Gaza has become “uninhabitable,” not because of ecological disaster or Palestinian poor stewardship of the land, but because Israel chooses to destroy it by every means – poisoning, starvation, disease, poverty, medical neglect, and invasion – while the world stands silent.
Before the birth of modern Israel, Zionist groups – newly arrived in Palestine – engaged in armed struggle against the British military, whom they labelled as “occupiers.” But now that the tables have turned (and the UN has enshrined the right of armed struggle as a vehicle of indigenous liberation) the Israeli occupation refuses to recognize the Palestinian resistance as legitimate.
Israeli military lives lost, while tragic, are sacrifices made willingly by the occupier who is fully aware that the resistance is ongoing.
Palestinians’ struggle for self-determination is a difficult, costly march; yet history teaches there is simply no other choice. Silence is surrender. To be silent is to betray all those who have come before and all those yet to follow.
The illegal Israeli occupation continues its illegal collective punishment by demolishing the home of an alleged terrorist’s family and terrorizing the entire neighborhood.
Israeli water policy is diabolical: the water table beneath the West Bank is being siphoned off by Israel and rationed to Palestinian farmers, sold at exorbitant prices; Israeli soldiers destroy water pipes and greenhouses; Israel walls off the Jordan River itself from Palestinian use; and water is piped away from refugee camps into illegal settlements.
Amid all this injustice, Palestinians carry on with patience and dignity. To exist is to resist.
Evacuation is another form of Jewish Israeli privilege, based on the myth of vulnerability (Israel’s borders are secure) and existential threat (Israel has one of the most powerful armies in the world, and is in no danger of annihilation).
Palestinian poet and Israeli citizen Dareen Tatour was sentenced to 5 months in prison for posting a poem titled ‘Resist, my people resist them’ on social media.
Abdullah, 13, lost a leg to an Israeli sniper bullet. He’s not a cute kid who had a tragic accident. His story is the horror that Gaza has become for nearly every family.
Poverty & injustice drove 14-year-old Wesal to protest at the Gaza border every Friday. Israeli snipers killed her, but her family has now joined the resistance.
This was a baby. In a tent. Israeli military fired tear gas into tents which were known to contain families, medical teams, and injured protesters. Israel has some explaining to do.