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Blocking a Gazan's path to San Diego
By Fidaa Abed
ccun.org, August 24, 2008
Fidaa Abed, a recipient of a US Fulbright scholarship, describes
how he was refused entry to the USA on the basis of “secret”
information passed on by Israel, and calls on Washington to “use its
tremendous sway with Israel to advance the cause of freedom and
equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis alike”.
As a young Palestinian from Gaza, I had been eagerly anticipating
the opportunity to study at the University of California, San Diego,
on a Fulbright scholarship. The chance to escape Gaza 's confines
and immerse myself in an American education was deeply thrilling.
With Israel controlling Gaza border exits, air space and sea access
– notwithstanding its "pullout" of 2005 – I imagined the long, open
roads of the United States and its people's unchallenged freedom of
movement.
I love my people and my homeland, but a young person needs
opportunities. These are far more abundant in the United States than
in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Last week, I landed in Washington, D.C., brimming with optimism.
Upon arrival, I was whisked into a separate room. An American
official informed me that he had just received information about me
that he could not reveal. However, it required him to put me on the
next plane home. I was shocked. And I was taken aback at the cruelty
of snatching away my educational dreams at the last possible moment.
My mistreatment was particularly unexpected because in late May,
when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice learned that I and six
other Fulbright students were being stripped of our Fulbright
scholarships, she leapt to our assistance. One by one, Israel let
other Palestinian Fulbright scholars out of Gaza, and they made
their way to American universities. Then I was mysteriously singled
out for last-minute denial based on "secret evidence". Two others
had their visas cancelled on account of secret evidence before they
could even leave Gaza.
William J. Fulbright was the only US senator to vote against funding
for Senator Joseph McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee. It
is ironic, then, that my remarkable educational opportunity is being
stripped from me on the basis of the sort of secret – and fabricated
– evidence that Fulbright opposed in the hands of McCarthy.
Unopposed, McCarthy destroyed lives. I do hope the United States
will side with the openness of Fulbright and not the fear-mongering
of McCarthy.
Israel routinely locks up Palestinians based on secret charges. All
sorts of outrageous claims can be levelled based on information that
Israeli officials garner coercively. Could the secret evidence
against me have been extracted through the torture of some young
Palestinian? Was I even the one denounced, or someone with a similar
name? Was my "crime" sharing a classroom or a lunchtime conversation
with someone Israel believes poses a danger? I have no way of
knowing, and thus no way of defending myself.
My education is my gateway to the future. The master's degree I
would have earned at UC San Diego in computer science certainly
cannot be attained in Gaza . And I am not alone. Hundreds of
Palestinian students with dreams of improving their lives are
stagnating intellectually in Gaza. The doors to our open-air prison
have largely been slammed shut.
Israel tightened economic restrictions in 2006 following the
election victory of Hamas. Hoping to weaken Hamas, Israel has
gradually tightened restrictions on freedom of goods and people from
the Gaza Strip to the outside world, maintaining a near total
blockade on some 1.5 million Palestinian civilians for more than a
year.
Thankfully, I have received support from people around the world.
Journalists have wanted to hear my story. The American officials who
saw me in Amman and Jerusalem upon my return were friendly and
seemed embarrassed by my predicament.
Despite my treatment, I know that most Americans are kind people who
mean well. What happened to me runs contrary to the goodwill
exhibited by the American people. Israeli policies that relegate
Palestinians in Gaza to prison-like conditions and Palestinians in
the West Bank to an apartheid-like existence do not advance the
cause of peace. The United States should use its tremendous sway
with Israel to advance the cause of freedom and equal rights for
Palestinians and Israelis alike.
We Palestinians have been stripped of our land for 60 years. But
with educational opportunity we have persevered and made what we
could of our lives. Limiting our educational prospects only
perpetuates our status as a subordinate people. Nothing is served by
confining our best and our brightest to Gaza. A better future for
everyone lies in unlocking the gates to Gaza and allowing us to
learn and gain exposure to the broader world – with all of the
challenges, controversies and diverse perspectives it offers.
Fidaa Abed, recipient of a Fulbright scholarship, lives in the Gaza
Strip. This article was originally published in the
San Diego Union-Tribune,
then in Redress at:
http://www.redress.cc/palestine/fabed20080817
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