The Palestinian cause did not begin on October 7, and no one should feel ashamed of resisting occupation. The day the world heard our voices should not be a source of shame. In fact, it was one of the greatest days of our lifetime.
I have spent my entire life witnessing the Israeli army murder people while we are forced to accept it. Growing up, I remember asking my father why his toenails grew sideways. He would smile and explain that it was due to the torture he endured in Israeli prisons, where his toenails were pulled out with pliers. His crime was simply being at home and refusing to flee.
Life in the West Bank consists of seven concentration camps, which we call cities. Israel controls every road leading to and from these cities. Sometimes, a teenage Zionist soldier can block an entire city just because he is having a bad day. I lived through the Second Intifada and experienced bombings and tank invasions. I survived a tank trying to run me over when I was nine and again when I was eleven by a military jeep. Despite this, we are forced to accept them, a mentality reinforced by the Zionist Palestinian government, which normalizes this fascist regime.
Connected by highways used by both Palestinians and Israelis. These roads are death traps, where many Palestinians die for taking the wrong lane or exit. However, if a colonizer enters a Palestinian village or city, the Palestinian Zionist authorities rush to rescue him and return him to his colony or the nearest military base.
Along these highways and at every road’s end, there are military checkpoints controlled by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). They can search your car, person, phone, and anything else they choose. If they find anything they dislike, they can arrest you without reason under administrative detention, where many people spend years without any charges. Some people are even executed for minor mistakes. This is why these are not cities but concentration camps, and this is just a small introduction to the situation in the West Bank.
As for Gaza, it has been under siege for the past 17 years, with Israel controlling every import, export, and movement of people. The existence of the resistance there is a miracle, and its strength is outstanding. Hamas, as the government of Gaza, has been working hard to build Gaza before the ethnic cleansing we see today. Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, in what we call in Palestine the great cleansing, where the Zionist Palestinian Authority was expelled, and Gaza was liberated. Due to that great day, we witness a strong resistance today.
Now, as the masks have fallen, the double standards, the Zionist lobbying, and control of almost every country are evident. We, as Palestinians, are being killed, starved to death, tortured to death, and subjected to every terrible form of death. Internationally forbidden weapons are used daily, human rights laws are broken, and yet there is no real international reaction. Over a hundred Palestinian women were raped with real evidence, yet the media does not condemn it. Now, after almost every place in the Gaza Strip has been destroyed, we watch as the last habitable area is being wiped out. They say they ordered people to evacuate, but to where? They are being forcibly evicted with bombs and tanks to Khan Younis, where most houses are uninhabitable, with no hospitals or stores.
Today, on May 8, 2024, we ask ourselves what we can do:
1. Boycott: Boycott everything you can, as much as you can, and forever. This is not just during this genocide; it is a necessity. Boycott every product and person who does not boycott.
2. Be our voice: We are being silenced, restricted, expelled from universities, and banned from entering countries. Be our voice. Share and speak out. This is not a trend; it is our reality for the past 75 years and now yours too, as the world system that failed us will not hesitate to fail you too.
3. Get informed: For 75 years, Zionists have fabricated history and spread false narratives. We must differentiate between Zionism and Judaism. Judaism is a religion, not a race, while Zionism is a fascist ideology. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam can coexist in Palestine, but Zionism, which promotes the idea of a superior race, has no place in this world.
4. Reject Zionism: Identify and reject Zionists. Jews believe in Palestine; Zionists believe in Israel. Use your power to remove any leader or person who supports the “Israel” narrative. Israel is not a state; it is a colony and should be referred to as such. Not an apartheid state, just a colony.
In conclusion, the simplest form of the equation is Palestine. Not a two-state solution, not the West Bank and Gaza, not Israel. It is just Palestine. From the river to the sea.
- M. Alhaq
