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Mona El-Farra is an inspiring individual. This modest and unassuming woman seems to have innumerable projects up her sleeve, ranging from her physician work at the Gazan branch of the Palestine Red Crescent Society to her role as Health Development consultant with the Union of Health Workers Committee.

On her website profile, Ms. El-Farra writes that she is “… a physician by training, a human rights and women’s rights activist by practice.” To her credit, she has the experience to back it up. Not only has Ms. El-Farra directly worked to improve the situation in Gaza through her physician work, she has also toured the United States advocating for human rights in Palestine, appearing at venues as diverse as Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! and various American university campuses.

I first came across Ms. El-Farra in 2006, when I discovered her blog: From Gaza, With Love. Since then, I have followed her blog journey, though the frustration of military occupation and the devastating realities of everyday life in Gaza… and I was delighted to interview her the other night.

** Before proceeding, however, please understand that this interview was held for research purposes and does not presume to be a thorough, journalistic interview—the questions were entirely directed towards my graduate research.

Mona El-Farra: My name is Mona El-Farra. I am a Palestinian physician but also a human rights activist. At the moment I am the head of the Health Committee Gaza for the Red Crescent Society in the Gaza Strip. This is my official position, but for the last 18 years I have been working with the Union Health Workers Committee, a grassroots health organization that works in many of the refugee camps in Gaza and aims to promote health and to improve the health standards. I have worked for a long time with this organization and I am still their Health Development Consultant. We have founded a hospital, many culture centers for children and youth and we had many primary health care centers.

I also have a blog (From Gaza, With Love).

Kris Petersen: I’m an avid reader!

MEF: Yes, I think it is very important to write because not many people do in Gaza. Writing for me is a window to the sky, an outlet for me… Living in Gaza, such a small place, highly populated and with scarce resources—and we are under occupation and the whole situation—we need to ventilate on one level and, on the other hand, it is very important to report what is happening in Gaza to the people from the perspective of a human being. It is very important to give this first-hand experience about what is happening in Gaza to ordinary people.

At the moment I am coordinating a relief fund, by the way. I am very keen on coordinating a relief fund into Gaza, for medication, supplies… It is very important to support people because, as you know, most of the families now in Gaza depend on international aid—so they need new support and I am coordinating this fund with capital from the Red Crescent Society and another organization from the (United) States called the Middle East Children’s Alliance.

KP: So you consider yourself one of the senior heath workers here in Gaza?

MEF: [laughs] Yes I would. I have wide experience in the civil society as well field study work. At one time, I was even a member of (Palestinian Non-Governmental Organization Network).

KP: Alright… to start off, how proud are you to be a Palestinian?

MEF: Extremely proud, but I’m not just proud to be a Palestinian. I am proud of our steadfastness under the circumstances. We are not unique as human beings, I don’t think. But given such circumstances, I think many nations would have collapsed easily. This is why I am extremely proud.

KP: How proud are you of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation?

MEF: Extremely proud, but resistance for me doesn’t mean violence. Being able to continue living under such circumstances, living and not collapsing, this is resistance. Sumud (steadfastness). I don’t mean the military. I have my own opinion on the military.

KP: Do you believe Naji al-Ali’s character, Handala, is an important national symbol for Palestine?

MEF: Handala is extremely important because he represents the Palestinian people that have been deprived of their country, their land… he represents the Palestinian refugees and this is an important symbol of our struggle for freedom. It represents the Palestinian struggle that has been forgotten by the world so this child turns his back to the world that has forgotten him. Yet, in spite of all this, he still has his dignity. So it is an important symbol between the contrast of people who are suffering and people who are just watching.

KP: Would you say then, that the resistance to Israeli occupation—in whatever form—the mere idea of resistance to Israeli occupation, is closely tied to Palestinian nationalism.

MEF: Yes, to some extent.

KP: What about non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation?

MEF: This is very important. This is mass resistance, the resistance of an entire people. By this steadfastness and being able to continue enduring and living under these circumstances. This is non-violent resistance. Women in their homes, students at the universities, farmers on their land—they are not carrying weapons and physically resisting, but their existence is non-violent resistance.

KP: And violent resistance to Israeli occupation?

MEF: As you know there is an occupation and there must be resistance. We have the right to resist but I am against resistance in vain. Like these rockets, like suicide bombing—it is both inhuman and in vain. I am strongly with the resistance, but it has to be strategic. This is part of our right.

During the Second World War, the French there was French resistance against Germany because France was occupied by Germany. Now Palestine is occupied by Israel and we have the right to resist, including military resistance. But, it must be unified and nationalized. It must be with national unity—not vain acts or a show of resistance by doing this and that. I am totally against hitting civilians… Totally against. I do not consider this resistance.

KP: What about becoming a martyr? Say, if one of your friends was killed by Israeli forces do you think the feelings surrounding this are influenced by or influence Palestinian nationalism?

MEF: Yes, I think so. Despite what I said, in the end they are people killed on the road of liberating us from occupation. This is my point of view. So I think they are a national symbol. Oh yes, it is an expression of Palestinian nationalism.

KP: Essentially I would like to determine how secularized the concept of martyr has become and how Palestinians feel about it. When they think martyr, do they think Palestine before Islam?

MEF: Yes, it is Palestinian, but with the expansion of the Islamic movement people relate it to Islam. But it has always been a national symbol, not Islamic. It is national.

KP: If the Intifada regained momentum and serious fighting broke out between the Palestinian forces and Israeli army, would you fight and potentially die for Palestine or encourage your friends to do so?

MEF: I am not the right age. I mean, I would be willing to help people who are willing to die for Palestine. If there was resistance inside Gaza for example, I would not hesitate to help them—those who are willing to die for Palestine. But me, myself, I am past this age.

KP: If you were given the chance to move in another country where your standard of living would improve dramatically, would you being willing to leave Palestine?

MEF: Not at all. I have a British passport. I can leave at any minute and I am always asked why I don’t leave but no way. I am here to stay. I am here to be in my country and to help the people.

KP: When did you acquire British citizenship?

MEF: I lived in Britain for some time during my medical training and I got it then. At the beginning of the (first) Intifada, I came back to Gaza. And from that time, I have been living here. Here I try to make things better for women and children with my own capabilities and encourage them to stay. Maybe some people want to leave, but it’’s my role and duty to encourage people to stay. So, I have to stay here myself if I am trying to tell others to stay!

KP: Do you believe it is always acceptable to kill Israeli soldiers as a form of resistance to occupation?

MEF: Yes. Soldiers, yes. But sometimes, when I look at the soldiers, a strong part of me I’ll tell you what I feel part of me feels that they are victims of the occupation as we are victims of the occupation. Young, naïve they should be out dancing, reading, playing rather than carrying guns to kill women and children. So I feel that we are victims and they are victims too, of the Zionist ideology and the Israeli government.

KP: What do you feel when a suicide bomber has successfully detonated him/herself in Israel?

MEF: I don’t feel proud at all. Despite that fact that I understand the reasons… I don’t feel proud of the angry man who killed himself, who was forced—sent to be killed—and I don’t feel proud of the many civilians who are killed.

KP: Do you believe the act of martyrdom, of offering one’s own body to the resistance, is symbolic of Palestine’s desperate situation?

MEF: No, it is not desperate. It is a national symbol. Resistance. Resistance is not desperation. Desperate is something else. If you are part of the resistance, then it is part of your ideology that you want to liberate your country not because you are desperate and want to kill yourself. It is part of the ideology, not a desperate act. Suicide bombing is different. If we are talking about (conventional) military resistance against occupation, then this is not a desperate act. This is natural: wherever there is occupation there is resistance.

KP: How would you feel if someone in your family became a martyr?

MEF: I would feel sad. I would feel very sad, if my son for example became a martyr. It would be as if part of myself had died. I would be very sad. Sadness and grief, much stronger than pride. But this is not for a suicide bombing. If it was a suicide bombing, I would not feel any pride. I would feel ashamed.

KP: I would like if you could explain in some depth what you believe to be the difference between voluntary and involuntary martyrdom and not just how you understand the difference, but also how you believe the typical Palestinian understands these ideas.

MEF: That is very difficult a very difficult question. Voluntary martyrdom is a “positive” act, an active act and involuntary martyrdom is a “negative” act, a passive act. Somebody who was passing in the street and is killed this is not resistance. It’s not “positive” resistance. There is a difference. People who are part of the political factions, sent for special missions are killed in the act, while people passing in the street were just killed. These people are innocent.

KP: But after a suicide bomber dies and after these innocent people are killed in the streets, how do people think of them? They seem to be honored in much the same way.

MEF: They are all considered the same: shaheed (martyrs). This is my analysis. For most people, they are all martyrs.

KP: Do you believe martyrdom has taken on a symbolic meaning beyond the simple act itself?

MEF: I do not have this feeling personally. I don’t believe they are different from the people we have in prison for example. I appreciate them, I respect them, but I don’t believe they are in a different class. I don’t put them at a very high level personally. But some people put them at a very high level just because they are martyrs. Ok they are special. But they are just one among many kinds of Palestinian resistance.

KP: But for the average Palestinian, do you think there has been a change over time? Do you think martyrs have become more respected? Do they represent the Palestinian struggle more today than in the past?

MEF: Ok, look… they were always respected. But at the moment, because of what is happening in Palestine, including the clashes between Fatah and Hamas, the injustice that has been inflicted on Palestinians—not only from Israel—but also corruption and injustice from our own politicians, people feel that it is a waste of time to fight for your country. So many people… you hear it on the streets. They say: “All the blood of the martyrs has only allowed some people to be corrupt and fill their pockets with money.”

KP: So you think people are generally disillusioned?

MEF: Absolutely. And scared. Very scared, because now people don’t trust in the government—Hamas, Fatah, or whatever—any of the leadership. There is a gap between the people and leadership at the moment. So they think it is a pity. The martyrs have given their life so that others can enjoy corruption and get more corrupt. I hope I made this clear.

KP: Very clear. I have read statistics for example suggesting that during the first Intifada suicide attacks were very unpopular and the few organizations carrying out such operations consistently denied responsibility for fear of public disapproval. Yet almost 70% of Palestinian supported suicide attacks at the height of the second Intifada. I want to connect this to what I mentioned earlier. When people talk about martyrdom, I wonder if they support the idea more than the act, that their support is support for resistance and not necessarily support for the physical act of a suicide bombing.

MEF: Yes. During the second Intifada it became popular because of the excessive aggression of the Israeli military against the Palestinian people. This made people’s feelings of revenge very strong. It was too much what was happening in Palestine: house demolitions, hospitals attacked, etc. Ordinary people began to have strong feelings of revenge. I think this is why suicide bombing became very popular.

KP: You believe that it was a direct consequence of the situation on the ground?

MEF: Of course. But also the feelings towards martyrdom changed. Imagine people in Gaza with all this aggression. People are killed so easily and lives have been destroyed so easily suicide bombing satisfies them. It shows that somebody is avenging them. That they are not alone…

This is a very basic analysis, not deep at all. If people thought deeply, they would see that suicide attacks do not benefit the Palestinian people. It just gives Israel more pretense to attack and attack and attack. And it makes me feel that, when people are happy about the killing of civilians, there is a shaking of our psychological structure. To feel happy about the killing of children this is not us. These are not our values. But it is a reaction, a natural reaction to Israeli aggression against us. It’s not normal to feel happy about killing.

KP: That’s why I tend to think that martyrdom has become a symbolic concept. You will always have a minority of extremists willing to commit these acts, but to have popular support is a different thing entirely. A lot of the time, I think people who say that they support something, when it comes down to it their support is not at all committed. They are simply saying it as a form of solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.

MEF: Yes, I agree it is symbolic.

KP: And like the children of the stones during the first Intifada, the act is not strategically valuable. Its value can only be measured symbolically. The children of the stones brought nothing but (Yitzhak) Rabin’s call to “break their bones” and suicide bombing has, like you say, only provided Israel with the pretense to continuing committing atrocities.

MEF: Yes, but it is different. Atfal al-hijara (the children of the stones) as a symbolic act, helped the world to understand more about the Palestinian cause and they looked upon us as victims of the Israeli occupation. With suicide bombing, I think it made people more sympathetic with Israel. So in that context, it did not help our cause. And it did not make Israel lenient in its acts against us. It gave them an excuse to attack us.

KP: Any final words for the interview?

MEF: Yes. I would like to say that the Palestinian cause is a just cause and it will never be win/lose between the Palestinians and Israelis. It has to be win/win. Our resistance is part of the international struggle against injustice in the world. No stability in the region will be achieved without a just solution for the Palestinian cause—a solution to the conflict. So if anyone wants stability or peace, it has to be through the Palestinians achieving their national goals.