When will this ethnic cleansing stop in Palestine?

Israel is inclined on spreading trumped-up stories about its own short settler colonial existence in order to cloak the reality on the ground. It is a lot easier to disunite yourself from a situation that has been unjustly underrated to a ‘religious conflict happening precedently’. But the struggle is colonial and not religious and Israel is brutally colonising Palestine. Leading Zionists have elucidated the priority of their aims clearly: to acquire land and bring Jews to colonise it, the Zionist programme is a gradual takeover of Palestine.

Israel is cruelly allowing Jewish-Israeli settlers to steal Palestinian homes in Sheik Jarrah, the Palestinian neighborhood in occupied east Jerusalem. Under International Law, East Jerusalem legally belongs to the Palestinian territories but Israel is apathetic towards this and has been illegally occupying it for decades. The conflict started in 1948, and only exists because of Zionists terrorist groups who ethnically cleansed, massacred and destroyed over 540 Palestinian towns and villages. They are also responsible for the displacement of over 7.2 million Palestinian refugees and continue to deny them their legal right to return.

Not only muslims but Palestinian Jews, like the Samaritans who reside in Nablus are equally being oppressed by ‘Israel‘, when I say Israel I am referring to a group of people, a group of settlers (settler colonialism is a form of colonialism that seeks to replace the native population of colonised land with new society of settlers), who are colonising Palestine. The point being, the suffering of the Palestinians is not just religious conflict.

Israel continues to discriminate against Palestinian citizens in areas of planning, budget allocation, policing and political participation. According to the Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Israel maintains over 65 laws that discriminate against Palestinians. Israeli soldiers, police and ISA officers continue to torture and otherwise ill-treat Palestinian detainees, including children, with indemnity. Reported methods include beating, slapping, painful fettering, sleep deprivation, use of stress positions and threats of savagery against family members. Prolonged solitary confinement, sometimes lasting months, was commonly used as retribution. Israeli forces intermittently denied medical help for Palestinians abused during law enforcement activities.

After the Israeli demolition of the 800-year-old Moroccan Quarter in June 1967, Jews wanted to take the Noble Sanctuary. The flaming of Saladin’s minbar in August 1969, the annihilation of worshippers on many occasions, and now, the unrepentant attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, highlight Israel’s unchecked behaviour. This is a direct consequence of Israel divulging its true face of fanaticism, racism, and extended occupation. It is pointless to call this Israeli government right-wing. Its basic structure is, as always, a settlers’ regime that now wants to certify its full control of what is left of Palestine and to make Jerusalem the unequivocal political and religious capital of Greater Israel.

On 7th of May 2021, Israeli forces stormed worshippers inside Al-Masjid Al-Qibla in Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied east Jerusalem’s old city with stun grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas effectively trapping hundreds of people inside, including many children, killing more than 205 Palestinians. They also attacked a medical clinic inside the mosque’s compound. Tensions escalated after Palestinian worshippers protested against fresh Israeli settlement. This is what is being done to them when they raise their voice against injustice, their lands and homes being terrorized and stolen. This is apartheid, this is oppression, this is injustice. And fighting against this despotic regime is a collective responsibility.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

It has been 73 years since Israel occupied Palestine and the world is doing nothing about it. Now the question here arises: Why is the world, the powerful countries not raising their voice about human rights violations in Palestine? How are Israelis able to do that to Palestinians? The answer is simple: it’s because they have the support of other settler colonies like the United States, Australia, Canada and also they are being supported by former colonial powers like the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and others. For them to call out ‘Israel’, they would have to start to answer questions about their own quiddity, about reparations and justice, for the people they colonised.

Israel should reconsider its strategies and tactics and should listen to the authentic voices of Palestinians – those that are yelling day and night, some Palestinians accept a two-state solution, with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip forming a distinct Palestinian state, whereas other Palestinians stand firm on a one-state solution (Palestinian or binational) with equal rights for all citizens whether they are Muslims, Christians or Jews.

Mudabbira Rehman is a student pursuing English Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia.

Edited by: Nidhi

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of The Jamia Review or its members.