Thursday, November 9: A New Nakba
75 years later, the images of forced displacement are identical
According to the white house (lowercase to indicate my deep disrespect), israel has agreed to 4-hour daily 'humanitarian pauses' in fighting in Northern Gaza to allow civilians to flee. Flee where exactly? To the south, where the apartheid state is also bombing and killing Palestinians? Thousands of people, starving and dehydrated, began walking south in Gaza yesterday, on routes they can only hope are safe from israel’s bombs and snipers. The images are eerily reminiscent of the Nakba in 1948, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were violently displaced and dispossessed.
39 journalists have been killed so far by Israel, 34 were Palestinian. They didn’t simply die as a result of working in a dangerous location, nearly all of these Palestinian journalists were targeted by israeli airstrikes, many in their homes alongside their families. 88 UN workers have been murdered so far by the apartheid regime, making this the deadliest conflict ever for UN workers. But somehow the lead story in the New York Times today is about college students who are upset that there are pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Over 60% of the American public want an immediate ceasefire, but only a small handful of politicians are calling for the same.
Every day I see an image or footage so horrific that I know will be involuntarily burned into my memory forever. A little girl trapped under rubble desperately trying to help rescue teams attempting to dig her out of what was once a home. The israeli defense minister proudly admitting to targeting journalists and equating them to terrorists. Earlier this week, the repulsive israeli parliament (Knesset) amended the apartheid state’s counter-terrorism law to criminalize the "consumption of terrorist publications", which includes even passive social media use, with a penalty of up to one year's imprisonment. Any Palestinian living in israel trying to keep up with what’s happening in Gaza runs the risk of having their phone searched like this woman and potentially going to jail. Sounds like the hallmark of a healthy democracy.
Remember that “pro-israel” rally I mentioned the other day? Well it appears that the "israel on Campus Coalition" is offering $250 and covering travel expenses for any college students willing to attend the demonstration. Hiring protesters is a bit pitiful, but if anyone was looking to make an easy $250, here’s the link. The application is “temporarily closed”, likely as a result of the broader public finding out about this paid gig, but it would be a real shame if people took advantage of this opportunity to turn it into a pro-Palestine demonstration.
Belgium’s deputy prime minister Petra De Sutter, called on her country to sanction israel yesterday, saying, “The rain of bombs is inhumane. While war crimes are being committed in Gaza, Israel is ignoring international demands for a ceasefire. I am calling on the federal government to sanction Israel.” Elsewhere, Spanish minister for social rights Ione Belarra said, “There is a deafening silence of so many countries and so many political leaders who could do something. I speak about what I know well, which is the European Union. It seems the display of hypocrisy, which the European Commission is showing, is unacceptable.”
Every individual instance of pressure being applied, every delay, every disruption that interferes with the war machine even a little bit, goes a long way in not only informing and ultimately changing people's perceptions of what they're enabling, but slowing down the mechanics of violence to an eventual halt. The protesters shutting down weapons manufacturers or sitting in the offices of elected officials, or demonstrating at their universities, all of these actions are slowly and steadily helping shift the tide of public perception on Palestine.
If you’re non-Palestinian, even the slightest indication of support is meaningful. Consider buying a kufiya from Hirbawi, the last and only factory in Palestine, or think about hanging a Palestinian flag from your window. Go out and get an anti-zionist bumper sticker. Join a Palestinian organization. Gift someone a book on Palestine. The options are truly endless. Visible solidarity, though it’s often symbolic, is needed in a climate so openly hostile to pro-Palestinian sentiment. Don’t let these clowns intimidate you, be proud of where you stand.
Side Items
Hollywood Strike Ends: After months of negotiating, a deal was finally reached late yesterday to end the longest strike ever for film and television actors. The new deal includes boosts to minimum payments to actors, a greater share of streaming revenue going to performers, an improvement of benefit plans and protections against the unlimited use of artificial intelligence to recreate performances. The three-year contract still has to be approved by the board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) in the coming days, but union leadership declared that the strike will end at 12:01 am today. Collective action works
Texas Chemical Explosion: An explosion at a chemical plant yesterday led to a large fire in Shepherd, Texas, sending a massive plume of black smoke high into the sky. The Sound Resource Solutions plant north of Houston makes solvents for glue and paint remover and the facility houses chemicals known to have “acute toxins, carcinogenicity, and reproductive toxicity”, just the kinda stuff you want floating around the atmosphere
House of Cards: In other news that’ll probably get swept under the rug, three people were charged this week with running a “sophisticated commercial sex ring” in Massachusetts and outside of Washington DC, catering to well-connected clientele including elected officials and military officers. Prosecutors said there were possibly hundreds of clients, including government contractors with security clearances, lawyers, elected officials, military officers, professors and executives at tech companies. So if you see any suspicious high-profile untimely deaths in the near future, it’s possible someone is trying to avoid being exposed