Why won’t American liberals pay attention to this?

On December 6th, 2017 Donald Trump declared that Jerusalem was the true capital of Israel. There was a campaign promise that this announcement would come, but like many things said by politicians in a campaign, I assumed that this pledge would be a low priority on the list of things Trump wanted to ruin. I waited for the announcement curled up under a blanket on my couch, hoping the warnings from the international community would stop Trump from opening his mouth. After refreshing the news every half hour, I saw the video and stared in silence before finally clicking to open it. It felt like the world was muted until I heard someone’s gut-wrenching sob. It took a few seconds for me to realize that the cry had come from me, and I turned Donald Trump’s voice off.

I am Palestinian American. I was born in the States in 1983, just in time to grow up with the first Gulf War. My father wanted me to grow up as an American, but Palestinian politics often came up at the dinner table. Every morning, I would go to my American elementary school and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Every evening I would come home to sit with my family and watch the news tell us that we were the bad guys. Despite this, I had a sense of pride for who I was. I felt a deep connection to my roots and continued to invest in the sociopolitical happenings of the West Bank. In high school, I openly talked about Palestinian issues, and had a shirt that I had taken from my father’s closet with the Palestinian flag on it that I would wear occasionally with my baggy Jnco jeans. Other students would say, “When you wear that shirt, it’s sort of scary,” and I would take the time to tell them about the Israeli occupation, only to receive blank, apathetic stares in return. I learned in adulthood that the average American wasn’t invested in the plight of the Palestinians. Politics continued to change and Arabs became tokens of America’s political war. Were we all terrorists or were some of us nice? Who knew?



As I sat there sobbing and debating whether I should continue to watch Trump say his ugly words, the gravity of the situation started to set in. The possibility for a two-state solution was destroyed and violence was imminent. Surely this would be the moment that Americans would begin to care. At the very least the liberals in our country will speak up. I began to search my Facebook feed; I would refresh it looking for my American friends to say something about this news. It was the middle of the day; it will take a little while. I waited patiently. About two hours into waiting for my generally liberal social media bubble to erupt into a collective roar for the Palestinian people, my Middle Eastern family and friends’ posts started to show up. They were pleading, praying, desperate posts that broke my heart. I would see one, and just think, “Wait with me friend. Americans are going to pay attention this time. Trump said it, and they hate him. There will be backlash from the American people. They are going to pay attention.” Exhausted from crying and worrying, I continued to wait.

It’s a strange feeling when something so monumental happens to you and the whole world seems to keep going. When losing a pet or finding out bad news about the health of a loved one, it feels like the world needs to stop and pay attention to your pain. But here is a decision that could potentially affect the whole world, so you’d think that there would be discussion — that the world would stop for a moment and spend some time to look at this problem.

Later that night, as I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, I saw two worlds side by side. One post from a former student sharing their dinner. Another post from a high school classmate about the silly thing their child said. A desperate post from a cousin begging the world to save the Palestinian people. A post about traffic. The silliest cat video was next. A post from a Palestinian family friend about fears of violence against their home and their people. A Buzzfeed article. The next morning, I went to go see what the news was saying and saw that a British news source wrote an article about how Trump’s slurred speech was raising concerns about his health. It felt like the Twilight Zone.

Of course, it is impossible to care about every major issue that comes up in the world. How do we spread our attention fairly? I see so many Americans placing trust in others who are stepping in to cover issues that they have to neglect. We rest secure in the knowledge that all worthy causes will receive support: from our government, from special interest groups, and from the general public. For this issue, however, it seems that no one is paying attention. The Palestinian people and their oppression has been neglected time and time again. It seems that the only people who care about Palestine are Palestinians. As a Palestinian and an American, I would like to ask why? Why don’t you care?