We’re a group of activists in a Western country where most have been brought up with either “Israel = good, Hamas = bad” or “It’s a sad, but unsolvable conflict between two equal sides”. The media heavily skewed to the Israeli perspective, and our politicians want to condemn protests in support of Palestinians. Therefore, unless you purposefully seek out information on what’s going on in Palestine, you won’t really encounter information about the occupation, the apartheid or the human rights violations. There are a lot of gaps in people’s information and understanding of the situation.

Atm there’s a lot of dehumanization, a lot of “Well, what can you do? Hamas keeps attacking Israel, what are they supposed to do?”. I think the Israel=Good is deep-rooted in a lot of westerners. I know it was in me.

We’ve asked ourselves and each other what finally broke through our previous perception, so we could see the inequality and realize that what’s happening is not right

One mentioned seeing a journalist in the back of an ambulance being handed a one-year-old that had passed

One mentioned seeing a video of a caring father saying goodbye to his little girl, kissing her eyes before she was wrapped in the materiale they wrap their dead. The father clearly in denial, smiling and wishing for her to wake up.

A big one for me was being told that it’s not an equal fight. It’s not two equally strong countries. It’s one country with a huge military, and another with barely any. Another was hearing about the human rights violations that’s been going on for decades - the fabricated water shortage, the children in Israeli jails.

I believe these are the moments we need to collect and present to those who are still wary on where they stand.

What broke through to you?

  • @Thisfox
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    57 months ago

    When it was explained to me 25+ years ago how Israel was invented, and so I did further reading. Religious divides are wrong in every way, and they are prevent neighbourly integration, so I decided I disagree with Israel as a concept, just as I disagree with all apartheid systems. This invasion just solidified my opinion.

    And bias in the media? The news here in Oz yesterday covered an orphaned four-year-old being returned to her family just because she was American/Israeli. It left out the many other orphaned four-year-olds dead or dying or lying in pain and fear, without medical attention, because of Israels “action”. The ones killed and injured with weapons Israel is lying about using, such as phosphorus. The media are biased as all get out. Poor little kids didn’t have a chance.