Real Perpetrators;Israel vs. Palestine
by Aidee Lopez
Who is in the right?
“From the land to the sea Palestine will be free”. A spine chilling message from the people of Palestine. A phrase dedicated to the struggle towards a unified Palestine. Even a coping mechanism for the people who only have a sliver of hope left.
“Hope?” You may ask, “Hope for what? Terrorism?” Hope for the return of their home, hope that Palestinian bloodlines won't be wiped away by Israel’s decades long colonialism, hope that they might be identifiable when they die from bombings.
Israeli zionists speak of “regaining their land”, but what is theirs? What part of Palestine is theirs to claim? Judaism believes that the Jewish people are “landless” people–in what sense do they have authority to take over land? Does a piece of paper granted by colonial powers in 1948–give the people of Israel “right” to act like colonial powers themselves?
In what world do we fail to recognize the injustice of the current and unprecedented times in the Middle East? This one apparently.
Open Air Prison
Gaza [Pronounced Gaa-za] was once a mecca for the Palestinian people. Now, only rubble and ruins leave a mark on the map. A 25 mile strip of land that crams in an estimated 2.2 million people - most of whom are women and children- is roughly the same size as Detroit MI with twice as many people.
Over the years, the borders separating Gaza and Israel have been pushing closer and closer to the Gaza-Egypt border. The borders closing in on each other are essentially sandwiching civilians in Gaza with nowhere to go.
Apartheid, a term we most see when referring to South Africa between the 1940’s to 1990’s, has now been adapted and used to separate the Palestinian people from the Israeli. Many refer to Gaza as an “open-air prison”, leaving residents with no control over their lives, no say in where they can go, and with no escape.
The people of Gaza are prohibited from traveling. They don’t have their own electricity, water supply, and fuel–it’s all controlled by Israel. Although the children of Gaza are allowed to attend school, it is a grim sighting when a shrine replaces a classmate. The children, who are the essence of innocence in every society, hear explosions instead of birds in the morning. They hear the deafening screams of people who are brutally beaten or minutes away from death underneath the rubble. They hear the sirens that alert them of an air strike. A sound no child should hear, a sight no child should see.
These children have seen death with their own eyes. They can recognize death and even come to accept that it will happen much sooner than expected. Diplomat Loureen Savej, a representative for Palestine at the UN says, “Today our children are writing their names on their palms in order to be recognized once the bombs hit their homes.” A desolate insight to the reality of Gazan children.
But who’s at fault right? The Israeli forces dehumanize the people of Gaza, calling upon death to all Palestinians. They spit at and condemn children, they tear the clothes off of women, brutally beat those who are not fast enough to run. The cruelest of conditions all reside in Israeli controlled Palestine.
Changing Narrative
The claims of condemnation and blasphemy are all we’ve heard in western media since the “beginning” of the Israel v Palestine conflict on October 7th of this year. Repeating phrases, “Hamas, the root of evil!”, “We must protect Israel!”, “They're killing children in Israel!”, “Israel is being bombarded!” and much more. Yet, the same claims being made are happening in real time to the people of Gaza. Israel ambassador, Gilad Erdan, who’s said that the Gaza attacks on Israel were war crimes, and that the events happening as of right now are “Israel’s 9/11”, brought by Hamas who is a “sadistic evil” as he put it, also views Israel's own retaliation as simply defending its sovereignty and the free world, denouncing the “false immoral comparison between savage terror groups that target innocents” ceases to realize that his speech would mostly resonate with the people of Gaza. Ironic.
He, much like the majority of the Israeli population, believe that what is happening to the people of Gaza is undeniably “their own doing”. Gilad Erdan goes as far as calling Palestinians “sub-humans”, expressing his belief that they are below animals, and below life itself in the same press conference.
It isn't hard to see the hypocrisy in the Israeli government's narrative. The Israeli government says that Hamas is killing hundreds of their children. They believe that Palestinians are scum and deceivers, even going as far as releasing their own cartoon propaganda. They say that Palestininas are enacting genocide on the people of Israel. They say that in supporting Palestine, people are guilty of anti semitism.
It’s as if history is repeating itself.
Don't we all know of a nation who tried to take over a whole continent in an effort to perform ethnic cleansing? In an effort to “purify” mankind? Didn’t they use media and propaganda to catapult a Pro-Aryan race narrative? Didn’t they violate countless human rights laws? Commit innumerable war crimes?
But what is happening in Israel now? Aren't they spreading misinformation on the death tolls between Israel and Palestine, skewing the number of deaths reported to make Israel seem like the victim in this war? Hasn’t Israel violated enough international humanitarian laws? Isn't collective punishment against humanitarian law strictly prohibited according to the Geneva Conventions (A series of humanitarian laws that went into effect after WWII)? If the Israeli government is solely going against Hamas, then why have they been targeting the densely filled civilian areas?
Not too long ago, an American warhead -an MK-84 to be precise - struck AL-Ahli Hospital, one of the only safe havens left for Gazans. Reports have said that the hospital was so cramped, people were camping outside in its courtyard. Hundreds of displaced people. Now dead and dismembered, unidentifiable. Then a few days before this incident, Israel bombed the so-called, “Safe” evacuation routes for Palestinian evacuation from Northern Gaza into Southern Gaza.
It has been a back and forth ordeal for who is actually responsible for the bombings of both locations, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathasn Conricus denying its possibility and instead blaming Hamas for the attack. But regardless, these people are all dead now. British-Palestinian Dr. Gassan Obsitta stated at a press conference that “In the evening…we heard a missile screech followed by a huge explosion…as I moved towards the emergency department, we could see bodies of children piled up, both dead, not moving. There were several who had been amputated…There were body parts everywhere and bodies piled up in the courtyard of the hospital…”
The UN has turned a blind eye to the atrocities being committed by the Israeli government.
We believe in justice for all, equality for all, peace for all, freedom for all, yet fail to recognize its much needed presence in the Middle East. We remain cautious of speaking out against Israeli brutality. There is no war if who you are fighting can only fight with rocks.