Genocide In Gaza
It has been close to a month since the Israeli forces started their pursuit of a genocide of the Palestinian people through countless bombings that have left thousands of people without families, homes, or any sense of refuge. As entire families are wiped out for the world to see, we continue to see the mass killings of people without relent or remorse. It is now on record that Israel has used 1.5 times the amount of bombs Gaza than that which was used on Hiroshima in World War II (Gouda&Yildiz). As we witness this horror, I can’t help but question our humanity as barbarism is allowed to prevail and leave countless buried underneath the rubble of Gaza. We cannot turn a blind eye to the countless murders of innocent civilians that take place on a daily basis that is being disguised as a war against Hamas. In fact, we must look at Palestine and see ourselves within the struggles of our Palestinian brothers and sisters. The allowance for Palestinian genocide is setting a precedent for what is to come in our future.
Do we begin with the 19th-century Zionist movement?
This movement was started in Europe with a vision to create a homeland for all Jewish people in Palestine. Arabs already inhabited the lands of Palestine so this was an immediate issue for the movement because how could this become the homeland for Jewish people when others already occupied the land?
The movement recognized this and began to identify that the only way to create a Jewish state was to eradicate Arabs from Palestine. In the words of the 19th- century Jewish writer Israel Zangwill, it was said that the Arab should “ fold their tents and silently steal away is their proverbial habit. Let them exemplify it now. We must gently persuade them to trek” (JSTOR). Throughout history, there has been no gentle persuasion used when occupying lands that have been preoccupied and this has has always been done through war and bloodshed.
From the beginning, the methods by which this was to be attained were through colonialism. The Balfour Declaration was a statement of British support for Palestine to be the national home for the Jewish people. Great Britain conquered land through violence without remorse for the occupants of the land they sought to take over ( Enyclopedia Brittanica). How could this movement be deemed an act of liberation when it called for the eradication and oppression of other people?
Before the Holocaust began, The Haavara Agreement was established in an effort to attract Jews to Palestine after Jewish organizations began to boycott German goods to undermine the Nazi regime. This agreement was made between Nazi Germany and the Zionists in an effort to support the migration of German Jews to Palestine by selling their assets in an effort to escape the growing oppression within Germany (Encyclopedia Judaica).
To be transparent the common denominator of all the support and agreements that The Zionists were able to gain through their movement has been built on the backs of anti-semitism. Great Britain and Germany have never held any interest in the well-being of the Jewish people. A mass immigration of the Jews to Palestine would nullify them of the very people they sought not to protect and felt no sense of responsibility for. Zionism provided a means for a lot of European imperialists to get Jews out of their country.
Should we consider The Resolution 181 ?
Under this resolution, Palestine was divided into two states, one Arabic and one Jewish. Between the years of 1922 and 1948 Palestine was under British rule following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire that occupied Palestine for over 400 years. On May 14, David Ben-Gurion declared and established the state of Israel. Subsequently, this day is also as the Nakba to Palestinians because it marked the expelling of over 75,000 Palestinians from their homes(Haddad,2022) . Zionist military forces destroyed villages in mass atrocities and massacres ultimately causing millions of Palestinians to become refugees in the Gaza Strip (United Nations).
Israel would go on to occupy and control 78% while enforcing military control over the 22% of Palestine by subjecting Palestinian people to the inhumanity of apartheid such as illegal seizures of land, wrongful imprisonments, unlawful killings, and many acts that deny them their basic human rights.
On an annual basis, Israel has demolished thousands of Palestinian homes subjecting thousands of Palestinians to forcible displacement which is a violation of international law. While Palestinians continue to be run out of their homes through acts of violence and oppression, Jewish communities continue to be illegally built on Palestinian land while the world turns a blind eye to the complete annihilation of a people.
Human Shields & Wars
On October 7th,2023 thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and massacred thousands of Israeli residences whilst launching thousands of rockets towards Israel. Simultaneously, an Israeli music festival called Nova Music Festival was happening. Hamas gunmen killed hundreds of people attending when they emptied rounds of ammunition, hand grenades, and mortar fire on the attending crowd. They went on to occupy and invade 10 Israeli towns, subjecting civilians to shootings, burnings, rapes, beheadings, and other acts of terrorism. After murdering over a thousand civilians, Hamas abducted 200 more (Picheta,2023). It has been said that this has been the most brutal attack on Jews since any one day of the Holocaust.
As a response to these acts of terrorism, Israel chose a military response and waged war on Hamas at the expense of Palestinian civilians. In a recent press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that a war had been started in an effort to “fight the enemies of terror itself (Hamas)”. Within this speech, there are many attempts to justify the killings of Palestinians and rationalize them as casualties that are a part of the process to save Isralian hostages that were taken by Hamas. He went so far as to say agreeing to a ceasefire so that humanitarian aid may be rendered to Palestinians or to support Palestinians evacuating is an act of surrender to the terrorism of Hamas (Hutcherson,2023).
According to the FBI , domestic terrorism can be defined as violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature (Terrorism, FBI).
By definition, there is no doubt that Hamas has committed acts of domestic terrorism that have caused the senseless slaughter of Israeli citizens. However, by this same definition, there should also be no doubt that Israel is engaging in acts of terrorism against the Palestinians and has been doing so long before now.
Hospitals, schools, and homes are being obliterated by the day in Gaza. Thousands of innocent Palestinians are being subjected to contaminated water, no electrical outlets, and no medical supplies, as they are being told to evacuate Gaza on foot without any access to transportation. The death toll of children continues to climb at catastrophic rates as Israel intensifies airstrikes so much so that Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children if they are not being left as orphans within this genocide.
Is this the only means necessary to save the hostages that have been abducted by Hamas?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to think so.
Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu was relieved of his duties and barred from cabinet meetings after suggesting that dropping a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was “ one of the possibilities” in the war against Hamas. Netanyahu maintained Eliyahu’s statements are “ detached from reality” because Israel is acting in accordance with international law to prevent harm to innocent people. As the world watches the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, it's safe to say that this is a lie. It is clear that there is no regard for Palestinian life as they are regarded as “human shields” that will just have to serve as collateral damage as the War against Hamas persists.
As we all witness the complete obliteration of Gaza and its people, we watch as world leaders lend support to Israel as they continue to wipe out innocents in the name of “defense”. History is being written by the second and it will tell the tale of those who turned a blind eye to the collective punishment of people who are also oppressed by the same terrorist group they are being persecuted for.
I want it to be clear that we all are bearing witness to Israel performing ethnic cleansing in an attempt to eradicate Palestinians. There is no justification for the systemic killings in Gaza and the response to defenseless people isn’t to stay silent as they are wiped from their lands. As Israel continues to inflict inescapable violence upon Palestinians, the international community must continue to spread the news of the horrors happening, hold our governments accountable to end all aid to Israel, and demand a ceasefire before it is too late. We must continue to share the stories, videos, and pictures of those in Gaza who are being cut off from communicating with the world. In these times that we face, silence in the face of injustice is complicity.
Sources
Ayyash, M. M. (2023, November 2). A genocide is under way in Palestine. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/11/2/a-genocide-is-under-way-in-palestine
Encyclopedia Judaica. (2008). Haavara . Haavara. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/haavara
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2023, October 26). Balfour Declaration. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Balfour-Declaration
FBI. (2016, May 3). Terrorism. FBI. https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism
Gouda, A., & Yildiz, H. |. (n.d.). Israel has dropped 18,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, 1.5 times more than bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Anadolu Ajansı. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-has-dropped-18-000-tons-of-bombs-on-gaza-15-times-more-than-bomb-dropped-on-hiroshima/3039805#
Haddad, M. (2022, May 15). Nakba Day: What happened in Palestine in 1948?. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/15/nakba-mapping-palestinian-villages-destroyed-by-israel-in-1948
Hutcherson , B. (2023, October 30). Israel-Hamas conflict: Timeline and key developments. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/timeline-surprise-rocket-attack-hamas-israel/story?id=103816006
On the origin, meaning, use and abuse of a phrase — JSTOR. (n.d.). https://www.jstor.org/stable/4283461
Rob Picheta, C. (2023, October 31). Shani Louk, 23-year-old kidnapped by Hamas from music festival, declared dead, Israel says. KCRA. https://www.kcra.com/amp/article/shani-louk-kidnapped-hamas-music-festival-dead-israel/45689619
United Nations. (n.d.). About the nakba — question of Palestine. United Nations. https://www.un.org/unispal/about-the-nakba/
