Case # 7271/15: For the Love of Palestine

By Carlos Aznárez on December 1, 2015

For the Love of Palestine was the title we used on the cover of one of the latest editions of Resumen Latinoamericano newspaper. Yes, for the sake of Palestine and its selfless, suffering, persecuted, but never defeated people.  There are voices from around the world, who for over the last six decades, have stood to defend their cause. And there are those journalists like us who are willing to report about it by trying to break the severe censorship of this reality.

To love Palestine is to wish from the deepest part of our heart, that one day its women, men, children and the elders of that land can live in peace. To love Palestine is to wish that those who live on that soil tainted by the invaders could cultivate their olives or fish in its waters (that today are blocked by warships) without having to pay with their own lives or without the contempt from the settlers who set their fields on fire. To love Palestine is precisely to highlight the example given by millions of their best sons and daughters who have had to go into exile carrying only a key to their homes that were razed by the conqueror after1948. Despite their plight, no Palestinian who lives outside their country speaks of revenge but rather carries with them a melancholy that would get inside of any normal person who can think only of returning to their land of origin. Their desire is to return to that land but in a condition that they could recognize from the way it is now, without the checkpoints and barbed wire, without the walls that separates entire families. They want to come back when the tanks and bulldozers are gone and when the wrongful deaths in Gaza or the West Bank are over.

It was precisely for my love of Palestine and because of my dedication to fight for human rights as a journalist, that the Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations (DAIA), (which claims to represent the Jewish community although thousands of its members do not want to be link to the organization), now want to sit me on the bench of the accusers. However, I am convinced that what they really want is to judge not just myself, but the entire Palestinian solidarity movement that is peaceful but firm and one with clear internationalist roots. I am referring to Solidarity with a people that need us and don’t always have the voices to defend it.  A lot of that is because of the pressure coming from these institutions. This happens precisely  from censorship and self-censorship imposed on a struggle that is easy to understand but complicated when it comes time to giving concrete solutions.

As a militant voice for justice and freedom for over five decades I have made an effort so that the discourse of the oppressor does not make us bend. And at the same time I have written and spoken about the imperative need to support the Palestinian people and all the oppressed Arab Nations and that their demands for freedom and justice are heard and that the violations of their fundamental rights be addressed.   I know that this same support and perspective has been, and will continue to be, done by many people from the Jewish community both here and in the State of Israel. They too do not agree with the pain and suffering of a people that before the catastrophe they shared the sun, the bread, and the water with.

The criminal case that has been opened by the Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations (DAIA) against me, and therefore against Resumen Latinoamericano that I have run for more than 22 years, is requiring me to attend  an inquisitive audience on December 9 at 9,30 p.m. in the Prosecutor’s Office #25 in Buenos Aires.

I want to recognize the numerous signs of solidarity and support that I am getting from my colleagues and friends in Argentina and around the world, who understand perfectly that with this trial they are trying to “discipline” critical thinking by muzzling freedom of expression, opinion and the privacy that any journalist should have. In particular, I want to thank all my colleagues across the continents that have sent me their affection and messages of condemnation against those who try to stifle acts of solidarity. I also would like to send fraternal greetings to Human Rights and Media organizations and all of those who have firmly defended me in this persecutory charade.

Finally, I reiterate my conviction against intolerance and open discrimination against all of those who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.  They will always accompany them in their longing for peace with justice and independence. It is necessary that we express ourselves without fear accompanied by people from all over the world strengthened in love for a people who everyday gives lessons of dignity to the world.

Source: Resumen Latinoamericano