Why I Say: Free Palestine!

The Palestinian people have faced genocide and oppression for more than 75 years at the hands of Zionists, the Israeli government, and with the full and active support of western nations including the UK and US. During the Nakba, which began in the 1948 Palestine war and is ongoing today, Palestinian Arabs have been relentlessly attacked, terrorized, murdered, and have fled their homes in great numbers for their safety. Over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled their homes and became refugees and over 500 Arab villages were depopulated and destroyed by Zionist militias and, after declaring independence, by the Israeli government in 1948.

Since a war with Syria, Jordan and Egypt in 1967, Israel has occupied the Golan Heights (which it illegally annexed in 1981), Gaza Strip, and West Bank. It has enacted upon the peoples of these occupied territories criminal, dehumanizing, and oppressive conditions that control the populations while continuing to steal their land, drive residents from their homes and villages and incentivize and create new settlements open only to Israeli Jews in the West Bank.

Movement is strictly controlled in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where permission is required to move from one area to another, military checkpoints control movements, and certain roads and areas are off limits to travel by Palestinian Arabs. Even where Palestinians own clear title to their own land, Israel controls construction and rarely approves any building permits for Palestinians (while constantly building new communities on Palestinian land for Israeli settlers). Israel regularly destroys Palestinian homes and buildings in the West Bank where it continues to drive people off of their land. This expansion of Israeli settlements on occupied territories and the continued actions creating additional refugees are violations of international law. Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank routinely destroy water sources used by Palestinians, destroy Palestinian crops, takeover grazing lands, and uproot or cut down the olive groves of Palestinian farmers.

Israel controls nearly all outside access to the Gaza Strip and has effectively blockaded it since 2005. Gaza is fully dependent upon Israel and the UN for regular access to electricity, water, food, medicine, and other goods required for survival. Israel does not allow consistent power and water access for Gaza and Gazans frequently have only a few hours per day in which water and power are available. While Gaza is on the Mediterranean Sea, access to Gaza by boat is also blockaded by Israel and fishermen are restricted to certain areas allowed by the Israeli Navy. Israel exerts full control over Gaza and West Bank airspace. Israel controls the land inside the wall/fence separating Israel and Gaza, enforcing a no-go zone near the border via live fire from Israel. During the Great March of Return protests in Gaza in 2018 and 2019 tens of thousands of protesters challenged the no-go zone while calling for the right of refugees from Israel to return to their homes and communities and for the blockade of Gaza to be lifted. Israel killed 189 protesters during this protest.

The United Nations has passed hundreds of General Assembly resolutions concerning Israel and its actions, over 225 United Nations Security Council Resolutions (with many more Security Council Resolutions with wide support being vetoed by the United States including the recent resolution condemning attacks against civilians calling and for the protection of civilians and humanitarian aid during military actions), and 45 resolutions from the UN Human Rights Council. Many of these resolutions have been ignored by Israel as they continue their occupation and oppression of Palestinians.

Human Rights

Civil Rights

Dignity

Freedom

For these and many other reasons I say: Free Palestine!