Who are the Terrorist?

 I never thought I would see this in my lifetime.  

I thought as a global community we have witnessed and learned enough to recognize madness when it begins to unfold. 

However here we stand in the midst of madness and I am amazed at the blind eyes, the rationalizations, the lies, the inhumanity that is being played out in-front of us. At the same time I am overwhelmed by how people around the world are calling it out, naming it, and protesting against the genocide that Israel is committing on Palestine with the support of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and  many other countries. The United States and the United Kingdom  are the primary abettors. Together these countries, these world powers  have begun the annihilation of Palestine, its people, its history, and its culture. Remember, Palestine is the true country here. Equally important is South Africa the country that had the audacity to put Israel in front of the world's International Court.  South Africa the country that fought its way free from apartheid and decades of oppression stood before the world and said never again. Never again will genocide be committed against anyone.

Let me pause here and offer a contextual understanding of the Zionist movement to takeover Palestine. It will blow some of the smoke from the room.  It may seem a little like a history lecture but it is important to understand what led up to October 7,2023 and to do so you need the full backstory.  October 7th was a terrorist attack, that is not disputed however, it was not a random act as some would like you to believe, it erupted from a long and brutal history of violent oppression. The conflict between Palestine and Israel is not a religious issue as some would like to have you believe, it is a colonization issue. It is not complex, in fact it is pretty straightforward. It is an issue of people moving into a country deciding they want to own the land and having no qualms with taking it by any means necessary.  And these means include displacing the original and rightful occupants of that country. And when displacing them doesn't get them what they want when they want it, they move on to attacking the population by bombing their homes and killing the owners by bombing their schools and creating an apartheid state. 

In regard to October 7, retaliation to any attack is expected however it should never ever result in genocide and ethnic cleansing.  The killing of children and women and the elderly is not a defensive response. Carpet bombing the most densely populated strip of land in the world is not a defensive response. Shooting children and unarmed civilian teens and adults is not a defensive response and nor is torturing and wiping out complete families.  

And then you have to pose the question - what of the oppressed?  Shouldn't you expect at some point oppression will be met with resistance. That people want to be able to control and have access to the basic needs of life, that after living under an apartheid state for decades they want equal rights. That they are tired of being bombed and having their homes demolished anytime the occupiers wish to make space for new settlers. Or perhaps tired of being target practice for Israeli forces who brag about how many knees they can shoot out in one day. Or maybe the fact that a Jewish person from anywhere in the world can step foot on "Israeli" soil and immediately have more human and civil rights than you a person born on the land that can trace your family back for generations.  

Why is it when the oppressed rise up they are labeled  terrorist and yet the oppressor carries out the terrorist activities and it is viewed as defense. 

So where did all this start? It started with zionism.

Zionism: a movement for (originally) the establishment and (now) the development and protection of a "Jewish" nation in what is called Israel. The zionist movement was established as a political organization in 1897 under Theodor Herzi, and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.   

Zionism was a Jewish nationalist movement that had its goal as the creation and support of  a Jewish national state in Palestine.  It originated in eastern and central europe in the later half of the 19th century. It roots itself in the connection of the Jewish religion to the historical region of Palestine where in ancient Jerusalem there was a hill called Zion.  Zionism pivoted to politics under Theodor Herzl an Austrian who thought Jews assimilating into western europe wasn't possible due to anti-semitism.  In 1897 Herzl at the first Zionist Congress stated "Zionism strives to create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by public law." When the Ottoman government would not support his request for Palestinian autonomy he turned to the British and, in 1903 the British government offered 6K square miles in Uganda for settlement but the Zionist wanted Palestine and white settlers already in Uganda did not want the zionist.

Herzl died in 1904 and at the time and prior to WWI Zionism represented only a minority of Jews most of them from Russia but led by Austrians and Germans.  Following the failed Russian Revolution in 1905 which resulted in violent attacks on Jews many Russian Jewish youth emigrated to Palestine as pioneer settlers. In 1907 a secret order called Bar Giora was formed to train Jews in combat, build Jewish communities and secure Jewish towns with the ultimate goal to create a defensive Jewish force. By 1914 there were about 90K Jews in Palestine; 13,000 settlers lived in 43 Jewish settlements. Many of the settlements were funded by a French Jewish philanthropist, Baron Edmond de Rothschild.

During WWI political Zionism began to strengthen and now the leadership was Russian Jews living in England. Chaim Weizmann and Nahum Sokolow helped obtain the November 2, 1917 Balfour Declaration from Great Britain. This declaration promised British support for creating a Jewish national home in Palestine and was included in Britain's League of Nations mandate over Palestine in 1922.  In the following years the Zionist built up urban and rural settlements for Jews in Palestine, this solidified Jewish cultural life and Hebrew education in Palestine.  By 1925 the Jewish population had increased to over 100k and by 1933 it was about 238K. 

 All this growth was unsettling for the Arab countries. The Arab population feared that Palestine would eventually become a Jewish state and resultantly they resisted Zionism and the British policy supporting it, this would be known as the Arab Revolt.  The British fought to maintain control in light of the Arab uprisings and the control was extensive from 1936 - 1939.  The British authorities destroyed at least 2000 homes and put 9,000 Palestinians in concentration camps where they were subjected to violent interrogation, including torture. The Brits also deported 200 Palestinian nationalist leaders. At least 10 percent of the Palestinian male population had been killed, wounded, exiled or imprisoned by the end of the revolt.  Britain's intent was to keep the peace between the Zionist and Palestinians in order to retain Arab support against Germany and Italy in WWII.  The British playing both sides of the table placed restrictions on Jewish immigration in 1939 and this action was violently opposed by Zionist underground groups such as the Stern Gang and Irgun Zvai Leumi which in 1944 declared war on Britain for attempting to limit Jewish immigration. These groups which you could categorize as terrorists, committed terrorist acts and assassinations against the British. Ninety one people were killed when the Zionist paramilitary bombed the King David Hotel in 1946 which housed the British administrative headquarters. Subsequently, Zionist lobbyists in London overturned the effort to control the immigration.  

The Holocaust led many Jews to flee to Palestine and also led many Jews especially in the US to begin embracing Zionism. With tensions escalating between the Palestinians and Zionists, Britain looking to rid themselves of the issues, ended its colonization of Palestine and handed over the disaster they created to the UN for a solution. The United Nations on November 29, 1947 proposed creating the UN Partition Plan (Resolution 181) which resulted in  2 separate states the Arab and Jewish states and internationalized Jerusalem. 

At the time, the Jews in Palestine made up about one third of the population and owned less than 6 percent of the total land area. Under the UN partition plan they were allocated 55 percent of the land, encompassing many of the main cities with Palestinian Arab majorities and important coastline from Haifa to Jaffa. The Arab state would be deprived of key agricultural lands and seaports which led the Palestinians to reject the proposal. Shortly after, war broke out between the Palestinian Arabs and Zionist armed groups who had gained extensive training and arms from fighting alongside Britain in WWII. The Zionist paramilitary launched a vicious process of ethnic cleansing in the form of large-scale attacks aimed at the displaced Palestinians. This was the first Nakba (catastrophe). 

British rule of Palestine ended May 14, 1948 and on May 15, 1948 Israel was created and Israel under the first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, declared their independence.  Fun Fact: Up to this point you will never see reference to Israel on any world map, it did not exist, you will only see Palestine. 

The creation of [the colony] Israel was violent. and forced the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians again from their homeland to establish a Jewish-majority state. Within 6 months From December 1947 to mid-May 1948 Zionist armed groups expelled about 440,000 Palestinians from 220 villages.   Between 1947 and 1949 at least 750,000 Palestinians from 1.9 million population were made refugees beyond the borders of the state. The Zionist had taken more than 78 percent of the historic Palestine, ethnically cleansing the area and destroying over 500 villages and cities and killed 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities including more than 70 massacres.   May 15, 1948 is the official day for commemorating the Nakba (catastrophe) but forced displacement by the armed Zionist groups had started much earlier.  There were the following:

The Ballad al-Sheikh massacre on December 31, 1947 killed up to 70 Palestinians.

The Sa' sa' massacre occurred on February 14, 1948 - 16 houses were blown up and 60 people were killed.

The Deir Yassin massacre on April 9, 1948 when about 110 Palestinian men, women and children were slaughtered.    `    

By May 15,1948  half of the total number of Palestinians had already been forcefully expelled from their own country this spanned the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949.  By 1949 when the armistice agreements were signed Israel had already taken more land than had been allotted under the UN plan.  Following the Israeli war approximately 800K Palestinians were forced into refugee status as they had been pushed out of their homes and off of their land.

By 1949 Zionist forces had committed about 223 atrocities including massacres, bombings of homes, looting, the destruction of property and wiping out entire villages.  About 150,000 Palestinians remained in areas that became part of Israel of which 30,000-40,000 were displaced internally meaning their homes were taken.

Fifty years after the first Zionist congress and 30 years after the Balfour Declaration the zionist achieved their aim of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine at the expense of the Palestinians. The response to this occupation and illegal seizure of homes and land resulted in hostilities. In the following decades Zionist organizations in many countries continued to raise financial support for Israel and encouraged Jews to immigrate there. Most Jews, however, reject the view espoused by some very Orthodox Jews in Israel who believe that the Jews outside Israel are living in exile and can only live a full life in Israel.

Following the establishment of Israel the Israeli army committed a number of additional massacres and campaigns of forced displacement.  In 1950 the remaining 2,500 Palestinian residents of the Majdal were forced into the Gaza Strip.  Two thousand inhabitants of Beer el-Sabe were expelled to the West Bank and another 2,000 residents of two northern villages were driven into Syria.

The Six Day War which for the second time forced  an exodus of approximately a half million Palestinians out of their homes and their land occurred June 5-10, 1967 when Israel attacked Egypt, Jordan and Syria and ended with Israel occupying the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The war rose from disputes between Israel and Egypt over the rights of Israeli shipping to pass through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Security Council Resolution 242 (1967) was formulated based on the principles of a just and last peace, including withdrawal of Israel from territories occupied in the conflict, which was to a be a just settlement of the refugee problem and termination of all claims. 

Refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.

In 1980 Israel  annexed East Jerusalem and, in 1993, then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords, which aimed to achieve peace within five years. It was the first time the two sides recognised each other.

A second agreement in 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three parts – Area A, B and C. The Palestinian Authority (PLA), which was created in the wake of the Oslo Accords, was offered only limited rule on 18 percent of the land as Israel effectively continued to control the West Bank.

The Oslo Accords slowly broke down due to the continued illegal expansion of Israeli settlements. Israeilis began rapidly building Jewish communities on Palestinian land in the West Bank seizing any properties they wanted.  As a result of this expansion the settlement population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem grew from approximately 250,000 in 1993 to up to 700,000 in 2023. About three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem but these communities are extremely fragmented. First there is the separation wall which creates a physical separation between the settlers and the Palestinians. The wall restricts movement of the Palestinians; their homes have doors that have been welded shut because they open to streets on which they are not allowed to walk. I watched a documentary a few years ago which showed how Palestinians have to traverse roof tops and windows to get to different areas because they cannot walk on the street. Additionally Palestinians in their daily work commute or errands have to navigate at least 140 checkpoints and another 600 barricades or road obstacles. Getting through these checkpoints can take hours and they are at the mercy of the security forces working these checkpoints. Due to the checkpoints, barricades and the whims of the security forces a commute which should take an hour can take upwards to 7 to 8 hours.  Additionally there are Palestinians that have olive trees that provide their livelihood which they can only access with permission, most of these have now been destroyed uprooted or cutdown by settlers and defense forces. 

In addition to the humiliation faced on a personal level everyday since 2007 when Hamas came to power Israel has imposed a blockade of Gaza controlling almost every life necessity and amenity which determines any population's quality of life. Israel has gone so far as to calculate the minimum caloric intake needed to survive and determined what foods they will allow into Gaza and the frequency of the shipments that can enter Gaza.  In essence Palestinians have been living in an open air prison for the past 17 years.

Which brings us to the  October 7th attack which resulted in the death of 1200 Israelis. Since that day Israel has cut off access to electricity, food, water, fuel, medications, medical supplies and the very basics of life such as sanitary products for menstruating women. It has gotten to the point that people are being operated on without anesthesia, premature infants have no oxygen, and cancer patients have no treatments. It goes on and on.

So here we are, Israel continues their ethnic cleansing plan initiated during the first Nakba in 1948 and they do so with arrogance and impunity aided by the United States' President who swore allegiance to Israel decades ago.  As of this writing 117 days from the start of this assault 26,422 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and bombings; 65,087 civilians have been wounded and an estimated 8,000 lie beneath the rubble. Children and women account for upwards of 70% of those killed  meaning over 11,000 children have been slaughtered and well over 1,000 have suffered amputations and we cannot even begin to assess the mental trauma they have experienced. People all over the world have rallied and protested and made demands for a cease fire and, even after the International Courts have cited that Israel should stop activities that could "lead" to genocide we continue to see the atrocities being committed by the Israeli army in near realtime. We continue to hear the rhetoric of their leadership and settlers dehumanizing the Palestinians and calling for their annihilation. In the meantime a handful of old white men making god like judgements allow this horror to continue.  

We have to pray for justice, vote our conscience, spend our money supporting business that do not support genocide.  We have to continue speaking-up and standing up.  We have to show that as all of this unfolded there were those of us that stood on the right side of history. 

Stop the genocide. Free Palestine. Hold Israel accountable for the atrocities and war crimes they have committed.  Hold Biden and all who support him and his stance accountable for his complicity in this genocide. But most of all for all of those that stood on the sidelines, turned a blind eye and were "neutral" due the complexity of the issue.... I call your bullshit you are complicit. 

And to answer the question who are the terrorist.... they are the Israelis and their well paid, well equipped well trained terrorist army.