It’s been 75 years since Israel took over Palestine, and no one bats an eye. Palestine is a small Middle Eastern country that has been under occupation by the illegal Israeli state since 1948. Israel became an officially recognized nation on May 14, 1948. The Palestinians have been living under this occupation ever since. They have been subjected to terrible human rights violations, from settler colonialism to genocide and everything in between. The majority of the world, especially the Western countries, recognizes Israel and actively supports their corrupt government. Israel’s biggest support comes from the United States which is why Americans need to know more about this issue and fight back against it as much as we can. The whole world must rally together to free Palestine and put an end to Israeli apartheid.
The history of Israel is a very short and violent one because it’s only existed for 75 years. The first reason I support this cause is due to the way Israel gained their so-called “independence”. Before 1948, Palestine was under British mandate. However, after World War 2, Jewish settlers came to Palestine to establish a land of their own. These settlers refused to co-exist with the Palestinians who had taken them in and instead decided to take over the land for themselves. These Israelis and those who support a Jewish supremacy state came to be known as zionists. Britain gave these zionists the land which they would eventually call Israel. The events surrounding the creation of Israel are known as the Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic. The Nakba refers to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as well as the displacement of 750,000 people from their homes and land.
Another reason why I want Palestine to be free is because the horrors of the Nakba never really ended. Since all of historical Palestine was taken over, there are only two remaining territories that are still considered Palestinian territories: The West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Gaza is an area on the coast that’s described as an open-air prison. The entire area is blocked off by a huge wall and regularly bombed. The worst of all Israeli war crimes and human rights violations happen in Gaza. In the West Bank, zionist settlers regularly try to take over more lands and cities and kick out people from their homes to live there. My people are still actively being threatened to leave and kicked out of their homes just because zionists coming from America and other countries want to live there. This is important to me because we are contributing to Israel, many of us not even knowing it. The US uses the money taken from American citizens’ taxes and sends it to Israel frequently. The money sent to Israel is used on their military to fund tanks, fighter jets, missiles, etc. During the pandemic, when everyone was stuck at home unemployed, money that was supposed to be used to help them was instead used for Israel. In the COVID-19 relief bill, the US sent $3.8 billion to Israel for “security assistance” and missile defense cooperation. This has also become a yearly donation to Israel. Americans are unknowingly funding occupation and genocide.
The last reason why I want an end to Israeli apartheid is because they also attack Muslims. As a Muslim, Jerusalem is the second holiest place after Mecca and Medina. The Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque are holy sites in Islam. Every Ramadan, thousands of Palestinian Muslims go to pray at Al Aqsa and are met with attacks from the Israeli military. They always increase their raids and attacks during Ramadan because they don’t want large gatherings of Muslims and they want to ruin our holiest month. Along with being racist to Palestinians, they’re also extremely Islamophobic. The past few years, they’ve raided Al Aqsa mosque while Muslims were praying inside, throwing smoke bombs and stun grenades, and arresting Palestinian Muslims for absolutely no reason.
We must all do better to end Israeli apartheid and free Palestine. The biggest way we can support Palestine from here is to support the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement. The main demands of the BDS movement are “ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Apartheid Wall, recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality, and respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties.” The easiest way a regular person can support is to boycott Israeli products and companies that fund them such as Nestle, Coca-Cola, etc. We can also attend protests for Palestine. Most protests for Palestine happen in May to honor the anniversary of the Nakba and demand the right for Palestinians to return. With that being said, free Palestine and all occupied people.
References
“Arab-Israeli War (1948).” U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1945–1952/arab-israeli-war#:~:text=The%20Arab%2DIsraeli%20War%20of%201948%20broke%20out%20when%20five,Israel%20on%20May%2014%2C%201948. Accessed 19 May 2023.
Haddad, Mohammed. “Nakba Day: What Happened in Palestine in 1948?” Israel-Palestine Conflict News | Al Jazeera, 15 May 2022, www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/nakba-mapping-palestinian-villages-destroyed-by-israel-in-1948.
“Israel and The Occupied Territories.” U.S. Department of State, 1 Dec. 2020, www.state.gov/reports/2016-report-on-international-religious-freedom/israel-and-the-occupied-territories/israel-and-the-occupied-territories-the-occupied-territories/#:~:text=The%20Occupied%20Territories%2C%20which%20include,in%20much%20of%20the%20territory.
“Israeli Forces Carry out Violent Raid at Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Religion News | Al Jazeera, 5 Apr. 2023, www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/4/5/israeli-forces-carry-out-violent-raid-at-al-aqsa-mosque.
“Israel’s 55-Year Occupation of Palestinian Territory Is Apartheid.” OHCHR, 25 Mar. 2022, www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/03/israels-55-year-occupation-palestinian-territory-apartheid-un-human-rights.
“Untold Story of Us Aid to Israel.” Arab News, 29 Dec. 2020, www.arabnews.com/node/1784061.
“What Is BDS?” BDS Movement, 9 Feb. 2020, bdsmovement.net/what-is-bds.