Palestine and Human Rights
This Monday, I and other Muslims across the globe celebrated Eid al-Fitr. After spending a month fasting and focusing on my faith, the holiday was greatly welcome. The last few Eids have been especially tough with the pandemic, but this Eid I had the chance to see more people and feel that sense of community that I have been missing. At the same time though, I spent a lot of time this Ramadan reflecting on the privileges that I have when it comes to practicing my faith.
Throughout Ramadan, I saw news of the situation in Jerusalem with the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims. The raids committed by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian and other Muslim worshipers in Al-Aqsa are not a new phenomenon, they occur every Ramadan and are usually followed by the bombing of Gaza by the Israeli military. Hundreds end up injured and arrested in these raids. Last year the bombing of Gaza lead to at least 260 deaths. While I spent this Eid celebrating, others spent it mourning, both their families and their freedom.
(For more on what occurred at Al-Aqsa this April check out this article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/15/israeli-forces-raid-al-aqsa-mosque-over-50-palestinians-injured
For more on the aftermath of last year's bombing of Gaza check out this article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/31/palestine-gaza-young-victims-israel-bombardment-may )
The history of Palestine is complicated and conversations around it are often politically charged, riddled with bias, and misinformed. I can’t get into all of it in this one blog post, but I think it’s important to analyze Palestinian history and the conflict between Israel and Palestine with the framework of settler colonialism. When you look at Israel as a colonial power, the atrocities and war crimes being committed against Palestinians become clearer, and Palestinian resistance can also be analyzed in a new light.
The issue of Palestine is also a housing issue since Palestinians living in Israel are systematically and forcefully being removed from their homes. There are over 5 million Palestinian refugees globally according to some estimates. Palestinians living in Israel and occupied Palestine are treated as second-class citizens, a practice known as apartheid. An example of this can be seen in COVID-19 vaccination rates. Back in 2021, it was reported that those in Israel were 60 times more likely to be vaccinated than those in Palestine. As an occupying power, it’s Israel’s duty to vaccinate Palestinians, but they continue to be neglected.
I encourage you to do your own research and to look for sources outside of mainstream US media since the US government’s connections with the Israeli military impact the sorts of reporting and language used when it comes to talking about Palestine and the oppression of the Palestinian people.
As a member of the Muslim community, the narrative around Palestine that I was taught is different from the one most Americans may hear on the news. Although the occupation of Palestine is not an issue of religion, many members of the Muslim community have long fought for justice in Palestine because of the overlap between the Muslim and Palestinian communities. In recent years I’ve seen a shift in the general public when it comes to the language used when talking about Palestine as well as increased support for Palestinian resistance and more criticism of the Israeli government and its actions against Palestinians. I’m hopeful to see this progress continue and want to end this post with some extra resources on the subject as well as ways for people to support Palestine.
On the history of Palestine: https://decolonizepalestine.com/reading-list/
Other sources to look at that connect specifically to what I wrote about here:
https://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees
https://www.msf.org/stark-inequality-covid-19-vaccination-between-israel-and-palestine
Social Media accounts to follow:
Instagram:
@ampalestine
@letstalkpalestine
@jewishvoiceforpeace
@muslim
@muslimnews
@sjp.uiuc (our local Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, I would especially encourage you to follow them to stay updated on what’s going on in our community.
The BDS Movement
Stands for Boycott, Divest, Sanctions
This link provides a list of the main companies to boycott since they profit off of the oppression of Palestinian people and often work on stolen land.
https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott
I couldn’t cover everything I wanted to in this post, so if you have any questions or want me to clarify anything, feel free to reach out and ask me.
I think it's really significant the ways that you highlight how the occupation of Palestine is an issue on many axes, including housing. It impacts all areas of life for the people experiencing it. Attacking access to housing, religious observance, and public health (through COVID-19 vaccinations) are three very different wants of oppressing a population and they combine to have an even more detrimental impact than any of them alone as you illustrate. You have a really clear and detailed approach to this issue, and I'm looking forward to reading some more of the sources that you provided.
ReplyDelete