By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
The continuous waving of the Palestinian flag before the eyes of the ‘faifeau’ while he was paying homage to God, in front of the Government Building at the Ceasefire March on Wednesday, was symbolically frightening.
The ‘faifeau’ is the holy servant of the Lord to Whom the bible declared the God of Israel and the Israelites as His chosen people.
“For you (Israel) are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord Your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6).
The ‘faifeau’ is the spiritual leader of the people raised by the Christian bible and while the Samoans may not be the chosen ones they are religiously devout God people.
This is the same devotion that aligns their loyalties with God’s chosen people which in direct terms make Samoans pro-Israel.
Not all will agree of course but it is hard to argue in Samoa against the scriptures or the sacred writings of Christianity in the holy bible.
Following on from there, the streaming flutter of the Palestinian official colours in front of the Samoan ordained servant of God, was like watching a brandishing red flag taunt an angry bull frothing heavily inside a bullfight arena.
This was the provocative image that summed up the silent, watchful public reaction, to the small group of marchers, flaunt the Palestine official colours in the heart of Apia along Beach Road and where they gathered in front of the Government Building.
The ceaseless killing in the Middle East conflict with Israel in the centre of the armed hostilities is daily world news.
Samoa maybe a small, remote island thousands of miles away in the peace and calm south of the Pacific Ocean, but the people are globally aware.
They know what is going on in this war-torn world region and hold their own opinion based on personal convictions either related or not directly to beliefs of right and wrong in the conflict.
Maybe the organisers of the Ceasefire march should have considered this carefully when they allowed for Palestinian flags and Muslim dressed women as if to project support of the Palestine cause.
Admittedly there were Israeli flags as well but it only confused the whole case scenario. Who or what exactly are they the marchers in support of?
The best image they should have portrayed as they walked through Apia, to underline a united local stance for cease fire, was to make a big thing carrying the Samoan flag.
There were in fact none seen unless it was buried under the sea of Palestinian colours of red, black, green and white.
The loss of innocent lives, especially children and the elderly, is a worthy enough cause to stand up for wherever you are in the world, faraway Samoa included.
Such is a must that should be made very clear without any cause for doubt.
What the organisers needed to be very wary of from the start was not to induce public reactions condemning the march as supportive of the Palestinians.
This particular can of worms was already opened when the march was organised and should have set off alarm bells at the outset.
When the march started and appeared to the watching public to favour one cause over the other, that is when the worms started crawling out conflicts and condemnations along the way.
Public reactions protesting the protesters bias emerged and smeared whatever good intentions behind the march.
Maybe the organisers should have focused attention on the Samoan flag instead. Praise the blessings we have in Samoa of walking along Apia without the fear of a bomb dropping on your head.
The chant should have been loudest at how one walks around Apia all day and every day without angry people jumping out with blazing machine guns or bomb detonating devices.
Protest how Samoans are dying in the hundreds from diabetes which is a health issue caused by eating too much and not doing enough exercise.
Compare that to the violence that is killing people in Palestine and Israel at every armed attack.
These are simple examples that should bring home to any average Samoan the deadly environment the children and the elderly are forced to live under in the land where Jesus was born.
This is the life these innocent people have no other choice but try to survive every time they wake up to a new day – if they do wake up.
We should be made to feel blessed that as Samoans living in Samoa, we are blessed by God’s love and protection.
Our prayers or protests are for our fellow man to enjoy peace and love we are blessed with in Samoa.
Lets not invite the deadly outcome of armed conflicts by waving flags that invite anger and hatred into our land of God’s peace.
If you want to wave flags to encourage world peace and harmony, wave the Samoan flag.