Arabs are forced to question our place in the world

Is there life before death?

I thought of this line by poet Mourid Barghouti as the Palestinian flags billowed above my head. This was the first pro-Palestinian rally in Pittsburgh since the massacres in Gaza began this October, and protesters shook their signs in solidarity: End the Occupation! Cease-fire Now!

The day also marked my first rally since my arrest 10 years ago in Cairo at a protest against Egypt’s 2013 military coup. The organizers of the Pittsburgh event, who were of Arab origin, began their speeches by denouncing attacks they had not yet faced but anticipated. I clenched my jaw listening to the long preface: We Arabs are decent, civilized, peaceful. We are not the antisemites nor the savages they claim we are.

The harmony of the day’s gathering was suddenly interrupted by a yelp — my wife’s. I turned in time to see that a bulky and bald White American man had knocked her over, along with several other protesters. He raised his middle finger as a stream of insults poured out of his mouth. A clutch of protesters eventually surrounded him, pushing him toward the on-site police. More than anything else, it was the look in his eyes that I will never forget. Not the hatred, not the violence — that, I could stomach — but the lack of hesitation, the assuredness that he would never be labeled a “terrorist” or “barbaric.” Only we would ever face those charges.

In the weeks since, my eyes, like so many others around the world, have been glued to screens. The Gaza Strip has been reeling from vicious bombardment and a complete siege.

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