History
Grave human rights abuses are a daily reality for Palestinians living under Israel’s brutal occupation and system of apartheid. When Palestinians resist this brutality, they are labelled as terrorists.
Over the years, Palestinians have waged several uprisings (Intifada) and protests against the occupation, both violent and non-violent. Israel has responded with extreme brutality, while enjoying total impunity from its Western allies. Clashes between the two sides always result in significantly higher Palestinians casualties, given Israel’s military dominance.
Palestinians have attempted to resist the occupation using every means at their disposal, including peace talks, diplomacy and international advocacy campaigns. They have even offered to accept a state based on current borders, which means ceding 78% of their homeland. None of these offers have been accepted by Israel, which is committed to erasing Palestine and expanding the Jewish state over all of the occupied territories. This policy has had bipartisan support in Israel for many decades.
Balfour Declaration
In 1917, they issued the Balfour Declaration. This statement announced British support for a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine, but Palestinians were not mentioned in this document and their right to self-determination was erased.
Partition Plan
The plan was rejected by Palestinian leaders and Arab states on the basis that Arabs composed two-thirds of the majority population and owned a majority of the land. What’s more, most Jews in Palestine had only migrated in the last several years.
This meant the country’s Indigenous owners were being asked to cede more than half of their homeland to newly arrived migrants who made up just one third of the population.
Nakba
Jewish forces took more than 78% of Palestinian land and destroyed more than 500 villages. Palestinians were forced to become refugees in neighboring states and abroad. Still to this day, they have never been allowed to return to their homeland.
Deir Yassin Massacre
Israeli-Arab War
Sabra and Shatila Massacre
First Intifada
Palestinians threw rocks. Israelis fired bullets. Israeli soldiers deliberately beat protesters to break bones. They were also accused of torture. The UN Security Council would go on to condemn the Israeli government’s actions.
For almost six years, the killing didn’t stop. In total, more than 100 Israelis were killed by Palestinians during the first Intifada, while at least 1,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces.
Second Intifada
Fighting broke out between the Palestinians defending al-Aqsa and security forces guarding Sharon. Seven Palestinians were killed in the fighting and thus the second Intifada – Intifadat al-Aqsa – was started. But the unarmed struggle came amid a backdrop of discontent. Palestinians in the self-rule territories had become increasingly resentful over their lack of economic development as promised by the Oslo peace accords. They found that the superpowers, which hosted the peace process, did little to back them.
The Intifada was – and still is – an expression of a deep disappointment and frustration over the ongoing disrespect and denial of basic rights for Palestinians caused by the occupation – including the right to free access to Jerusalem, security and development, and the refugees’ right to return.
The killing of Muhammad Al-Durrah (2000)
Mohammed Al-Durrah (1988 – 30 September 2000) was 12 when he was killed, crouched behind his father as bullets rained down around them, and the images and footage of them spread throughout the world, turning him into a symbol of the Second Intifada (2000-2005) during which more than 3,000 Palestinians were killed across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The footage of Jamal Al-Durrah attempting to shield his son as gunfire erupted around them was broadcast by France 2, the news outlet where Talal Abu Rahma was employed. It would go on to become one of the most iconic and haunting images of the Second Intifada.
The Israeli government accepted responsibility for the shooting at first (BBC). Later, they tried to challenge the veracity of the video with the Israeli military denying that its soldiers had been responsible.
In Memory of Muhammad Al-Durrah.
Jenin Refugee Camp Assault
Gaza Massacre
Gaza massacre
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
NO evidences have been provided by Israel for Hamas raping or decapitating babies
Gaza Genocide
The killing of Hind Rajab (2024)
Hind Rajab (2017/2018 – 29 January 2024) was a six-year-old Palestinian girl from Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City who was killed by the Israeli military, after being the sole survivor of Israeli tank fire on the vehicle in which she had fled with six relatives.
Rajab’s family were fleeing the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City when an Israeli army tank shot at their vehicle, killing Rajab’s aunt, uncle, and four cousins. The only other survivor at the time, Rajab’s 15 year old cousin, called the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) for emergency aid, crying and screaming that Israeli forces were shooting at them amid the sound of gunfire before going silent.
Six year old Rajab was then the sole survivor in the car, and her subsequent emergency three-hour phone call with PRCS was released, in which she told the dispatcher, “I’m so scared, please come. Come take me. Please, will you come?“
A PRCS ambulance was sent to rescue Rajab, which was attacked by Israeli forces, killing two PRCS paramedics, Yusuf Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, in a deliberate attack according to the organization, and despite the fact that Israel was notified of its dispatch. Israel claimed that its troops were not near the vehicle in which Rajab was killed; however, Al Jazeera and The Washington Post refuted Israel’s claims, basing their investigations on satellite imagery.
In Memory of Hind Rajab. Watch her story in the above video.