Palestine and Israel: 2023
In May 2021, I wrote about the Palestine and Israel crisis. Now, the issue has re-emerged in the eyes of the West, so it's time to discuss what I think.
The issue kicked off for the Western countries when it was announced that Hamas had ordered an attack on Israel, with the newspapers reporting today of 600 Israeli casualties. Without skipping a beat, the UK and US have condemned Hamas' actions and stood with Israel.
I am vehemently pro-Palestine - the country that has been oppressed and colonised by Israel, not even recognised as a country by the UK and many other states. Some people who support Palestine have condemned Hamas' actions and even decided to support Israel in the wake of the attack. Israel has launched damning counter-attacks on Palestine.
Killing innocent civilians is always wrong. Israel and Palestine have been in a state of war for decades, so I am not shocked to hear of casualties on either side. In addition, as the oppressed nation, Palestine is fighting back to defend against Israeli occupation. In war, the usual rules of peace never apply, so why would this conflict, steeped with deep religious and political tensions, be any different?
The thing is, I hope Palestine will win and continue to gather support. But I am not completely unaware of political matters. The USA is Israel's biggest ally, and going against the USA is virtually impossible. The UK has sided with Israel too.
Israel is of huge political significance, so it is not in the interests of world leaders to stand up for the oppressed nation. My view is impacted by my ethnicity; as a Pakistani, I personally know the historical significance of what colonisation can do to a country's people. India was colonised by the British Empire, and broke free in 1947. The British split India and Pakistan was created out of this. But partition was not peaceful at all and to this day, there are very high political tensions between Pakistan and India, all because of how the British devised the partition.
And the religious element: Israel has declared this their '9/11'. The nerve to use anti-Islamic rhetoric to gain sympathy is unbelievable - it reinforces the completely untrue notion that Muslims are the root of evil, oppressing Israel. Like I said in my last blog, it is not Jewish people waging war on Palestine, but the Israeli government. This is a crucial distinction.
Ukraine received so much support from the Western allies for their crisis and were viewed as heroes when attacking Russia. Palestinians on the other hand are viewed as terrorists, and it just highlights how European countries are always a priority. The Israeli ex-head of Mossad commented on Palestine being an 'apartheid state', which says everything about how things are developing in the country under occupation.
The White House in their statement condemned the Hamas attack, citing that Israel had the right to defend its people. It's a shame this sentiment is never said about Palestine or its people. As always, it comes down to money and politics. As long as Israel has US support, it is difficult to see how things will change.
Free Palestine
*Image is taken from ABC, all rights reserved
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