Why Language Matters
Let's reassess the news we read together!
For further reading, I’d recommend reading Amnesty’s report on Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. What happened on October 7th was not a sudden event, it was decades of oppression in the making. Palestine is not a strong country deciding to suddenly wage war on Israel. This did not happen in a vacuum.
And for further clarity because this is the internet and people get heated:
When we talk about freeing Palestine, we do not call for the erasure of all Jews. In fact, many Jewish people support Palestinian freedom. Israel would have us believe that if Palestinians are free, all Jews must be eradicated. It is a way for them to incite fear so that they may hold onto power while crying anti-semitism.
Same as what happened in South Africa, when we talk about freeing Palestine, we talk about releasing them from the discrimination and oppression they face at the hands of Israel. When apartheid in South Africa finally ended, the Black South Africans did not revolt and murder all the white people who oppressed them. Not every Palestinian is Hamas in the same way that not every white person is a white supremacist or every Jewish person is a Zionist.
We are demanding Palestinians be freed from apartheid and the oppression they have faced for decades, far beyond just the atrocities that have happened in the past month.
Yes, atrocities have been committed by Hamas, and 1,400 Israeli lives were lost in the attack on Oct 7th. Yes, hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza. But let me ask you, does dropping 12,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, murdering over 8,000 people (mostly civilians) sound like the Israeli government care about the wellbeing of the Israeli hostages who may already be among the 8,000 murdered?
The 12,000 tons of explosives and white phosphorous gas being pummeled into the small area of Gaza cannot tell the difference between civilian, Hamas or Israeli. When illegal white phosphorous gas burns to the bone (because it is so lethal it eats through human flesh), it does not care whether it is burning a child, a member of Hamas or an Israeli hostage.
Everyone is a target and the Israeli government does not care. They simply want to level Gaza to the ground and cleanse the world of these “children of darkness” and establish dominance.
In fact, Israeli forces are now getting the okay to use live fire on their own people protesting for a ceasefire inside Israel itself. They will hold onto power by any means necessary, even if it means killing and risking Israelis themselves.
You might ask yourself, “If they want to be free, why not try more nonviolent tactics? Violence is not the answer.” To answer this, I direct you to this article: Palestine’s History of Nonviolence. Palestine has a long history of nonviolent resistance towards the Israeli occupation, the only problem is, it hasn’t worked. Each time it’s met with a violent response from Israel. From the article:
Nonviolent resistance, like armed resistance, is a tactic or tool primarily used to draw attention to a cause. The difference between the two is, of course, more important than the similarities. While armed resistance is likely to draw more attention to a cause by grabbing headlines, it’s also likely to bring with it plenty of negative attention. Nonviolent resistance is far less likely to make it into the international news, though when it does get coverage, it’s usually overwhelmingly positive. But a strategy of nonviolence only works if the world is paying attention and rewarding nonviolence with meaningful action.
I know this post will probably be labeled as controversial. I know I’ll probably get a lot of hate comments and lose followers over this but I have to use my platform in any way I can to see if I can educate however many people I can and sway some minds.
Join a protest.
Pressure our leaders.
FREE PALESTINE.
FREE PALESTINE.
FREE PALESTINE.
Thank you.
Thank you. Clear and informative