Alwaght- “In The Art of War”, Sun Tzu writes: “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” In this respect, knowing one’s enemy entails the knowledge of its language. And if the enemy is a Zionist occupation force, then one must learn Hebrew to grasp this knowledge.
A feature published on the Electronic Intifada highlights the growing number of Palestinians in Gaza who are learning Hebrew as part of efforts to confront the Israeli regime.
Nesma Seyam mentions classes that the Nafha Center for Prisoners Studies and Israeli Affairs in Gaza is giving for those who are interested in learning the language of their enemy. The place is run by Ahmed Alfaleet, who had been imprisoned by the Israeli regime for 19 years and believes that it is vital for people to understand Hebrew.
“Our lives and even our deaths are connected to the Zionist entity ‘Israel,’ whether we like it or not,” he told The Electronic Intifada. “We must learn their language so that we can understand them.”
The feature also presents another former detainee who learned the language during his imprisonment in the 1980s, Khalil Wishah.
“I didn’t realize when I lay back against the dank walls of Bir al-Saba [Beersheba] prison in 1982 that the place would transform me into a professional Hebrew teacher,” he said.
After years of teaching Hebrew informally, Wishah is now practicing the profession at the Hebrew department of Al Zaytona University College in Gaza.
“I want my people to educate themselves about the Israeli community more and more,” he said. “For me, it’s a national duty to understand your enemy, to analyze it and to know how it thinks through reading or following its media.”
He strongly believes that resistance against the occupation can also be accomplished on a cultural level with language being the weapon.
“Resistance is not always about holding a gun, it might be about understanding your enemy,” he added.
The article explains that although the Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip has put an end to work opportunities for Gazans, there are other reasons why understanding Hebrew is still of vital importance for Palestinians, practical and political ones.
“For a start, a large amount of groceries for sale in Gaza have been imported via Israel; the details on their packaging are often in Hebrew,” the feature states.
Medical treatment is another reason why learning Hebrew is essential as many are forced to go to Israeli hospitals for specialist care.
“Such travel means that Palestinian patients and their families are likely to come in contact with Israeli soldiers, as well as doctors and nurses, whose first language is Hebrew,”
A third crucial motive is political. Seyam interviewed Mohammed Alhammami, a teacher at AMIDEAST who argues that knowing Hebrew is important to gain a proper understanding of Israeli politics.
“Learning Hebrew helped me read the Israeli press and Israeli writers,” he told the journalist. “A lot of things get lost in translation. It is best to find the original sources.”
Seyam relates that he also strongly supports the principle of having a single state in historic Palestine — the territory now divided into Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip — that would guarantee equality for all.
In times of war, language can be an indispensable weapon. Learning the enemy’s language can prove to be an efficient strategy in broadening the scope of conflict beyond the battlefield. For Palestinians, especially in Gaza, learning Hebrew is an act of resistance.
