Palestinians Case

Napoleon Bonaparte once quoted "A picture is worth a thousand words". In Edward Said's essay States; through a series of pictures, wanted to reveal the everyday Palestinian lifestyle to the public. Said, known as " one of the world's most distinguished literary critics and scholars", was born in Jerusalem. Said was forced to leave his hometown along with several other Palestinians, and witnessed the destruction of his society and dispossession of his people. States for Said was an opportunity to share the stories, and hardships faced by Palestinians to the world. One of the most difficult attributes of being a Palestinian is not having a homeland, most people link their home, to their identity, and without anywhere to settle most Palestinians feel like they do not belong anywhere. The photographs in States are real, they show every emotion, every setting, they truly do not lie. Western Civilization, fear, and children were three main ideas portrayed through States.

In Said's essay, he used a lot of pictures to display the western civilization influence on the Palestinian culture. One example of Western influence is a photograph with a widely known motor vehicle. " The Mercedes is the all-purpose conveyance, something one uses for everything". On page 571, a portrait of a wedding scene is displayed, the scene is filled with people, emotions, scenery, but one of the most noticeable objects in the entire picture is the Mercedes Benz. Most of the Mercedes

owned by Palestinians were secondhand, or smuggled into wherever at the time they occupied. "It is the symbol of modern domesticated, the intrusion of the West into the traditional life". (570, Said) Although Palestinians drove around a car that the people of the United States considered a possession of great value, most Palestinians according to Said " have no state of their own to shield them, the Mercedes, its provenance and destination obscure, seems like an intruder, a delegate of forces that dislocate, and hem them in" (Said, 571). No matter what the scenario is, Palestinian's feel unwanted, and like they do not belong in our world.

Along with pictures demonstrating Western Influence on Palestinians, many pictures in States revealed the hardships of children. On page 582 of States, a little boy, wearing an ill fitted John Travolta shirt poses for the camera. The boy appears unhappy, not only because he was put in a John Travolta shirt, but also because he knows growing up wont be easy for him, and he will forever be discriminated against. Said even claimed "I heard it said in Lebanon, that Palestinian children in particular should be killed, because each of them is a potential terrorist. Kill them before they kill you". (pg 582, Said). The boy in the picture already looks like he has gone through hardship (judging by the scar under his right cheek). Along with