The Palestinian Genocide- Stop Saying Otherwise

Dec. 30

I need to preface this by saying, I am not Palestinian. Next, it doesn’t matter.

What is happening in Palestine is genocide. If that makes you uncomfortable, good. The forced removal and eviction of Palestinians alone is enough to categorize this behaviour as a pattern of genocide, let alone the imprisonment of youth and detention of children, the segregation of women and men in medical centres, the unwarranted search and seizures of properties, and the list goes on.

Regardless of what you believe and what your political alignments are, if you do not call this a human rights violation of epic proportions, not only are you delusional, but you are willfully contributing to the eviction, torture, and murder of millions of human lives.

The Palestinian people have not had access to clean water, healthcare, education, and what we would call basic infrastructure, for now, the better part of the century. We have seen their constant deprivation of human rights for over 70 years. That is not even the full life expectancy of people today. There are people being evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah older than this.

For those of you that say that this land belonged to the Jewish people and it's their right to return, ok. It also belonged to the Muslims and the Christians. Our history is shared and our religions are communal. We all believe in Jesus and Moses and Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him). The Quran’s second chapter speaks of how Moses fought to bring peace and the word of God to their people, to free them from enslavement and torture.

This land and especially the Mosque of Al-Aqsa should never have violence shed upon or around it. It’s a disgrace and it’s a disrespect to everything our religions tell us.

I’m shaking while writing this because I don’t know how else to say this, I don’t understand. The Holocaust taught the world of the treacherous nature that truly lives in the minds of our neighbours and our peoples. It taught us that fear is bred and nurtured into hatred. It taught us that there are some crimes and actions to abhorrent to allow into our existence.

Before anyone has the thought, but you’re not taking into account the other side. Oh, I am. I am taking into account the incumbent and deep-seated propaganda by the Israeli government that has shaped the view of their citizens into believing that Palestinian children are dangerous killers waiting for their opportunity to pounce. I understand the power of words and we saw it in the Holocaust and we saw it in Rwanda. We are seeing it today, right now.

Its clear that so many didn't learn from history, and if they did, they learned from the villains.

For all of the Trump lovers out there, your fake news is exactly this. You can twist a story to fit your narrative and you can change a headline, as most news outlets are doing, to create shared blame.

The difference here is that the people in Gaza have nothing to fight back with. The people in Sheikh Jarrah have nowhere else to go. The land so delicately chosen for them by Zionists is being taken from their hands and they have nothing left. To be praying and fasting, and to have been attacked at your most vulnerable state is nothing less than cowardly and disgusting.

And yet, seeing what is happening today in Palestine, and I do mean it when I say Palestine, horrifies me to no end.

Ramadan is a time where we Muslims believe that there is no devil surrounding us and causing us temptation and ill will on others. So if that’s true, the devil isn’t to blame for what’s happening.

Some say the devil comes in many faces and forms, but for it to be the people that experienced the same suffering and hardship not 100 years ago, is mind-boggling to me. Trauma can act out in many ways but it is not an excuse for what is happening now.

The trauma the Palestinian committee has experienced and the continued relinquishing of their rights and the lack of support from their fellow Arab nations during this time is nothing less than despicable. The USA’s constant funding and support for not only the IDF but the birth of the settler-colonial ideology along with the UK need to be stopped. Action needs to be taken and unfortunately, as laymen, we can’t do much in the way of sending help on our own. What we can do is change the system.

For those of you in the USA, if you can vote, do it. Biden and Harris have made a lot of promises about bettering relations and promoting human rights, but have said nothing about Palestine. The government is complicit with the genocide. They are funding a mass murder and extinction of a people.

The International Criminal Court has declared these acts war crimes. The irony is not lost because Israel is a state that has signed and ratified conventions to be able to try international criminals in their own courts. What do you do when your own people and your own government are the criminals? Without going into detail about what war crimes are, you need to know that genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, and the targeting of civilian populations are all warranted international crimes capable of being heard and tried in international humanitarian law.

All of the organizations and multi-national corporations that are profiting off of the system, including HP, Sodastream, Puma, and my once favorite, Ben and Jerry’s, need to be held accountable for their procurement of resources and funding the regime. Ben and Jerry’s specifically has an ethical incentive for prisoner rehabilitation and supports movements towards human rights in the USA. So why does it stop there? What of the people they are stealing water from? What of the children that can’t go to school? What of the children that are literally imprisoned by the forces that protect their precious water supply for the oh-so-tasty ice cream?

These companies are so quick to call attention to what they do well but neglect to mention how they are complicit in the crimes against so many.

If you need any more of a reason to stop supporting these companies, you need to re-evaluate your values.

There is no end to this post and there won’t be until the Palestinian people are recognized as people. Not just obstacles for the total dissolution of their land and history, but as humans with rights and culture and beliefs, this will never end.

If we are so intent on recognizing the rights of our indigenous communities and abolishing and remedying the trauma of settler-colonialism, why is this still happening today?

Free Palestine.

Links to Learn:

UN blacklists 112 companies with ties to illegal Israel West Bank settlements – Middle East Monitor

Naming companies profiting from Israel’s occupation boosts Palestinians in this asymmetric struggle – Middle East Monitor

ICC opens 'war crimes' investigation in West Bank and Gaza - BBC News

Everything you need to know about human rights in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories | Amnesty International | Amnesty International

What you need to know about the bombings in Gaza | American Friends Service Committee (afsc.org)

Links to Support:

Campaigns | BDS Movement

Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority (canadainternational.gc.ca)

Canadian policy on key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (international.gc.ca)

How to help – Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (pchrgaza.org)