The Right to Exist

"I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what every other oppressed person has advocated—the right to help myself in the absence of help from anywhere else."
It is often the case in human history that the course of this escapade is determined by who is allowed to exist and who is not. Everyone from Caesar to Christ to Gandhi can bear testimony to the veracity of this statement. On this very day that we have all just lived, there are a great number of people whose existence is being challenged, either through incarceration, censorship or assassination. In the amazing amalgamation that is modern human society some people therein are fiercely persecuted for merely being who they are where they are. One of these individuals is someone I've followed for eight years in the news and have been perpetually impressed with. His name is Marwan Bourghouti and he is sitting in an Israeli jail today wondering if he will ever be set free. Of all the leaders of the Palestinian resistance, Marwan stands in a category all his own. He has been likened to a Palestinian Nelson Mandela, primarily for being imprisoned for being basically a moderate and always seeking a peaceful resolution. Despite this Bourghouti will never be called a coward, because he has never once hesitated to fight for his right to be a human being born where he was who he was. Being a pivotal leader in both the First ('87-'93)and Second (2000-today) Intifadas he often led marches of thousands of regular unarmed Palestinians to Israeli checkpoints. It is difficult to fathom where courage comes from, but to live in a situation of complete vulnerability to your enemies and utter helplessness to defend against them must do something to a persons perspective. most madness ridden sliver of land in the world. For what its worth Marwan Bourghouti, I respect and admire you for your life; may you be allowed to continue and hopefully be set free.
"Rebellion, though apparently negative, since it creates nothing, is profoundly positive in that it reveals the part of man which must always be defended." -Albert Camus