Airstrikes, Police Brutality and Social Media Censorship: Here’s what’s going on in Palestine/Israel
Over the past few weeks, Israeli forces have escalated violence against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank
On May 10th, an Israeli airstrike killed 20 people, including 9 children, and injured more than 100 in the occupied Gaza strip.
This was in response to, as the Israeli Defense Forces said, was many rockets fired by Gaza militants into Israel. No casualties or serious injuries were reported from those rockets.
The US and the UK condemned the rockets fired by Palestinian but have yet to say anything about the Israeli airstrike that caused more damage in Gaza.
The airstrikes were in response to the violence over the past few nights in Jerusalem. Over 200 Palestinians were injured by the Israeli police who used skunk water, stun grenades, rubber bullets, and water cannons at mostly peaceful protesters.
The police violence came on the holiest nights of Ramadan, the sacred month for Muslims. Palestinian Muslims would pray in Al-Aqsa mosque every year during Ramadan. The last 10 days of Ramadan would always draw large gatherings of worshippers. Police claimed their actions were security moves while Palestinian worshippers said Israel was threatening their freedom to worship.
The violence and protests came amid another, long-standing, issue of Israeli forces evicting Palestinians in the East-Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Tensions rose with Jerusalem day, a celebrated holiday when Israel illegally occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.
Activists and everyday people all around the world have been taking to social media platforms like Facebook Twitter and Instagram to bring awareness to what’s been happening. But Instagram, its parent company Facebook, and Twitter have been censoring posts and hashtags related to the events in Jerusalem and Gaza.
Despite the censorship, many politicians, public figures and organizations spoke out against the Israeli forces. Among the American politicians were Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders.
In a tweet, Sanders called for the United States to “speak out strongly against the violence by government-allied Israeli extremists in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and make clear that the evictions of Palestinian families must not go forward.”
Cortez joined him tweeting, “We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. Israeli forces are forcing families from their homes during Ramadan and inflicting violence. It is inhumane and the US must show leadership in safeguarding the human rights of Palestinians.”
On their Instagram story, Black Lives Matter put out the following statement:
“Black Lives Matter is in solidarity with Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and the West Bank. We are a movement committed to ending settler colonialism in all forms and will continue to advocate for Palestinian liberation.”
Jewish-American comedian and writer Alison Stevenson also tweeted saying “ I am against the occupation of Palestine and do not equate my being Jewish to any sort of Israeli ‘pride.’ It’s not contradictory to be Jewish and against the actions of Israel no matter how hard some want you to believe it is.”
Libyan American journalist and activist, Noor Tagouri released a statement on her Instagram.
“The Palestinian struggle should not be an awkward conversation,” she said. “We should all unequivocally agree that suddenly being kicked out of your family home, the homes you’ve built lives in, by a military state is criminal and inhumane. We should all unequivocally agree that ethnic cleansing and apartheid states are the war crimes we learned about in school agreeing this should never happen again.”
Dianne Morales, the first Afro-Puerto Rican to run for NYC mayor, tweeted“Our world needs leaders who recognize humanity and the dignity of all lives. Whether in NYC, Colombia, Brazil or Israel-Palestine, state violence is wrong. Targeting civilians is wrong. Killing children is wrong. Full stop.”
