Palestine: Have the People Not Suffered Enough?

The events in ‘Israel’ and Palestine unfolded over a week ago, and since then the media has been in an uproar. With a clear division emerging between those supporting ‘Israel’’s genocide of the Palestinian Muslims and those who are calling them out for their breaches of international law. The people on who are supporting the Palestinians aren’t only Muslims – they are from every part of the world, including the anti-Zionist Jews, who firmly state that to be anti-Zionist (anti –Israel) is not the same as being anti-Semitic.

But despite this, despite the clear evidence that the people of Gaza are being held captive and massacred, the people who support Palestine are finding themselves in a position where they have to continuously defend their stance, against those who aren’t willing to accept that ‘Israel’ is at fault. And that is a problem that has resulted from the international acceptance of ‘Israel’.

The verbal war between the supporters of Palestine vs the supporters of ‘Israel’.

When the Pro-Palestinians discuss their stance they are met with statements like;

- Will you condemn Hamas?

- Why is ‘Israel’ not justified? What do you think would be a proportionate response to Hamas’s attack?

- ‘It’s complicated’ so we can’t condemn ‘Israel’ for their actions

The Pro-‘Israeli’ factions are trying to ignore the context of the situation, hypocritically reminding us of the Holocaust while keeping the Palestinian people on the Gaza Strip - a place that humanitarian organisations refer to as the ‘largest open air prison’ and activist on social media have taken to calling a ‘concentration camp / extermination camp’. Despite this, the Jewish entity still claims to be justified in its actions.

But the media war that is currently taking place is to be expected – ‘Israel’ has been supported in its atrocities for the last 75 years; with the international community shielding them from any reprimand.

These arguments, this blatant unwillingness to accept that Israel has done anything wrong, is a reflection of all of this. And while it was shielded from us in the past, with the media ensuring that we only saw what the rulers across the world wanted us to see, we can clearly see what is going on in the world today thanks to the primary source evidence that is being provided in real time.

‘Israel’ has made statements which blatantly show us that this is not a case of Israel vs Hamas. These attacks are a result of Israel’s hatred towards the Palestinians, and a desire to annex the entirety of the Palestinian land.
Was this a surprise?

No, the ‘Israeli’ people have made it clear since their founding in 1948 that their plan is to ensure that ‘Israel’ takes control over the entire area.

And just recently, in September, the Jewish entity’s Prime Minister Nethanyahu, stood in front of the UN and displayed two maps, which did not show Gaza or the Palestinian territories. In fact, both maps of the Middle East with ‘Israel’ highlighted in blue and showed the occupied Palestinian territories – the West Bank and Gaza

– as well as Syria’s occupied Golan Heights as being part of ‘Israel’.

But somehow this didn’t illicit a reaction from the international community.

The entire International Community is aiding ‘Israel’

The events that have unfolded since the attacks began show us that the world isn’t just staying quiet, it’s actively supporting ‘Israel’s genocide.

“Instagram and Facebook are actively blocking posts about the factual history of Israel/Palestine, sometimes cloaking it as ‘technical difficulty,’” the Hampton Institute, a think tank, said Sunday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

When the politicians are questioned about the children in Gaza who are being killed, they simply say that “Israel is at war’ and ‘it has a right to defend itself. This right apparently extends to clear violations of the international laws that they are so proud of.

Though, this isn’t a surprise – they are all known to have violated international laws in the past. They are doing it now, as countries across the world- including the ones that border the Palestinian land- have found ways to suppress people’s right to protest by squashing the Pro-Palestinian protests and arresting those who speak in against ‘Israel’s acts of terror.

In other cases, the rulers said they didn’t support Israel and made weak statements in support of Palestine and their rights, calling for a ‘ceasefire’ and a ‘two state solution’ despite the fact that Israel has made it abundantly clear that it wants neither.

The UAE released a statement during the initial days saying that the Israel war on Gaza would not affect any economic agreements.

And both Egypt and Jordan have refused to allow any Palestinian refugees into their borders, with Egypt actively halting the Palestinians by constructing high cement barriers at the Rafah land crossing-borders’ gate from the Egyptian side. This is despite the fact that Rafah is the sole possible crossing point into Sinai for Gaza's 2.3 million residents. The rest of the densely populated strip is surrounded by the sea, and by Israel, which has announced a total siege of Gaza and could launch a ground offensive.

And while Saudi Arabia released a statement saying that they are halting the diplomatic talks with Israel, they ‘are known to quietly do business deals with Israel.’

Previously agreeing to a business deal due to the incentive of a “new strategic alliance with America.”

“The two countries have a security relationship, but the kingdom wants a more formal defence pact, not least because Iran’s intensifying nuclear programme means it is on the threshold of having nuclear weapons, upending the region’s security balance.....In his tv interview the prince did not, however, mention the Arab Peace Initiative, a plan endorsed in 2002 by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. That envisaged relations with Israel only after an Israeli retreat from all the territories it captured in the 1967 six-day war, including East Jerusalem, and the establishment of a Palestinian state. Instead, the crown prince made vague promises of a deal that would give the Palestinians “their needs” and ensure “a good life” for them. All sides paint a picture of a new Middle East where economic opportunity transcends old hatreds.” (Source: The Economist)

The point is – in one way or another – the international community has shown that they have double standards, and are willing to enable a situation in which the massacre of innocent civilians is taking place.

The current situation is not by any means an isolated incident

By focusing people on the Hamas attack, the media and the rulers are rewriting history and blatantly ignoring the events that led to this situation.

They are blatantly ignoring the fact that

- The Nakba has taken place more than once in the past and each time the rulers across the world have allowed it to happen.

- ‘Israel’ has illegally occupied Palestinian territory – this is acknowledged by the UN, who have designated Israel as as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip.

- ‘Israel’ has continually found ways to oppress and harass the Palestinians – including the attack they carried out against the people in Jenin this year, forcing them out of their homes and allowing ‘Israeli’ citizens to live there instead.

- Each year approximately 500-700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12 years old, are detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system. The most common charge is stone throwing. (Source)

They are also ignoring the conditions in which the people of Gaza are forced to live in – even before this latest series of horrific attacks;

- The citizens within Gaza live in extreme poverty.

- There were 2 million people living on a 365 square km piece of land.

- Most of the inhabitants are children.

- Egypt and ‘Israel’ largely closed their borders with it in 2006–07, restricting the movement of goods and people into and out of the territory.

- The Palestinians are subjected to Israeli and Egyptian border controls, meaning that they aren’t allowed to leave the area without permission.

- ‘Israel’ maintains a heavy security presence around Gaza’s land and sea perimeters.

- ‘Israel’ has a fence around Gaza, which is 37 mile (60km) long fence consists of an underground concrete barrier, barbed wire, intrusion detection equipment and watchtowers.

- ‘Israel’ uses live fire to keep anyone from entering buffer zones near these boundaries, which further reduces local control over the territory.

- Gaza has one power plant with capacity to generate just 16% of Gaza’s electricity demand (2022), the enclave is reliant on Israel to fill the deficit.

(Source: Freedom house report)

And since the invasion, the people are trapped inside this walled compound.

And ‘Israel’ announced a complete siege of the area, stating that no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel” would be allowed in. This is a clear example of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and a violation of international law, and yet it has happened.

Now, on the news, the ‘Israeli’ politicians have come to interviews trying to portray themselves as anything but an evil aggressor. They have made statements in front of the international media, stating that they have allowed the people of Gaza to leave. They are trying to put across an image – Look, we are being completely fair, we gave the people of Gaza warning, dropped letters, told them to take the road to the border and leave.

But when questioned on how the people of Gaza can leave when they are stuck behind a concrete wall, with no way out, they have no answer.

And their actions show us what is truly in their hearts

- They bombed UNRWA food centers in Gaza

- They sealed the border crossings and refuse to allow humanitarian aid into the area

- After releasing a statement, urging people to leave the North of Gaza, they bombed them as the people of Gaza used the roads to move towards the South.

- They attacked journalists in and out of Gaza, killing some in the process.

In the first week of the attacks, Israel dropped the equivalent to a ‘quarter of a nuclear bomb’ according to the Human Rights monitor. And they used white phosphorus bombs on the Palestinians – another violation of international law.

“Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering, Upon contact, white phosphorus can burn people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone as it is highly soluble in fat and therefore in human flesh. White phosphorus fragments can exacerbate wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure. Already dressed wounds can reignite when dressings are removed and the wounds are re-exposed to oxygen. Even relatively minor burns are often fatal. For survivors, extensive scarring tightens muscle tissue and creates physical disabilities. The trauma of the attack, the painful treatment that follows, and appearance-changing scars lead to psychological harm and social exclusion.”
(Source: HRW)

The international response has made their stance on the situation clear. They support ‘Israel’s claim over the land of Palestine, and they will continue to do so, no matter the atrocities that the Zionist state commits.

It’s also clear that the reason that Israel took these steps was to annex the Palestinian land, by pushing the Palestinian people out of the area in the process. It was the goal that the Zionists had when they founded the State of ‘Israel’. It is a goal that was silently showcased by Netanyahu in front the UN. And it is a goal that was reiterated by Gideon Sa’ar, the newly appointed minister in ‘Israel’s emergency cabinet, when he said that Gaza must be smaller by the end of the war because losing land is the price ‘Arabs understand’.

We need to remember this, as the attack on the Palestinians continue. We also need to remember this after Israel achieves its objective and expels the Palestinians from the land.

We need to remember that the international community allowed thousands of Palestinian men, women and children to be slaughtered.

We need to remember that this isn’t an isolated incident. That thousands of Palestinians were killed in and since the First Nakba, and the rest have been treated horrifically since then.

Nothing changed, nothing improved.

And it has all been possible because we live in a system where nation states have divided the Muslim Ummah, and allowed the colonialists to give Muslim land to the Zionists at the expense of Muslim life. That every country across the world – Muslim and non- Muslim- has rulers which use ideas like national security, international law, the right for a nation to have their own government. They use these ideas to oppress others when it benefits them – whether the benefit is in the form of land, oil, natural resources, trade deals and do on. And they use these ideas to suppress us when it benefits them. We cannot trust them. We cannot trust a system that can and is manipulated in this way.

They have given us enough proof for all of this. So isn’t it time for us to change the system and implement Islam?

[إِنَّمَا يَنْهَىٰكُمُ ٱللَّهُ عَنِ ٱلَّذِينَ قَٰتَلُوكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ وَأَخْرَجُوكُم مِّن دِيَٰرِكُمْ وَظَٰهَرُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ إِخْرَاجِكُمْ أَن تَوَلَّوْهُمْ ۚ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُمْ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلظَّٰلِمُونَ]

“Allah forbids your friendship with those who fight you because of your faith, and drive you from your homelands, or aid others to do so; and as for those who turn to them in friendship, they are truly wrongdoers.” [TMQ 60:9]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Fatima Musab
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir