On a recent advocacy trip to Europe, I was asked by a young university student how to respond to his parents who shrug off the genocide in Gaza as something that is “unfortunately inevitable”. While this student maintained that his parents realized this was not an ideal situation, he admitted to struggling with their nonchalant attitude about the annihilation of the Palestinians. My answer was brief and to the point, albeit emotional. “Tell them: is this the kind of world you want to live in? Where a state can freely annihilate an entire people with impunity? Is this the world you want your children and grandchildren to inherit?”

The young man was well intentioned and he was clearly grappling with this existential conundrum. Jewish, he grew up in a household that believed in Israel and the Zionist project, but having witnessed what this entity and its ideology is capable of, he shifted course and is now trying to convince his parents it is their moral imperative to do the same.

Now over two months after this encounter, as Palestinians and many around the world continue to reel from the horrific scenes coming out of Gaza, this young man’s question has repeatedly crept back into my head.

In the past nine months, Israel has provided a sneak-peak into the world it envisions: one that does not question it, regardless of its atrocities; one where the word Palestine, along with its people, are wiped from map and memory. The Gaza slaughter is a foreshadowing of this new world order, which does not include us.

As the genocide grinds on mercilessly, the dead, wounded, missing and displaced soaring to unimaginable heights, a terrifying truth has dawned on us Palestinians: there is no question anymore whether the world will allow our extermination to happen or not. The answer is provided every day and with every unchecked massacre.

This world that really is callous, watching the slaughter of innocent men, women and children without blinking an eye. Or worse, they justify the rivers of Palestinian blood as “concerning” but immediately follow this up with the hackneyed phrase: “Israel has the right to defend itself,” or, “…but Hamas.” Where is the argument for the Palestinians’ right to self-defense against a brutal military occupation that has stripped them of rights and dignity for decades? Does that never calculate into the equation? Apparently not.

This is nothing new. Colonialist powers have always maligned the people under their colonization, dehumanizing them through language and deed as a means of justifying their annihilation. Indigenous peoples all over the world understand this painful reality, from New Zealand, to North and South America, to Africa and of course, Palestine. We are the “terrorists”, and the “human animals”, so our deaths will not matter.

This is where the world has it all wrong. To the parents of this young man who found his own humanity and compassion for the plight of Palestinians and was desperately seeking answers to how this compassion could be passed on to his parents, the answer is clear. The world will pay for this genocide in more ways than one, humanity being the first casualty. If “never again” signifies anything other than its literal meaning, then it means nothing at all, and this is a dangerous and slippery slope for everyone. If Israel is allowed to get away with mass murder and remain a nation among nations, who will stop Israel or others from doing this to another people ? Those who greenlighted this genocide from day one, unwittingly created a beast that will turn on them the first chance it gets.

I was born in the United States and lived there through early childhood, but since returning with my family to Palestine, I have never wanted to go back. The United States has always evoked mixed feelings in me. I have a certain nostalgia for the place of my birth but my overall sentiments always culminated in a sense of resentment for this so-called superpower that has systematically aided in my people’s oppression, occupation and dehumanization.

That is, until present day. The scenes of American university campuses breaming with students in kuffiyehs, waving Palestinian flags and resisting the brutality of the police and their own university administrations, has uplifted my spirit in ways I cannot fully articulate. In a word, what is happening on US campuses today is validation of our people, of Palestine and of our struggle. To those who live comfortable lives in free countries, this may sound like an exaggeration, but for my people, who have been denied their very right to exist, who have been demoralized, demonized and dehumanized, this is huge. We are seeing students of all races, creeds, backgrounds and religions, calling for an end to the genocide in the Gaza Strip and marching for a free Palestine and divestment from the Israeli occupation. We are hearing Jewish voices, debunking Zionist propaganda and its below-the-belt attempts to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. We are being validated for our struggle, for our resistance against oppression, occupation and settler-colonialism and we are finally being heard and seen.

Students have always been the litmus test for social and political justice. Rallies and demonstrations on university campuses have been the driving force against imperialist wars throughout the ages, the Vietnam War being the best example. However, what is so incredible about this movement is that American students are not directly involved in Palestine. Students are not being drafted into an army to fight on foreign soil, so the stakes are not as high for them at the personal level. What is happening today is the direct result of the intersectionality of struggles and the belief that no one is free until all of us are free. This is a force far more powerful than a genocidal regime will ever be.

The scenes from university campuses in the United States and now in Europe, juxtaposed against the crushing images from the Gaza Strip, are a balm for our wounded hearts. We feel a kinship with these incredible Gen Zs who have put their very lives on the line for Palestine. We send them love, energy and solidarity as we watch them being thrown to the ground, handcuffed and arrested and we burst with pride as we hear them chant ‘Free Palestine”.

This is a moment in time that must not be squandered. May these American university protests spread like wildfire throughout campuses across the world, putting to shame both Zionism and American imperialism, which has allowed this racist ideology to survive. The Palestinians have never wavered in their determination to liberate their land from Israeli occupation and oppression, whether they do it alone or with the help of friends. Today, thanks to the beautiful people all over the world who have championed our cause alongside of us, a free Palestine is not only an inevitability, it is just around the corner.

When Israel claimed women were sexually assaulted on a mass scale on October 7, the world exploded. Almost the entirety of Israel’s genocidal war was based on these and other allegations, many unsubstantiated. We all remember the infamous’40 beheaded babies” story, do we not?

This article is not about Israeli allegations per se, neither will it only focus on violations against Palestinian women. This is about a world that is immediately up in arms when one side merely alleges atrocities while it turns a blind eye to actual documented violations against the “other”.

In Gaza, it is painfully clear that we indeed, are ‘the other’. How else can anyone explain the muted cries of women being stripped, raped, starved and murdered practically in real time, on our phone screens, documented in UN reports and described in horrific detail in eyewitness testimonies? There is no other explanation than that Palestinians are what Arundhati Roy calls “Children of a lesser God”. We are the victims of deep-rooted colonialism, one whose geographic demarcations may have vanished but whose insidious, dehumanizing mentality still prevails and manifests in the ugliest of manners.

For nearly six months, Palestinians have endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of Israel’s occupying army. Today, the Gaza Strip has been reduced to an emaciated shell of what it once was. As Gaza is being systematically decimated and ethnically cleansed, the world, for the most part, looks on. Barring sympathetic supporters and a few well-intended but timid political actors, nothing has been done to stop the carnage. Palestinians once believed there was no way the world would allow Israel to erase Gaza off the map, no way it could see a live-streamed genocide and do nothing. But that is exactly what is happening.

Then, when we thought things could not get any worse, something unfathomable emerged from the deathtrap of Gaza. When this happened, we were certain it would be the turning point in this hellish nightmare. Well-documented reports, corroborated by the UN and eyewitnesses on the ground, told of harrowing stories of sexual assault against Palestinian women in Gaza.

We were paralysed with horror when we heard of women being raped by Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza, assaulted and stripped in front of their families. What’s worse, we all know that in times like these, the undocumented atrocities will far outnumber those documented. Who knows what horrors will unfold once the dust settles in Gaza; no doubt they will be so horrific, our entire nation will be traumatized for years to come.

The real question here is not how Israel’s soldiers perpetrated such gross violations. I think by now we can all agree that this depraved military establishment and its political echelon to boot, has dehumanized and vilified Palestinians so much and for so long, they will justify just about anything. No, the question is more about the moral compass of the rest of the world. While alliances and political interests are always part of the equation, even when the issue pertains to basic human rights, nothing can better explain the blatant hypocrisy, double standards and loss of collective humanity than the deafening silence today.

Our women have not only been killed, starved and displaced, they have been exposed to the very violations that sparked global outrage and a genocidal war against an entire population under occupation, unprecedented in modern history. This is not only unacceptable, it is an indelible stain on humanity. Sexual violence is a crime so heinous it is imperative to condemn and prevent, no matter the perpetrator or the victim. That must always be the baseline in any argument.

Palestinians will never get past this genocide; it is not something you can come back from. However, be assured, this is not only about the Palestinians. The world’s women, the majority of so-called feminists who have remained disgustingly silent, must know this: when you do not stand up for women, all women, no one will stand up for you in your time of need.

Hebron, a beautiful verdant landscape filled with rich vineyards, encompassing intricate authentic architecture and bustling street markets sprinkled with ancient olive trees, is a Palestinian city that has been diagnosed with cancer. Citizens of Hebron have become strangers in their own ancestral homes, while Jewish foreigners have come to take over their houses and claim them as Israeli.

A few days ago, my friends and I went to Hebron to visit the Ibrahimi Mosque. Ever since the trip, I have been unable to bring back life to my soul. The majority of the mosque has been turned into a synagogue, splitting the area into two parts. The Muslim part is clamped down with severe security measures, where the entrance is blocked by an Israeli checkpoint and security booth. To further exacerbate the situation, there are numerous heavily armed soldiers roaming the inside of the mosque where prayers take place. At the door, we witnessed three Israeli-settler children hounding two younger Palestinians with a baseball-like bat. The sound of one of the Palestinian mothers shrieking as she ran to the scene seemed to have deafened the entire city. Around four Israeli soldiers ran up to her and physically restricted her, keeping her from rescuing her child—a typical day in Hebron. Passers-by looked on, but kept moving.

As we walked through the narrow streets of the old city, I felt like we were in a dark dungeon. I tried to look up to catch some of the clear blue sky when my eyes met the low, heavy-looking, never-ending fence that constituted the ceiling. I learned that the Palestinians had built it in order to protect themselves from the garbage being thrown at them from the settlers living above. The settlers have occupied most of the second and third stories of the historic houses in the old city and tauntingly place Israeli flags on the outside of their windowsills.

“Why do they [the settlers] do this to themselves? Don’t they see that by trying to turn our lives into a living hell, they make theirs one?” I cried out in frustration.

“I think they truly believe that this is their land. They genuinely think that by occupying us they are resisting and defending their right as the chosen people,” my friend responded.

All settlements on Palestinian land are illegal, despite the reasons behind their erection. The settlers in Hebron are the worst, because the majority of them are ideologically-motivated and claim Hebron [and Israel] as their biblical home. They successfully managed to turn Hebron, Palestine’s largest city, into a settlement enclave. There are roughly 500 Jewish settlers living in Hebron and around four times that number in Israeli soldiers solely at their disposal for protection. The settlers occupy the most beautiful houses in the old city and around each of those houses a number of Israeli forces stroll around carrying weapons. Daily curfews are carried out by the Israeli soldiers, in order to imprison the Palestinians in their own homes as the settlers freely wander the streets and markets of the city, generally trashing the sections designated for Palestinians, smashing their cars and throwing rocks at their windows.

These settlers are creating a garbage dump in the land they claim to love, living in it and raising their children on hate. Why else would little Israeli children know to beat on Palestinian children with a baseball bat?

I have so much respect for the Palestinians living in Hebron and suffering massively on a daily basis to stand as Palestinians and exist, despite all the hardships. In my opinion, settlers act the way they do because they are consumed with immense fear. According to them, it’s either us or them- meaning that if we expand and grow, they are under threat, and fear the possibility of vanishing. Perhaps they are right. We as Palestinians will never accept the settlements or the settlers illegally squatting on our land. In any kind of peace, settlers cannot be part of the equation.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at [email protected].

I was born in Jerusalem but spent my whole life in Ramallah, a city which is a mere 40 minutes away from Jerusalem. However, since my adult life began, I have only been able to enter it roughly 10 times.

Ever since I acquired my Palestinian ID card when I turned 16, Jerusalem became nothing more than a dream. The number of minutes it takes to reach Jerusalem was no longer relevant. Now, it was all about being Palestinian – apparently a threat to Israel’s national security. People like me began looking for connections that would help to obtain a permit, with the hopes that you would be lucky enough to get one that allows you to be in Jerusalem for more than three hours. Then even after the permit was in hand, Qalandiya had to be crossed, with all the questioning and hassle passing through an Israeli checkpoint entails. I envied my classmates who had a Jerusalem ID, wishing I also had a home there, a reason to feel welcomed in and familiar with that special place. It was way out of reach though, and I learned that hope was my only fortune.

My freshman year of college I met three incredible Jewish people my age, who soon became my closest friends. I respected them because their perspective on Israel was not biased; they freely admitted that the occupation was illegal, wrong and defies the ethical construction of modern human civilization. They were not pro-Palestine per se, but were definitely not pro-Israel. However, despite their personal beliefs, I soon became aware of the fact that all three of them were going on a “birthright” trip [designed for Jewish youths from around the world to get ‘introduced’ to Israel] the following summer. When I asked one of them why she wanted to be a part of such an opportunistic and fabricated program, her answer was limited to: “because it’s free!”

My friends continued to justify their decision by explaining that a Jewish American would find no reason to turn down an exclusive complimentary 10-day tourist trip in order to make a political statement. I could feel my heart constricting and my tears felt like fire on my face. Indignant whispers were roaring in my head; who are they to be able to enter Jerusalem and be treated like royalty? What do they know about Bab Al-‘Amud [Damascus Gate]? Or Jerusalem’s favored sesame bread? Have they heard the song ‘Zahrat Al-Mada’in’ [The Flower of all Cities] by Fairouz? The racial luxury Israel was granting them left me powerless and wondering where my birthright was in all of this.

After several failed attempts over the past five years and after waiting for hours in long lines in the settlement of Bet El [where permits for Palestinians are issued], I was finally allowed a permit to enter Jerusalem for one day last week, from 8am until 5pm. After such a long hiatus, I could not really complain. I was too happy.

In order to reach Jerusalem, Qalandiya checkpoint must be crossed. All the Palestinians are made to stand in a long passage made of metal bars with cameras at every corner. Once one reaches the end of the passage he or she must go through a big prison-like gate followed by a security booth. When I got to that point, I had to show my ID and permit along with other official documents to an 18-year old blonde Russian so-called Israeli soldier, who then nodded in approval, waving me through. I felt so humiliated and seriously thought of turning around and going back to Ramallah. At Qalandiya, you feel like a rat in a big corporate laboratory run by sadistic scientists.

Once I arrived, I could smell the holiness of Jerusalem in the air. I couldn’t hide my smile. I felt so proud to be Palestinian and so grateful to all the Palestinians who persist and remain in Jerusalem despite their horrible living conditions.

However, the feeling of homecoming and euphoria did not last long. After about an hour I began to feel suffocated and stressed. Too much agitation and tension fill the streets of Jerusalem, probably because of how many Israeli soldiers prance around carrying bulky rifles at every corner. People are on edge and angry and there is no sign of peace anywhere.

I will always love Jerusalem, even if my “homecoming” was bittersweet. The conflicting feelings I felt towards this beautiful city were mixed with a heavy dosage of guilt. “I miss Ramallah,” I caught myself thinking, and begged for that thought to vanish. It’s so sad what Jerusalem has become.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at [email protected].

“Ramallah is different, it’s not like the rest of Palestine,” I repeated to my American friend’s mother, trying to persuade her to allow her daughter to visit me in Palestine.

“Oh really? So it happens to be that the city you specifically live in is simply not under Israeli occupation? What a fortunate coincidence!” she chimed.

Although she was trying to mock me, I did not follow up on her sarcasm, because to me the answer is yes, Ramallah is a city that has somewhat managed to escape the throes of the occupation, and so I found no reason for her to worry about her daughter’s safety. She didn’t believe me though, and my friend stayed in California for the summer.

My father’s family is from Jenin, a city that will never attain Ramallah’s life style. My father moved to Ramallah when he became a Birzeit University student, like many of the students coming from the northern West Bank, converting it into a city for students and newly-employed youths. Birzeit University and the Quaker Friends’ Schools along with plenty of other academic institutions definitely contributed to Ramallah’s liberal way of living. The essence of Ramallah became unrelated to the rest of Palestine - where communities are run by family ties and kinship. In Ramallah, you are who you are and you are not defined by who your grandfather was and what your father does. People were leaving behind the strict cultural traditions, and moving to Ramallah where the culture seemed like it was solely to let go of strict traditions and become their own person.

A few days ago, my friends and I met an Italian woman volunteering in a village near Bethlehem. Her first question to one of my friends was: “Do you remember you are under occupation when you live here? I’ve only been here two days now and I feel like I’m not even in the West Bank.”

My friend was very offended; “Of course I remember, I live it everyday!” The Italian immediately smirked and said: “I’m sure you haven’t been outside of Ramallah then, that’s where you really live it. Here in Ramallah you can leave the house, go out, have fun, where is the occupation?”.

My friend was unrelenting: “People go out and have fun because Ramallah has a different culture that is more tolerant, not because people living here are less Palestinian. What about all the settlements you witness day by day, engulfing the city? Psagot, Beit El, Mali Michmash, Ofra, Halamish and Har Adar? The apartheid wall? What about the illegal arrests the Israeli army carries out at night? And Israel’s restraint on Palestinian tax revenues causing all the government workers to go on strike and many to starve? Just because the town is filling up with restaurants and bars doesn’t mean there is no resistance.”

Palestinians have mixed feelings about life in Ramallah. Many agree with my friend and believe that Palestinians have the right to enjoy their life, and that it shouldn’t be one or the other. Others believe that Ramallah is a conspiracy, created and spurred on by an economic boom in order to indirectly compel its citizens to forget about the conflict and get busy with materialistic aspirations. The fact of the matter is that because Ramallah has become home to diplomatic delegations, foreign aid organizations, and high ranking Palestinian officials, it has embraced a certain type of elitist class which requires a certain type of entertainment. It is not even all about being wealthy, because rich people are everywhere, whether in Bethlehem, Nablus or Hebron. Still, these places do not all bear resemblance to the open and carefree life of Ramallah. People come to Ramallah because of its wealthy who just happen to love spending money and living the posh life.

Ramallah has become a cultural melting pot, where there seems to be no boundaries. People feel very comfortable taking out thousands of dollar loans, buying fancy cars and building mansions in the hopes that the financial situation will improve and they can eventually pay their debts. The guise of normalcy and the ‘posh life’ is seemingly more important to some in Ramallah than the fact that the city is indeed, still under Israeli occupation. No matter how many macchiato machines pop up in Ramallah’s Amman-like cafes or designer bags hang from the shoulders of snazzy-clothed young women, the fact is Israel constantly reminds us that it has not loosened its grip on Palestine, in Ramallah or elsewhere.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at [email protected].

My first reaction when I saw the cartoon was: “Really? They’re actually going to use the anti-Semitic card?” It is about time to stop associating anything that has to do with criticizing Israel with anti-Semitism. Israel is supposedly a “democratic” country- where people are allowed to inveigh against their government without being prosecuted as racist. “Freedom of Speech” became a term used by the West in order to justify their actions when they offend the Muslims. If freedom of speech is used to defend the people who disrespect the religion of Islam, then it should be used to defend people who condemn a politician like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The cartoon in question by Gerald Scarfe, a well-known UK cartoonist who has been working with the Sunday Times since 1967, and published on Holocaust Memorial Day, is not related to anti-Semitism whatsoever. The cartoon portrays Netanyahu waving a blade while cementing the apartheid wall using Palestinian blood, with Palestinians bricked into the wall. The cartoon is depicting the slow systematic annihilation Netanyahu is carrying out against Palestinians. It includes the inhumane siege on Gaza, the use of white phosphorus on densely populated areas in Gaza, illegal imprisonment of children and citizens without trial, innumerable house demolitions, the epidemic of illegal settlements and so on. The blood in the cartoon resembles the blood of the Palestinians who were murdered by the army and settlers under Netanyahu’s rule. So, rather than being anti-Semitic, it is more of a brutally candid picture of reality.

During a meeting held yesterday for the Sunday Times’ senior editorial team, representatives of the Jewish community and News International corporate affairs, the Jewish community organizations presented their adverse thoughts on the cartoon. One of the points was that the blood illustrated in the drawing “has a long and ugly tradition within the history of anti-Semitism... These historical and contemporary contexts have racist impacts upon victims and proponents alike.” Besides the overuse of “blood libel,” the fact that what Netanyahu is doing in Palestine is reminding the Jewish people of the Holocaust and bringing back horrific, despairing memories indicates that something is extremely wrong.

Needless to say, a sincere apology was given shortly after the cartoon was published. Rupert Murdoch, ex-director of News International- which publicizes Times, immediately wrote on Twitter: “We owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon.” Martin Ivens, the Times’ acting editor, turned defensive and justified the cartoon by saying that “the paper has long written strongly in defense of Israel and its security concerns.” Millions of newspaper-cartoons denounce politicians everyday, yet for some reason, Israeli politicians are special.

A number of months ago, a trailer for the movie “Innocence of Muslims” was released, and basically smashed the Quran, Prophet Mohammad and the Muslims. According to Tony Blair, his problem with the issue was the Muslim world’s “reaction.” In his opinion, it was “absurd.” He found the trailer to be a “laughable piece of film work” and that the problem “is about the struggle of modernization. The good news is, in the end, the modernizers will win incidentally.”

Several years ago, a cartoon was drawn depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper. The act was seen as disrespectful by Muslims around the world. However, the matter was dealt with under the basis of “Freedom of Speech,” and “newspapers across Europe reprinted cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Mohammad, saying they wanted to support the right of Danish and Norwegian papers.” Apparently, freedom of speech is offered selectively these days. While it may be used liberally in offending Muslims and Palestinians, it is stopped in its tracks when the criticism is leveled at Israel. Needless to say, Scarfe’s cartoon of Netanyahu will probably not be duplicated in the future.

Mayse Jarbawi is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at [email protected].