Olympia WA & Rafah PAL Will Not Be Sister Cities--Yet

Tweet "No, those opposing the proposal [TO MAKE RAFAH A SISTER CITY] didn't want to annihilate anybody, they just didn't want to have anything in common with people in Rafah, who are so different from and instill terror in us. They appealed to the members of City of Olympia Council to "stick to the issues here, in Olympia," instead of endorsing an official relationship with "others," people in the Middle East. Little did the opponents realize, though, that they were direct proponents of racism, which, according to Baudrillard, "does not exist so long as the other remains Other, so long as the Stranger remains foreign. It comes into existence when the other becomes merely different This is the moment when the inclination to keep the other at a distance comes into being." As the end of the meeting on April 17 disclosed, opponents managed to keep people in Rafah at a distance indeed, thus--unbeknownst to themselves--being puppets on the stage of racism and in the hands of some political leaders in the U.S. government "who manipulate otherness for their own profit."

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"One of the supporters quoted from the ORSCP's proposal the appeal that had been written by children under the care of the Association for Woman and Child Development in Rafah, Palestine. In this appeal, children wrote: "When we lack security, we dream of a secure world. When tomorrow becomes dark, we'll hold a candle to light the tunnel. When we lose our school bags, clothes and toys under rubbles, we will look for HOPE and PEACE. When we lose everything, our hearts will go on and we'll look for a friend. OUR FRIENDS, WE NEED YOUR VOICE " This heart-breaking appeal didn't matter. It either was dismissed or just didn't reach the ears of the four councilmembers who voted against the proposal. After all, it had not been written by children of Olympia, or Israel, for that matter. It also didn't matter that there were 400 signatures gathered around the community in support of making Rafah our official sister city. The motion failed 2-to-4. The closing remarks of the four community leaders who voted against it were strikingly alike--they felt "uncomfortable endorsing" the proposal while community members are not united on the issue. Will community members ever be united on any issue at hand? Let me assure you, it can be easily arranged, but mostly in a totalitarian nightmare. Would those four council members vote differently if this proposal offered official statue to a sister-city relationship with one of Israel's cities and if Muslims of Olympia protested it? One might wonder.

From Counterpunch.org