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Palestine: the Hidden History
from Summer 2021
Palestine: The Hidden History by Rafaella Karadsheh
Over the course of a week, 200 Palestinians were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, in comparison to 10 Israelis killed by Hamas airstrikes, as reported by the Guardian. Considering Israel has been deploying some of the world’s most advanced defense technology to target civilians who have no access to bomb shelters (according to the BBC), it comes to no surprise that a the number of Palestinians killed in the span of three days is greater than the number of Israelis killed by rockets in the past 10 years.
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But I want to write this article to let you know that the violence and blatant violation of human rights that has occured isn’t an isolated incident. This is not ‘self defence’. This is a direct result of settler colonialism, a result of a nation whose policies constitute crimes of apartheid, according to the Human Rights Watch. Here is the (brief) history behind it all. I want to mention that my information is collected from peer reviewed papers, published academic books, and news websites (feel free to contact me if you’d like them). I also want to add that there is only so much history I can cover in this article, and media does not cover.
bibliography, is “an ongoing system of power that perpetuates the genocide and repression of indigenous peoples and cultures.” It’s also a system that “normalises the continuous settler occupation, exploiting lands and resources to which indigenous peoples have genealogical relationships.” Zionism refers to the “resumption of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.” It is worth noting that notable Zionist thinkers, including Ze’ev Jabotinsky, have acknowledged that Zionism is a colonial project, which would require physical force should Arabs refuse to accept Zionism. That being said, Zionism is NOT equivalent to Judaism -- not all Jews are Zionists. A number of Jewish organisations are actively calling for an end to the occupation of Palestine, such as Jewish Voice for Peace, and If Not Now.
In 1947, the United Nations recommended the partition of Palestine. While this was accepted by Zionist Jewish leaders, Palestinian Arab leaders and Arab states (reasonably) opposed this. This was expected by many Zionist leaders, as Vladimir Jabotinsky wrote, “It is utterly impossible to obtain the voluntary consent of the Palestine Arabs for converting "Palestine" from an Arab country into a country with a Jewish majority.”
An expulsion campaign began: Zionist militias violently overpowered Palestinians. Over 750,000 Palestinians were left displaced, and oughly 400-600 Palestinian villages destroyed and erased. This came to be referred to as Al Nakba (the Catastrophe in Arab), which is commemorated on May 15th this year.
The details of Al-Nakba are not easily accessible to the public, and violent actions, like the Deir Yassin Massacre, remain heavily censored. Some information about it can be found online, with an article published in Haaretz uncovered some details of the massacre. At least 107 Palestinian Arabs were killed by Zionist militas, many of whom were children. A former militant explained that the bodies of dead Palestinians were piled up and burned. “There began to be a stink,” he said.
Al-Nakba isn’t a thing of the past -- Palestinians continue to be subjected to extreme violence, and illegal settlements continue to force families out of their homes. In the past 73 years, Palestinians have continuously had their rights violated and taken away from them. Expansion of illegal settlements displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, leaving them stateless and unable to return to Palestine.
The separation wall built along the West Bank was declared a violation of human rights by the UN. Military checkpoints have become a daily ritual for millions of Palestinians, who are stopped and denied entry for basic needs like medical care and attending school. A UNICEF report found that over 7000 Palestinian children had been interrogated, detained, or imprisoned in the Israeli military justice system, between 2003 and 2013. These prisoners rarely receive substantial food for survival, thus placing a them with food. It is worth noting that an estimated 31% of Palestinians in the West Bank are unemployed, and 29.2% of Palestinians in Gaza are living below the poverty line.
Israel continues to restrict Palestinians’ access to basic necessities. Although you may be led to believe that Gaza is strictly controlled by Hamas, Israel exercises strict external control of the region. In other words, they control who and what goes in and out of the region: residents have restricted access to clean water, and emergency relief supplies to Gaza have been blocked by the Israeli government. Medical care is scarce, and a few days ago the city’s only COVID treatment and testing centre was bombed. It really isn’t Gaza an ‘open air prison’.
since the occupation of 1948 and 1967 on many fronts. Two civil uprisings occurred in the late 20th/early 21st century. Multiple civil liberation groups, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), many of Karl Marx. More recently, the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) gained popularity, which was used against the apartheid state of South Africa. While BDS was globally supported when used against the apartheid in South Africa, companies and individuals in Western countries following BDS against Israel were subjected to harsh criticism and government sanctions.
We spend our time at UCU talking about decolonisation, and how colonialism is a ‘thing of the past’, when in reality, it really isn’t. I’d even argue that decolonisation has been romanticised -- the violence and bloodshed that are needed to achieve liberation is rarely addressed. So remember when you’re looking at the violence emerging in Palestine, that the ‘two sides of the story’ and ‘complex history’ are used to deter you from the reality at hand: Palestine has been under occupation for several decades, and it’s deserve. As a third generation displaced Palestinian told me, “To me, liberation means I can go home.”
Dearest Campus,
As this academic year draws to a close, many of our soon-to-be graduates face an uncertain world. One thing that is to be certain is that the Boomerang will continue to put out editions, and next year this campus staple will be headed by Giulia, who will take over my position as Editor-in-chief. Hopefully next semester will see the return of Boomerang board members attempting to force our latest editions physically into the hands of students rushing to class, in a world in which human contact is no longer dangerous. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of this paper, and I would like to thank everyone who has been part of the Boomerang this year. I hope it continues long after we are forgotten.
For the last time, Yours always, Stanley Ward
