What's happening in Palestine?
#FreePalestine
Disclaimer: I am in no way shape or form an expert on the topic, I write to give my view point and what I know. I urge you to do your own research as well. This article is a way to help you start.
If you are an avid consumer of media you will definitely not have missed the horrific images of what is was and is happening to the Palestinian people. You might even have heard of the protest in solidarity with Palestine that was happening in Groningen past Saturday.
You might be confused as to why all of this is happening and I am going to give you a short summary.
What most people call the Israeli - Palestine “conflict” is nothing new and did not start a few weeks ago. It has been an ongoing “conflict” since the establishment of Israel in 1948.The history of Israel and Palestine is a long one and I will not delve into it, I will however, tell you about what has been happening in the past weeks.
As mentioned before, the Israeli - Palestine conflict has been going on for years and every now and then there is a “flare-up” where there is more fighting and death than before. Maybe you remember something about the conflict from 2012, and maybe even in 2018, and now, from well… now.
The main cause for the conflict currently is the Israeli occupation of a the predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah (الشيخ جراح). The Israeli government allows Israeli citizens to forcefully take away the homes of thousands of Palestinians and render them homeless. This is what has been happening in Sheikh Jarrah; Israel’s attempt to take away the homes of Palestinians.
What would you do if you were being forced out of your home? I, for one, would fight back. The Palestinians decided to do this by peacefully protesting. Israel and Israelis did not like this. What happened? Well, a consequence of the protest was the attack of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Al-Aqsa is the 3rd most holy site for muslims and while muslims were praying, during the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli troops, fully armed with rubber bullets and tear gas, attacked the mosque. Again… While people were peacefully praying.
This obviously led to a lot of tension between Israel and Palestine, but of course, this is not the entire story, there is way too much to cover, and history and time plays a crucial role in the entire situation.
The main thing is now that Israel (one of the most powerful armies in the world) is attacking Palestine (which has little to no army).
--- Before I continue I do need to mention that Israel declared a ceasefire and “stopped” bombing Palestine. Thankfully. However that does not mean that the Palestinians are still not oppressed, attacked. They are still in apartheid, they are still living with only 6 hours of electricity per day, they are still being dragged out of the houses. ---
During the bombings, hundreds of people especially children lost their lives. Gaza which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with almost half its population being under the age of 14 was bombarded, attacked by the Israeli army and by Israeli citizens. How were these children meant to defend themselves?
I am no expert on the topic but I thought it right to share my viewpoint with you. I would highly recommend doing more research by researching the history of Israel and Palestine and why all of this is happening. I would also highly recommend you share informative posts with your peers and to donate and sign petitions to help the Palestinians that are currently getting displaced and killed.
Here are some sources to help you research:
Let’s Talk About the Israel-Palestine Conflict | The Daily Show:
Israeli settlements, explained | Settlements Part I:
Conflict in Israel and Palestine: Crash Course World History 223:
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