“I don’t know!
And I don’t want to know!”
Eleven words—
Words that have been repeated by Israelis
Through the Nakba,
Through the Occupation,
Through Colonialism—
And today, during the illegal
Israeli Apartheid
And the GENOCIDE of Gaza.
“I don’t know!
And I don’t want to know.”
He lives with his family in Jerusalem,
In an old Arab stone house—
One of the most beautiful,
With arched windows
And a tiled roof.
The Arab family fled.
Someone, a thief,
A terrorist,
Took it over.
Why not?
The thief took the carpets,
The furniture,
The books,
Letters,
Toys,
Memories—
Everything.
The house was sold,
And sold again,
And again.
My friend bought the old stone house
From a middleman.
Renovated it.
When I entered the house,
I could feel it.
It surrounded me,
Took over.
I could feel the lies.
I could smell the lies.
I could touch the lies.
I was offered a glass of cold,
Icy, white wine.
I asked my host,
“Can you tell me the story of your house?”
Silence.
His wife left the room.
I never saw her again.
Silence.
Then my host left,
But only for a short while.
He came back.
He looked at me,
And gave me eleven words:
“I don’t know,
And I don’t want to know.”
Eleven words he repeats
To his daughter,
To his son.
And they will repeat the same lie
To their children:
“I don’t know,
And I don’t want to know.”
– Mats Svensson, a former Swedish diplomat working on the staff of SIDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, has been following the ongoing occupation of Palestine since 2003. He is the author of “Crimes, Victims and Witnesses – Apartheid in Palestine.” (Real African Publishers) and his latest “Apartheid is a Crime – Portraits of Israeli Occupation,” (Cunepress, 2020). Mats contributed this article to Palestinchronicle.com.
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