Immortality

“Oh the original house, the key!
And your doors cry on who went away
Still did not taste nor color
Oh house of my grandfather!
Tell me how
The joys died?” Old man.

Every minute, a new infant comes to this universe. Every moment, someone passes away. The first one will gain birth certifiacte, but the latter will lose it and get death certificate. Man is accustomed to thinking that everything is mortal. However, it is the biggest myth in the world. Man believes that all humankind, trees, plants, planets, mountains and seas will die one day, which means that nothing will stay on earth. Practically, that is right, yet theoretically it is not.

Death means the end of existence for all kinds of species. Some people say that God employed the death as a fate to the whole mankind. It shows that death is a creature seeks man. If the death is a creature, there will be fight between it and human. As they are opponents. As a result, there will be loser and winner.

Man is able to beat death regardless of the difference between powers that everyone has. “If a person dies, all his close down except three of the ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge or a righteous son who will pray for him.” Abu Huraira said. Honestly, we are living in a confusion. Is there death or not? Who dies and who does not? Do people migrate from place to another escaping from death? Therefore, we are going to examine immortality in light of the construction of the identity and migration disease in Turmusayya village, in Palestine.

Turmusayya is a Palestinian village. It is located in Ramallah city near to Birzeit town. It was full of old houses that clarify Palestinian family and heritage. Recently, these houses have disappeared and become underground. They were built by simple materials, which were offered at that time, such as mud, hay and wood. Those old houses were inherited by our ancestors to keep them from extinction. But we converted them. Now, Turmusayya is full of villa houses.

Turmusayya is a garden of green farms and hills. My grandfather used to plow, plant and reap harvests from his farm, in particular olive harvest. He had an ancient and beautiful house. Before he died, he recommended me to keep this legacy for myself and my sons. He told me, “Oh my grandson! This farm and this house are the soul and the body that cannot be separated from each other.”

He raised very big statement, which represents a lot. The legacy that we obtain of our ancestors defines our history and nationality. In a sense, it depicts a connection between both concepts to create an identity. Furthermore, the awareness of those three concepts will demonstrate having an identity. Consequently, if you do not have a legacy and history that illustrate who are you, you are unable to prove that you have identity. In contrast, if you have a bequest; you will pass it within generations and nothing will erase it. Similarly, the Sidra tree portrays the same image. It stretches fixes its roots underground strongly. That is why when you try cutting it, it re-grows.

To illuminate it more, it is like math formulas. For instance, if you want to discover trapezoidal, you have to find four things: first, you have to calculate square tendon, which implies adding square rib twice. Second, finding rectangle’s area, which can be found by multiplying length and width. Third, figuring square tendon out, which can be done by adding square length and square width. Then determining area of triangle, that can be defined by multiplying among half, length and height. Thus, to get the area of trapezoidal, you have to multiply half, the total of two bases and height.

Likewise, to get an identity and awareness of it, you have to possess several things. Firstly, having identity, which can be achieved by possessing the awareness of nationality and being national. Next, you have to be aware of self and national self. Both formulas equal national identity. Hence, familiarity with self and national self fulfills possession of national identity if there is realization of national identity.

Theories stay theories until we straighten them out in practice. From abstract formulas into concrete images, so without speculating the formulas practically; it does not make sense. Thus, we have to see the self, nationality, national self and the awareness that will generate the identity.

Traditions and habits are different from village to another. Turmusayya, for instance, has a diversity of customs; such as sharing water, farming, conventional marriage and embroidery. During my passing through Turmusayya's blocks, an old-fashion dress store got my attention. At that moments, this store brought a lot of memories into my mind. I remembered villager women who were wearing these dresses. Those dresses, well-known as 'Thobes', narrate a long history about Palestinian, for this kind textile production is worn by Palestinians, in particular 'Fellaheen' or villager women for hundred years. It reflects Palestinian women everywhere, and it plays a significant role in the lives of the region's women. Since it was as an economic resource for improving their lives.

The villager women struggle with tow obstacles these days. They struggle with keeping this kind of costumes in Palestinian minds. Moreover, they strive with protecting this heritage to survive in this modern life. I wonder how many Palestinian people are still sticking to their legacy that Israelis try to clean from their minds? Another thing stole my attention in that store is keffiyeh. It is considered a symbol of Palestinian nation and identity. Anyone wears it, it defines to others that he is Palestinian.

Keffiyeh tells a lot about Palestinian history. Yasser Arafat, the ex-president of Palestine and the leader of Palestinian Liberation Organization, PLO, was always wearing it before he died, and in times of the conflicts that were happing between Palestinians and Israelis. Hence, it is a sort of a spark that contributed in Palestinian-Israeli clash. These customs, keffiyeh and the traditional dresses are an expression of solidarity and pride in Palestinian heritage. The realization of those rituals defines the self and the nationality that produce roots for you. After you have roots, your sticking to them symbolizes the national self. Accordingly, the production and the affiliation to those elements stand for the awareness of nationality that will allow you to make and verify your identity.

Israel follows crafty mechanisms to rub Palestinian identity or anything refers to it. One of these mechanisms is changing the Palestinian culture. Israel modifies many symbols that depict Palestinian legacy. One of these symbols is kuffiyeh. Israelis turns its original colors claiming that keffiyeh is one of the Israeli heritage, not Palestinian. The black lines and the white textile are the original keffiyeh that belongs to Palestinian people. Also, there are red lines with a white textile one. It represents a respectable image to the old men. As well as, the one that has a mix of colored lines is for tourists. In contrast, Israelis dye or color the whole textile by different colors to differentiate it from the Palestinian's one, and to justify that is a symbol of an Israeli culture, not Palestinian's. As a consequence, some of these customs disappeared after the establishment of Israel in 1948, and some are still dying and vanishing among new forms of clothing that is made by an Israeli hand.

The construction of an identity is really problematic issue, as the identity has several types. There are two main kinds of the identity. First, the identity card that tells a personal information about somebody. It notifies a name, place of birth and year of a person. Second, the cultural and national identity that identifies a root, nationality and heritage of someone. So you have to be aware of which kind of an identity you are constructing or proving.

Both types are controversial and knotty in Palestine territories, especially in Turmusayya village. They are controversial; Palestinian people have various identities according to the modern Israeli division of Palestinian lands. Turmusayya is divided into two kinds of areas according the new Israeli maps for Palestinian territories. This division consists of three area. the first area is ‘A,’ which is under Palestinian jurisdiction. The second are is ‘B,’ which is under both Israeli and Palestinian control. The third one is are ‘C,’ which is totally under Israeli jurisdiction. Turmusayya is involved in both kinds of this division, which means some of it is considered as an area ‘B,’ and the other is an area ‘C.’ Subsequently, the people who live in area 'B' part have a facilitation to build houses and to posses civil services in this part of the land. One the contrary, the people who live in 'C,' part have an assortment of lawful obstacles to build houses and to get civil services in that part of the land. For it is completely under Israeli control or law. Conversely, they are complicated; since both are being changed and eliminated by Israelis. It changes them by adjusting the curriculums that are taught in Palestinian schools and falsifying laws for its benefit. Likewise, it makes these things to make Palestinians live in an alienation world.

From the alienation world into the migration disease, I used to hear about many diseases that travel all over the world and numerous medications to tackle them. Bar, recently, a new disease has come into this universe, which is the migration disorder. It is a new and strange disease. Bar, what won my attention that epidemic is a contagious one in one country and one nation in the world. It is a Palestine country. I decided to look into this disorder and check it under a microscope in my laboratory.

I started looking for what causes this disorder and its syndrome. I found two main causes that create that the infectious disease. Firstly, some people were infected by this forcefully. As Israeli forced a lot of Palestinians to leave their lands when it killed a lot of Palestinians in 1967. Second, Israel exercises a sly regime of controlling Palestine territory, which affects Palestinian lives in their lands.

In Occupation 101 film, “The polices are made in order to ensure Israeli control, so the laws are designed in a way, in very semicha way to prevent Palestinians from building and to keep them confined in the middle eye-lens.” Halper said.

I pulled this microorganism out of the Petri dish with a dropper and put a little bit on a slide. I then put the slide under the microscope. While I was looking through the ocular, I saw what Halper meant. I found that Israel plays a tough technique of controlling that makes Palestine territory as a virtual prison. It drives Palestinians crazy, as it compels them to choose one of just two options. They can stick to their lands and resist this challenge or they can leave their lands looking for better life and making money.

In addition, I detected that this epidemic affects the construction of the identity. In Turmusayya village, many people migrated to America. They went looking for better life and collecting money. They usually go back to their village in an olive season to reap their harvests. One the one hand, it is a great scene because a number of Palestinians who generally migrate, they forget their lands and traditions. On the other hand, it is a risky thing on constructing their identity.

As soon as Palestinians live in a country where they do not belong to, they will be influenced by the other identities. For instance, when they get married and have sons in the United States, their sons will be familiar with the United States' identity, not Palestinian. They will believe that U.S controls all the world, and it is a free lifestyle country. They will be aware of the wars that U.S did and won. They will be acquainted with W. George Bush, Belly Clinton and Barak Obama. They will sing for Madonna, Michel Jackson, Shakira, Fifty Cent and so forth. When those people return to Palestine, to their village, Turmusayya, and see the old people who wear the traditional dress and keffiyeh; they will say that these costumes are bullshit.

Sometimes, we use 'Could' in English language to express about something hypothetical. If those people are not familiar with Palestinian customs and identity, they are not able to demonstrate that they are Palestinians or even they have Palestinian identity. That reminded me of something I noticed when I was attending a festival of a Captive's day in al-Quds university. I was watching a Debkkeh dance for a Palestinian crew. While I was looking at it, some of my Palestinians mates who were living in Texas described it as a nonsense show. I asked him why? “For I like break dance.” He replied. At that moment, I felt so painful; he does not know that Debkkeh dance is one part of his identity and legacy that he removed from his mind. I wonder how can those people prove that they have a Palestinian identity? Frankly, they just have ID cards. Consequently, some of homeless Palestinians are still adhering to their ceremonies, but the others are replaced them by another norms.

Turmusayyan people go and fro to U.S, for they have business in both places. They build houses in their village and go again to America. They construct these houses to protect their lands from Israeli hands. Except, that is still dubious matter. Assume that I get into these houses, how can I know with no seeing inhabitants that these buildings allude to Palestinians, not any people? As I can be an Italian citizen, for example, buy a land and build a house in another state or country.

In consideration of Kolirin's film, "The Band's Visit," he portrayed an effective scene about how can we recognize the owner of any buildings. After the Egyptian players were eating in Dina's restaurant, a range of photos were hanged on the restaurant's walls. Those photos were Israeli tanks, soldiers and flags. I saw various sights in them. I see that the photo of the tanks indicates to a history of battles and kinds of the weapons that were used. I feel that the photo of the soldiers characterizes those people who were fighting for something in this area. And I understand that the photo of the flags labels that those soldiers won at that those wars or those flags names who are those people and where they belong to. All the previous images clarify a record of a history and heritage. As a result, all pictures can give me signs that this restaurant belongs to Jews, not Palestinians.

From a photographic and political analysis into a concrete reality, sometimes, when someone dies, I think that everything refers to that person dies also. Yet I found that the truth is different . I grasped that we can be immortal and defeat the death. For the immortality is not the immortality of the bodies. Instead, it is the survival of the thought, identity and the inheritance that we ought to pass within next generations. My answers can be wrong or right. Nevertheless, frankly, I feel that life is a lesson, and all what we need is just to listen.

References:
1- Alkam, Nabeel.“Critical Thoughts On National Identity.” Nabeelalkam. 2009. 20 April. 2010. > http://nabeelalkam.com/new/news.php?action=view&id=146%3c
2-“Palestinian Traditional Clothing.” Raqs. 2008. 21 April. 2010. > http://www.raqs.co.nz/me/clothing_palestine.html%3c
3-Keffiyeh-Made In Palestine. Dir. Benoit Faiveley. Perf. Yasser Hirbawi and Mohammed Al Saffin. Monocle. Jan 2009.
4-Occupation 101. Dir. Sufyan, Omeish. Perf. Jeff Halper and Adam Keller. Sufyan, Omeish. 2007.
5-Relations, Public and Unit, Project. “Al Sawya: Barred From Expansion.” Jerusalem Legal Aid And Human Rights Center. Nov. 2009: 1-. 3 May. 2010 > http://www.mosaada.org/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=130&Itemid=181%3c
6-The Band’s Visit. Dir. Eran Kolirin. Perf. Alexanderia Ceremonial Police Orchestra and Ronit Elkalbetz. Sony Classics. 2007