Text: Palestine - Blog Posts

I don't even have the adequate words to describe the fact that survivors of the Nakba are describing their devastation in Gaza as "worst than the Nakba"

They bombed a hospital. No one intervened. So they bombed the rest.

They killed civilians and hostages waving white flags. No one intervened. So they did it on live TV.

They murdered starving people at an aid convoy. No one intervened. So they've attacked at least 3 more.

Israel is currently attacking the Al Shifa hospital in northern Gaza (March 18) with tanks and heavy gunfire, resulting in an increasing number of casualties and abductions including journalists who were reportedly severely beaten and taken to an unknown location.

Israel is literally relishing in its impunity. All we have been hearing from those in power is "concerns" and pathetic words of condemnation while Israel continues to boast about its atrocities, six months on.

Nothing screams ahistorical more than pinning this ongoing devastation in Gaza on October 7 alone.

What this purposely ignores is the fact that there was no "October 7" in 2008/9, when Israel's aggression in Gaza killed 1,385 Palestinians. There was no "October 7" in 2014 either, when Israel's aggression against Gaza killed 2,251 Palestinians. There was no "October 7" that lead to the Israeli aggressions in Gaza in 2012, 2021 or 2022, nor in the many years before which were filled with Israeli massacres and ethnic cleansing all the way to 1948 and beyond.

This of course attempts to paint Israel's disproportionate violence as retaliation when in fact it is a continuation of its terror and brutality. October 7 is not the context. Colonisation is.

I was thinking earlier about this post in which Zionists were flabbergasted that I pointed out Israel’s "shoot to maim" policy, which has resulted in a generation on crutches in Gaza between 2018 and 2019. 

Of course, Zionists were trying to paint this as a stand-alone policy that Israel possibly came up with out of desperation of trying to contain Palestinians demanding for the siege to be lifted, a policy for which Palestinians should be thankful Israel isn’t killing but disabling Palestinians instead by sniping their kneecaps.

But here’s the thing: Israel’s policy of "shoot to maim" can only be understood as an extension of Israel’s policies from throughout the years of breaking the bones of Palestinians, and I mean that in the literal sense.

How many of you are aware of Israel’s policy from the first Intifada of 1988, which was literally dubbed the "break their bones policy"?

This policy was initiated by then Israeli defence minister Yitzhak Rabin, who ordered and instructed Israeli soldiers to break the bones of Palestinian protestors with stones.

This was in 1988, over 35 years ago. Footage of Israeli soldiers capturing visibly unarmed, civilian protestors, hammering their elbows with bricks was broadcasted on TV screens everywhere. To this day I cannot unsee the gruesome footage, still etched in my mind as a stark example of Israel’s cruelty.

During the first Intifada, nearly 30,000 Palestinian children sustained injuries due to beatings alone.  And here we are, in 2024, where in Gaza alone, 10 children lose a limb every single day.

At this stage, you cannot view Israel’s terrorism as anything but connected; a continuance. All of these policies are connected by the same genocidal mindset of trying to break a people, both literally and figuratively, for decades on end. 

The scenes coming out of Rafah are nothing short of horrific.

This is Israel relishing in its impunity. Israel knows that no matter the level of atrocities it commits, it will never be challenged or held accountable by those in power.

Your role still matters though. Keep advocating for Palestine, amplify Palestinian voices, find a protest near you - whatever you do, make your stance known.