in Lebanon, the world responds with less and less urgency, as if the routine nature of violence has made even the word itself too familiar and too expected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

On August 10, Israel <\/span>killed<\/span><\/a> more than 100 Palestinians in a strike on al-Tabin school in Gaza. On Sunday September 29, Israel <\/span>killed<\/span><\/a> 45 people when they struck a building in Ain el-Delb, South Lebanon. Oh what, another \u201cmassacre\u201d? Another round of condemnations? These events trigger a familiar cycle: reports of atrocities surface, brief outrage flickers, and then\u2014nothing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

And what happens to the word itself? It becomes a label, stripped of its ability to horrify. Just like that, I began understanding where my \u2013and many other\u2013 Lebanese parents\u2019 cynicism emerged from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

I find that the word \u201cmassacre\u201d is no longer enough for me. I still shiver when it’s mentioned in its Arabic format \u2013 <\/span>majzara<\/span><\/i> \u2013 but I have lost faith in the English equivalent.\u00a0 It has been said far too much without proper action taken to halt it from happening. It can no longer describe the pain, the destruction, and the brutality of the action like it perhaps did before. I now stare at the word and trace its letters in my brain, but I can no longer comprehend it. Or maybe I have comprehended it too much.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cGenocide\u201d<\/b><\/p>

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When we invoke this word, we are not just speaking of loss; we are speaking of an intent to erase; to annihilate a culture, a history, a community, and its future. Can you imagine that this is one of the words I\u2019m decrying as \u201cnot enough\u201d? As too diluted or too stretched thin to describe the situation in Palestine?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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A year (and 75 years) in, the word should be unavoidable. And yet, it is frequently sidestepped, reduced to a mere accusation\u2013 politically inconvenient, controversial, or inflammatory.\u00a0 To many, it is a word reserved for history books or distant tragedies. Currently, the definition of the word is contested in international forms and is only reserved for the \u201cexperts,\u201d as though the suffering of an entire people can be negotiated and discussed, with nothing behind us but time to deliberate. This in itself is an indicator; these experts, politicians, and academics are telling us that genocide can only ever be recognized until decades after it takes place. It will only be useful in the \u201cnever again\u201d discourses, in class modules, and in historical docuseries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

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I no longer feel this word as I once did, maybe because I cannot fathom how we have used this word with so much frequency, yet it has invoked no major action. Sure, it has mobilized masses to take to the streets, to scream, and to boycott \u2014all this is objectively moving, but the genocide persists. It is still live streamed on our phones, it is still enabled, it is still funded.<\/span><\/p>

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So tell me, does the world fear this word enough?<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Words that can no longer bear the weight<\/b><\/p>

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We live in a time where language struggles to keep pace with the scale of human suffering. It\u2019s weird, how words that are meant to provoke action the most feel like empty shells, repeated so often and falling on unwilling listeners, they barely register. Yet, it is not the words themselves that have failed, but the world\u2019s ability to hold them up to their full meaning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Rest assured, the intention behind this piece is not to create a new vocabulary or a new language. The odds are, we\u2019ll just be making up more words to dismiss and hollow out of their meanings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foreword: At this point in time, I trust everyone stumbling across this piece is well-aware of the 76 years of occupation, invasions, wars, and injustice which Israel has incurred over Palestine, as well as Lebanon and Syria. I need not tell you about any of their countless atrocities nor the bloody history that accompanies them. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,318],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-column","category-silenced-lands-powerful-voices"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/al-rawiya.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-10-22-at-16.59.05.jpeg?fit=680%2C280&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16236"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16258,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16236\/revisions\/16258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-rawiya.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}