REVEAL, RESPOND , REFLECT

WRITTEN BY AMIRA MUTHALIP

PHOTO PROVIDED BY 22 WEST

REVEAL:

In the years 1936 to 1939, the British began its colonialism of Palestine and mass immigration of European Jews. When the Palestinians launched a general strike of withholding tax payments and boycotting against Jewish products, they were brutally repressed by the British who launched arrest campaigns and carried out home demolitions, a practice that Israel continues to implement against Palestinians to this day.

In 1947, the Israel state was established through the Partition Plan, adopted by the United Nations. In the process of dividing the land of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, 750,000 Palestinian natives were displaced and forced to relocate to other regions and even neighboring countries never able to return to their home soil again. This ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people is known as Nakba, catastrophe. The years following Nakba led to an increase of Jewish settlers, reducing Palestinian land to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, both under Israeli military occupation. For years to come, Palestinians fought back the Israelis in movements known as the Intifada, the Palestinian uprising.

When looking at Palestinian resistance versus Israeli constant attacks, I think a clear nefariousness is seen from the Israelis as they continue to assert their dominance on land that they have no right over. To this day, Israel continues to launch military assaults on Palestinian people, yet it is only when Hamas, a political group from Palestine, retaliates strongly enough, that the whole world finally opens its eyes to see the catastrophes of Israel’s unethical occupation of Palestinian, more commonly depicted as the Israel-Palestine “conflict”.

RESPOND:

No one can condemn any side for taking away the innocent lives of children, men, women, hospital workers, etc. however, the reason and extent to which each of them is going should be observed. After the Hamas attack, the retaliation from Israel has been non-stop under the guise of “defending” themselves. Food, electricity, and fuel cuts, demolishing of hospitals and homes through airstrikes, and forceful evacuation of the people are all attacks of the Israeli government on the Palestinians. Big media companies in the West tend to air news from Israeli land, disconnecting the world from seeing the suffrage of the Palestinian people. Millions of people across the world gather in protests and rallies to speak out against the injustice on the Palestinians, as well as on the hypocritical governments who support and fund the genocide of a population. Participating in protests, rallies, boycotts, etc. are all routes to raising awareness of the silenced voices of the Palestinian people and making humanity open its eyes, ears, and arms to each other.

A university student expresses where she gets the strength to talk about the Palestinian people. She says, “The Palestinian people itself inspire and motivate me to have faith and be selfless. Hearing them proclaim their trust in God reminds me to stay persistent in my prayers and increase my voice in protests and rallies!”.

This is not just a fight for Palestinians around the world, rather it’s one for Muslims who see their brothers’ and sisters’ steadfast faith despite facing the biggest hardships. It’s for the Arabs who watch their neighboring nation in shambles and flames, Americans who witness their government funding such wickedness, and humanity whose eyes cant bear to see anymore of the pain and torture of the people of Palestine. Trauma from occupation and displacement has been the reality of the Palestinians for years now, and speaking out for them should not feel like a burden.

We must learn from the selfless, brave, and true doctors, nurses, journalists in Palestine, to put humanity first, resisting and sacrificing the comfort of our lives for someone else’s. Matters like these don’t only take place in the Middle East; the results of poverty, inequality, and war are faced all around the world, and each of them deserves a voice. While it is rewarding to see a change for one cause, we mustn’t forget about all the others. We must view each of these causes as our own and continue to ignite the fires in our hearts to demand for every child, mother, father, and individual to live a life they deserve.