Free Palestine
By Hafsa and Mia
Palestine is a small region of land located between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River in which most of this land is now considered present-day Israel. Today Palestine is no longer considered an independent state on the maps and this has been a topic of conversation for many years. The conflict with Palestine and Israel has started since the mid 1900's when after the war, the United Nations decided to partition Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state in 1947. The Jewish residents accepted the deal; however the Palestinians saw the plan as a long termrun to attempt to push them out of their land. This resulted in the Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria) to declare war with Israel and ended in a vicious conflict that resulted in defeat that turned 700,000 Palestinian civilians into refugees. Despite the united nations promising 56% of Palestine to be given to the Jewish state by the end of the war, Israel possessed 77% leaving Palestine with the Gaza strip, west bank and Jerusalem. This left Israel with a state but not Palestine. In 1948 Israel was established as an independent country. Long after this, continuous wars have broken out (especially in order to take control of Jerusalem which is both a holy city for Jews and Muslims) and more of the Palestine land has been seized through bombings of schools, mosques and hospitals.
This is no longer a war over stolen land, but is a systematic genocide to wipe out the Palestinians from their rightful land and to strip them of their basic human rights. Innocent women and children have been targeted and annihilated in order to control a rise in population. The International Criminal Court (ICC) will be opening an investigation into the war crimes committed by the Israeli military in the Gaza strip.
In June 2002, Israel began to build a separation barrier, which is a 25 foot high concrete wall, in the occupied west bank, claiming it was necessary for "security reasons". Whilst building this separation wall, they destroyed many Palestinian agricultural land and their properties, leaving many Palestinians homeless and to survive on their own. This caging of the Palestinians is inhumane and has allowed the Israeli forces to control what goes in and out of the West Bank; this has prevented the entry of aid and food. Rachel Corrie was a pro-Palestinian activist who was protesting against the Israeli military in the southern Gaza strip, she was murdered by an Israeli bulldozer driver in 2003 while attempting to defend Palestinian homes from being destroyed. A fellow activist and eyewitness explained that the driver didn't slow down and that "he ran over her, then he reversed the bulldozer back over her again". When the incident was brought to court, the Israeli military was not charged as the driver claimed he didn't see her, despite Rachel Corrie standing on a pile of dirt wearing a bright orange jacket. This is clear that the government will go to extreme measures to kill anyone who intervenes with this mass genocide and to hide the truth.
There are many Jews in Israel who disagree with the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) on the treatment of the Palestinians and have openly spoken out.
Many countries are silent on this matter, most noticeably and controversially in the media, America. With an estimated 20 billion dollars given directly to the Israeli government from America in the last 5 years alone, we can see a strong alliance between the two countries. Arguably, most would agree with funding the preservation of a Jewish state, but this money would not account for the level of financial, military, and diplomatic support provided. After Israel proved itself to be far stronger than any combination of Arab armies after Israeli occupation forces became the rulers of a large Palestinian population, America drastically increased its funding. Undoubtedly, the power of the Israeli state is what has drawn America to ally. Israel does not need the sheer amount of money America is providing them with, they would be in no greater military threat if the averaged 3.5 billion dollars a year was cut for a couple of years. Israel has both a strong domestic arms industry and an existing military force far more capable and powerful than any conceivable combination of opposing forces. Not to mention the power and assistance of Israel's intelligence service, missiles capable of reaching as far as the former Soviet Union, and assistance with shutting down movements that are not granted military assistance in the US. It appears funding is more of a tactical gain than that of a moral drive or security need. Merely a little gift to secure alliances for the potential future.
The future of Palestine is still unclear.