Palestinians have been in a constant state of upheaval and tumult for three quarters of a century now. The Nakba was not just an event that ended in 1948, but one that has been an ongoing crisis, one that every decade only escalates into a greater calamity for every new generation of Palestinians. The Nakba did not start or end in 1948 but it is considered the beginning of the largest refugee crisis and loss of homeland the Palestinian people have endured. The origins of the Nakba were born out of the rise of Zionism as an ideology in late 19th-century Europe. Zionism is based on the belief that Jewish people deserve their own state, and the ideology shares a great deal in common with white supremacy and colonization – a model often used in ethnic cleansing campaigns and genocidal policies the USA used to commit genocide against indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.
Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 (upwards to 1,000,000,000) Palestinians from a 1.9 million population were made refugees beyond the borders of the new state, as stated on the BDS site listing “Ten Facts You Need to Know About the Palestinian Nakba.” Zionist forces had taken more than 78 percent of historic Palestine, ethnically cleansed and destroyed more than 530 cities, and killed roughly 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass horrendous atrocities, including more than 80 massacres. On May 15th, 1948, Israel came into statehood. It was a violent process that brought about the forced removal of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland to establish a Jewish-majority state via the Zionist movement. Even though May 15, 1948, became the official day for recognizing the Nakba, militarized Zionist groups launched the process of displacement of Palestinians far earlier than 1948. In fact, by May 15, more than half of the number of Palestinian refugees had already been violently removed and forced from their country.
Israel continues to oppress and dispossess Palestinians to this day, using systematic approaches, censorship, and more often than not, ultra-violence under the guise of security. The @jewishvoiceforpeace account that shows a statement by the people of Sheikh Jarrah says it all: Israel’s use of words–such as “proposal” and “protected tenants” and “compromise” and “generous deal”–make it seem like Palestinians are rejecting a fair offer. The reality is quite the opposite. Palestinians are fighting for their lives to stay on their homeland while Israel uses “law and order” (the court system) to justify violent white supremacy.
Furthermore, the recent “Iron Dome” bill passed through Congress is one example of ongoing U.S.-financed weapons development in Israel. The $1 billion allocated by this bill to fund Israel’s missile defense system may seem like a lot–and it is–but that fails to take into consideration the annual $3.3 billion of the U.S.’s Foreign Military Financing (FMF) Israel already receives from our government as part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016. The total amount of FMF received by Israel to date amounts to $146 billion (or $236 billion accounting for inflation). Until 2003, Israel received more military financing from the U.S. than all other countries combined.
While the reasons for the U.S.’s strategic investment in maintaining Israel’s militaristic superiority in the region exceeds the scope of this blog post, it’s imperative to debunk the justification for foreign weapon subsidizing in the name of “defense.” While it is true that the Iron Dome system is a defensive system designed to intercept and shoot down incoming rockets and drones, it remains an important tool for a violent and oppressive siege being waged against Palestinians. The casualties between Palestinians and Israelis, whether civilian or military, has never been comparable. The rocket-airstrike exchange during May of 2021 that resulted from Israeli police violence towards Islamic worshipers resulted in over 1,300 Palestinian injuries and 200 deaths compared to the 10 Israelis killed. While an increase in missile defense for Israel will result in less Israeli casualties, it comes at the extreme cost of emboldened aggression without fear of retaliation towards Palestinians.
Although the loss of any life through violent conflict should be considered atrocious and unnecessary, it would be both myopic and dehumanizing to consider the transfer of casualties from Israelis to Palestinians a more acceptable outcome, which is what the funding of defensive technology for only a single party in an armed conflict amounts to. Israel has been, and remains, dedicated to ethnic cleansing and the aggressor in a unidirectional war front that perniciously reduces the land and rights of the Palestinian people. Additional defensive technology for Israel does nothing to reduce their intent to harm Palestinians and only increases their means to do so.
Another major discrepancy in the narrative of the Palestinian-Israeli “conflict” is the constant misrepresentation of the continued systematic displacement of Palestinians in mainstream media. The demolition or confiscation of Palestinian buildings–many of them residential–by Israeli authorities is justified through bureaucratic means such as a lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to get for Palestinians. In some especially cruel cases, the Palestinian families are forced to demolish their own homes, for fear of incurring municipal demolition fees, and in some cases, prison time.
Brute violence against Palestinian lives furthers the ideological oppressive structure of colonization and white supremacy in the 21st century with little acknowledgement to end this senseless war in Palestine. As the U.S. government supports and enables Israel’s agenda to displace, ethnically cleanse, and terrorize Palestinians, it demonstrates how dispensable human lives are when resisting against imperialism and the welfare state. How can this be stopped? Where can we begin to amplify the voices of Palestinian struggles?
The collective movement to assist Palestinians in their resistance takes many forms of action to confront ideological oppression from Israel. BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) has been a predominant Palestinian-led movement previously highlighted in the September blog, The Struggles We Share. The BDS movement elicits real action from communities seeking to support Palestinians through active protest of policies, groups, and/or companies that perpetuate harm toward Palestine by depriving Israeli of financial backing and developing social accountability against the crimes and annexation of Palestinen land.
To further Palestine’s cause, there are several things you can do. Despite where you may reside geographically, the AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) suggests actionable forms of solidarity such as:
- push back when you hear the narrative that expansion of the Israeli state justifies violence against Palestinians
- join–or even organize–demonstrations and protests within your local and nearby communities
- pressure political parties by calling, writing, petitioning, and leveraging social media platforms to gain their attention
- read/listen to credible news sources to stay informed while simultaneously boosting Palestinian voices
- create accountability from businesses that may be indirectly/directly violating human rights and/or aiding Israel’s conflict with Palestine
- donate to organizations that fund relief efforts and advocacy services for Palestinians
Two more resources that provide more context about Palestine and Israel:
- Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine by Noura Erakat (2019)
- Righteous Transgressions: Women’s Activism on the Israeli and Palestinian Religious Right by Lihi Ben Shitrit (2016)
The Wobble 