Honestly I’m not sure where to start with this post. Right now as I sit down to write this, my words are coming from a place of a feeling of sheer hopelessness. I’ve always been quite vocal in my support of Palestinian human rights and in the need to end the occupation of Palestine. In the past I’ve written about disproportionate use of violence from an occupying force, countless human rights violations from a nation that should know better and an unyielding campaign of land dispossession, aggression and racism. Let me clarify that this is all being perpetrated by a sovereign nation, that of Israel. The latest campaign of violence and terror being unleashed is playing out in front of our eyes, thanks to social media and committed press on the ground, and the only conclusion that can be drawn is that Israel’s actions constitute to war crimes under international humanitarian law.
We’ve long been fed the narrative of Palestinians solely equating to Hamas; either they are members of Hamas, their family members are members of Hamas or they are human shields. There is never a consideration of Palestinians as human beings; as mothers, fathers, sons or daughters. Those who have agency, who have patriotism, who are proud of historic Palestine. Who have a country that is free, who have access to healthcare, education, drinkable water and whose children have viable opportunities for their education and beyond.
Let me preface this by providing some facts. Eighty percent of Gaza’s population depend on humanitarian aid. 5.3 million Palestinians are refugees across the world, and 1.5 million live in UN refugee camps in Gaza. The vast majority of these refugees are families who have been dispossessed of their ancestral lands and houses either by settlers or Israel’s practice of building settlements in Palestinian occupied areas. A practice which is illegal under international law and has been highly condemned.
What makes this entire situation worse is that Gaza has been under a blockade since 2007 which has seen devastating consequences for hospitals lacking equipment and medication, patients who require treatment outside of Gaza’s beleaguered health establishments and increasingly poignantly for the current context, an inability to bring in construction materials. Therefore meaning, when a house or a building gets destroyed in Gaza due to Israel’s disproportionate use of shelling and bombing campaigns, it will remain that way. There is no rebuilding in Gaza under occupation, under the Israeli bloackade.
I don’t know about all of you, but this scenario vastly resembles hell on earth to me. What’s even worse, is that the Palestinian people’s suffering is completely either ignored or misaligned to terrorism. Palestinians are frequently labelled as terrorists and those of us that stand up for them or express solidarity with their cause are denounced as ‘anti-Semitic’. I will say it now, as I am sure I will say it again in the future, it is not anti-Semetic to denounce a tyrannical occupying force. It is not anti-Semitic to call for the state of Israel to adhere to international humanitarian law and be held accountable for its actions. It is not anti-Semetic to appeal for respect of Palestinian dignity and human life.
The influence that Israel has previously enjoyed through the media’s blatant campaign of misinformation is however quickly dissipating. It’s actions of bombing a building filled with media personnel and journalists is a clear indication of its attempts to subvert the truth. But it can no longer hide. The world no longer believes that a country receiving billions of dollars worth of defense aid from the US, who has an ‘iron dome’ missile defence technology and who is a brutally occupying another populations land is ‘simply defending itself’. And what of Palestinians right of defense?
The occupation must end, it must end now. It is all of our responsibilities to educate others so they understand that this conflict is not ‘tit for tat’. It’s a David vs Goliath battle in which Palestinian families and children are being slaughtered in the name of defense.
We can no longer be silent and we must advocate to hold Israel responsible for its crimes.
Free Palestine.
I blog for Change. 