Resistance against colonial fascism endures.
The year 2023 is vital for Palestine’s struggle against settler oppression. The entire world saw their enduring spirit as an essential aspect of their identity and a necessity for survival. They screamed in defense of their homes, humanity, and lives amid the bloodshed caused by Zionism’s entrance into Palestine’s land and people.
The history of bloody barbarism committed by the Zionist Israel to Palestine has been a century-long record of brutality. However, it was only a year ago that Palestine made a statement on their resistance against this bloodshed.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine began around the end of the 20th century. In 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181, known as the Partition Plan, divided the British Mandate of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, sparked the first Arab-Israeli War, which ended in 1949 with Israel’s victory.
This resulted in 750,000 Palestinians displaced and the land was divided into three parts: Israel, the West Bank (the Jordan River), and the Gaza Strip.
In their recent battles against Gaza, the Israeli military has directly targeted Palestinians through bombing their homes, hospitals, orphanages, schools, churches, and public spaces, deliberately killing all they can. These horrific crimes are linked with Zionism. Even now, massacres and displacement of Palestinian refugees continue as the world stands by to witness.
What is more criminal is the Zionist narrative, which continues to blame the oppressed for the oppressor’s atrocities. The profound irony of Israel’s claim of victimhood is evident in the genocide perpetrated by its military to achieve their goal of cleansing Palestine territories.
Israeli authorities routinely favored Jewish Israelis over Palestinians in many aspects of life across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Laws, regulations, and declarations by top Israeli officials make it clear that preserving Jewish Israeli control over demography, political power, and territory has long influenced government strategy. In pursuit of this purpose, authorities have evicted, detained, forcefully divided, and oppressed Palestinians based on their identity, with varied degrees of severity.
An occupying colonial authority cannot claim victimization over the people it brutally occupies. There is no moral equality between colonizers and colonized people, no matter how much they argue otherwise.
Furthermore, the heinous crime of American collaboration in the genocidal killing of Palestinians is incomprehensible. Zionist and American colonials, including Arab and Muslim regimes, openly embrace genocide and remain silent when settlers commit acts of violence against Palestinians that constitute fascism in the 21st century.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Palestinian territories are a single political unit and that Israel’s occupation is illegal under the law. The court further determined that Israel must make full compensation to the Palestinian people for the damage caused by the occupation, and that its practices violate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The idle silence of global powers that allow Israel to continue its genocidal actions should be condemned. The verdict of the ICJ shall be carried out in accordance with international law. Israel must end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian areas, stop building new settlements, and evacuate those that already exist.
Palestine has been resisting the brutal crimes against their people. Given what we know and have witnessed, talks about Palestine’s freedom and liberation would fall on deaf ears unless true criminals are dealt with accordingly. As witnesses, we must use our words, no matter how futile they may be during these moments. Only through this will justice shall overcome.
Despite these Zionist genocidal settlers’ reliance on false narratives and ceaseless violence, the Palestinian resistance remains loud, pointing the way forward.
The Palestinians are not passive victims; their people have been slain, maimed, and displaced by a Zionist state motivated by hatred and violence, but they will not be silent because their resistance persists.
Article: Rupert Liam G. Ladaga
Cartoon: Timothy Andrei Milambiling
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