Exactly one year ago today, I was working at the Wall Street Journal as a Digital Innovation Fellow when the news broke early one morning. A terrorist attack rocks the Nova Music Festival near Reims and transforms the world into a world of life, death, war, Zionism, and settler colonialism.
What many may not know is that Israel has already made 2023 the deadliest year on record for Palestinians. Before this attack on October 7, Israel had already killed more than 200 Palestinians in the West Bank, and Zionist settlers were involved in other killings and forced violence against civilians in Gaza. was also responsible.
Before that, the history of settler colonialism and Zionist attacks on Palestinians dates back 70 years.
What many people don’t know is that Gaza was already a country of refugees who were forced to flee the tyranny of the Egyptian military and suffered casualties. The Ottoman Empire controlled Gaza until 1917, when control passed from Britain to Egypt to Israel. Before the current genocide and forced displacement, it was a fenced enclave where more than 2 million Palestinians took refuge.
British rule over the area ended in 1948, and conflict and tensions subsequently arose between Arabs and Jews. This conflict escalated, culminating in a war between the newly established state of Israel and the surrounding Palestinians.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency established the Refugee Agency, which to this day serves more than 1.6 million registered Palestinian refugees.
During the 1967 Middle East war, Israel violently occupied the Gaza Strip.
In 1987, the first Palestinian intifada formed the militant group Hamas.
This uprising was due to the continued siege by settler and Zionist colonialism that continues to oppress the Palestinian people.
The war then escalated, and the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood formed Hamas. This armed group was dedicated to destroying Israel and re-establishing Islamic rule in then-occupied Palestine.
Conflict and killings continued as Israel continued to exercise power over Palestinians who were already fleeing prosecution and displaced by the military regime.
In 1993, the Oslo Accords were signed between Israel and Palestine, creating a brief period of peace. The agreement gave the Palestinians limited control over Gaza and Jericho in the West Bank.
Israel then accused the Palestinians of signing a security agreement, and the Palestinians were furious at Israel’s accusations and the continuation of settler colonialism.
This led Hamas to carry out bombings to derail the peace agreement, as Israel would not allow Palestinians to live freely after nearly 50 years of conflict and war.
During this time, many innocent civilians lost their lives, jobs, homes, and any stability they once knew.
In 2000, during the second intifada, Israel destroyed Gaza’s international airport, the Palestinians’ only direct connection to the outside world not under Israeli control.
Israel then shut down fishing operations and drastically reduced fish production, resulting in new direct human rights violations against innocent Palestinians.
In 2005, Gaza was taken over by Israel and completely cut off from the outside world.
In 2006, Hamas overthrew Yasser Arafat’s successor, President Mahmoud Abbas, and gained control of the Palestinians.
This is the point in history when Hamas was deemed a terrorist organization and international aid to civilians already suffering casualties of war was cut off. Israel then destroyed Gaza’s only power plant, causing a power outage and effectively leaving Palestine in the dark.
Palestinians were literally left in the dark, cut off from the world and its resources, and civilians were struggling to survive.
2014 saw the worst casualties of the war. Thousands of Palestinians were killed, while Israeli casualties were only 67 soldiers and six civilians.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants launched an attack, killing hundreds while taking dozens hostage.
This did not start a war. It further perpetuated a war that had been going on for more than 70 years.
The Washington Blade returned to Israel to report on the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack and spoke with LGBTQ+ officials who condemned Hamas’ actions that led to Israeli retaliatory attacks after October 7. .
The Blade’s article on LGBTQ+ Palestinian perspectives was subsequently censored and deleted by Meta.
The fear behind many publishing platforms and Western media is that pro-Israel extremists try to cover all sides of this issue fairly, often referring to anti-Semitism and other types of hatred associated with Jews. It is a conscious effort to attack.
During my fellowship at WSJ, I felt like I was at a disadvantage in my career. Because in my first year in the professional world, I was in the worst position, even though I was working for one of the most prestigious and established newspapers in the country. Although I have the potential, I don’t have any real authority to make a change or share many of my opinions in a way that has any impact. More than that, I was afraid to speak out, but I now realize the fear that the murdered and martyred journalists felt before their deaths, and the fear that journalists like Bisan Ouda felt every day. I realized that this fear was nothing compared to the fear I was experiencing. Continue reporting from Gaza.
Working as a fellow at a high-end newspaper during a pivotal and chaotic period in recent human history taught me how to be a reporter, and how not to be one. I learned to report the facts, but the fact that this war was highly disproportionate in terms of death toll and casualties, resulting in one of the largest and most complex human rights issues in history. There is.
One thing is for sure: I have never read this in such depth without having the consideration or empathy to understand all the sides involved and the historical context that gives the necessary context to form an opinion on the issue. I never want to be the type of journalist who covers complex issues. .
The anti-Palestinian movement has exploded as Hollywood celebrities have shared their ignorant views on the issue on social media and spearheaded campaigns to fund the settler state of Israel, which has colonized and murdered Palestinians for more than 70 years. gained momentum.
Palestine has been at the forefront of the news for 365 days because of the October 7 attack by Hamas, an extremist group that does not represent the whole of Palestinian society.
Blaming all of Gaza’s civilians for the huge attack on October 7th is an attempt to use that event to hold all Americans responsible for terrorist attacks spearheaded by extremist groups like the Proud Boys and the KKK. It would be the same as justifying a terrorist attack. Complete genocide of the North American people.
At an academic level, pro-Palestinian liberation is not about creating more victims of destruction, death, or war, but about liberating ourselves from all of that. It’s about Palestinians finally having the right to live as freely and securely as we do here in the United States.
The frustration, emotion and anger that fuels hatred against Palestinians is completely misplaced and misdirected.
From a human rights perspective (the only perspective that should really matter), innocent civilians are being killed, displaced, starved, and disappeared on all sides, and this is fundamentally wrong. Masu.
Hamas was formed out of frustration, despair, hatred, and anger at settler colonialism, which only led to more pain and suffering for everyone involved.
After all, there is no excuse to fund wars or continue the slaughter of Palestinian adults, children, and even animals.
Looking at the numbers, it is clear that Israel’s retaliation against Palestinians for actions committed by Hamas is grossly unjust. For the Gaza Ministry of Health, the death toll has reached an incalculable mark just a month after the latest phase of the war with the Palestinians began, with power outages, high death tolls and a collapsed health system in Gaza. It became too many to count.
The Gaza Health Ministry estimates that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October last year, including children, infants and journalists.
In contrast, ABC 7 reported that the death toll in Israel is estimated at around 1,200.
None of this is truly justified, and we must hold ourselves, each other, and the corporations funding genocide accountable for further inciting this phase of war. It doesn’t have to be.
LGBTQ+ people in particular have a responsibility to hold accountable those who perpetrate acts of hate and cause or even perpetuate human rights violations.
Being pro-Palestinian does not mean being pro-Hamas, nor does it mean being anti-Semitic. It simply means that this movement supports the liberation of the Palestinian people from war, death, and Zionism.
In the words of Marsha P. Johnson, “Without liberation for all of us, there can be no pride for any of us.”
A movement called Queer for Palestine, which has faced a lot of negative backlash, marched and rallied on Saturday for Los Angeles Day of Action. Additional events and information can be found on our social media channels.
