THE MYTH, THE MOVEMENT, AND THE MISFORTUNE OF BEING A GAZAN PALESTINIAN

In Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 80 Palestinians in southern and central Gaza on Monday night and into Tuesday morning, which included missiles that struck an Israeli-declared “safe zone” crowded with thousands of displaced people. Recent airstrikes have brought a constant drumbeat of deaths of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, even as Israel claims to pull back or scaled down major ground offensives in the north and south. Almost daily strikes have hit the “safe zone” covering approximately 60 square kilometers (23 square miles) along the Mediterranean coast, where Israel told fleeing Palestinians to take refuge to escape ground assaults. Israel repeatedly claims that its forces are pursuing Hamas militants, hiding among civilians who seek sanctuary in refugee camps. Netanyahu has ordered extreme measures to be taken to eliminate underground tunnel networks. The question is, why would anyone believe his allegations are valid and the countless amounts of deaths are indirectly caused by offensive measures being taken to root out the forces of resistance? Human rights investigators have not found tunnels in sanctuary zones he claims to exist.

It has become far too easy for Netanyahu to make false contentions, which subsequently lead to hundreds of deaths and the destruction of homes and farms. Israeli strikes in southern central Gaza are part of a campaign to exterminate Arabs and have another 100 Palestinians, which was designated as a safe zone. The family of Mohammad Ali Alrai lay dead after the assault. He was a father of 40 years from Deir al-Balah, southern Gaza City. With a family of four children — three daughters and one son — his primary concern was keeping his family safe. How does one achieve such a goal when drones hum above one’s head and descend into a tented area that was said to be a safe refuge? He was buried with his three daughters while his wife and remaining child prayed over the four dead, already missing the voices that would no longer speak to her. Their laughter and their joy are gone forever. Only one child is left, and he must now suffer the cruelties of homelessness, fear, and displacement without a father who did everything he could to protect his child from such a fate. Despite the imposition of the Israeli genocide on helpless refugees clustered in camps, no government, human rights group, or influential leader has been able to insist the Israelis desist from massacring the Palestinian people. Why do they remain silent in times of cruelty and indifference to human life?

Another husband and another child will be lost today, and tomorrow, more will follow. The Israeli Defense Forces will not stop and are immune to taking the lives of little children. The smell of blood has become a scent that intoxicates their senses and motivates them to target as many Arabs who come within range.

The wife of Mohammad Ali Alrai sat under a tent. She cried because of her loss and because her husband and children were slaughtered, and their blood stains remained on the ground. She cried because Netanyahu has determined that the Israeli Defense Forces must target as many Arabs within the target range, and the children of other mothers will die and mourn as she does now. No one is willing to draw a line in the sand and say. “No damn more!” No more home demolitions, no more dead journalists, no more hungry children, and no more weapons provided to a state with a leader gone rogue and politically irresponsible.

Most of all, there must be no more lies to justify the carnage, to facilitate genocide, to turn homes into dust, and to train a passive international community to look at all these deaths with indifference and live with the fact that mass executions have become a way of life. She cried because it changed all her assumptions about America being a merciful and democratic society that prefers peace to war. It struck her as being extraordinarily unjust that President Biden spoke of all he “has done for the Palestinian people.” He is old and feeble-minded, but not too old to acknowledge that he provided the trigger to the drones and bombs that were dropped. He is not too old to know that he sent hell-fire bombs that would descend on civilians while they slept in refugee camps. He set the death traps for the Gazan people and spoke of his actions with a significant amount of pride. To make such ludicrous remarks about a place that has more mass graves than homes. is an insult to the families that have lost their loved ones and renders me speechless. His remarks are insulting to Americans who believe in justice for all, diplomacy, restraint, and mercy.

Is Biden’s memory so weakly pathetic and so distanced from reality that his rants are no more than distressing deceptions, that further demonstrate that he is no fit to lead a democracy? What we see at the podium is the shell of a man whose personality no longer possesses the ability to detail current history in a truthful chronological order. He is to live on an island alone and cares very little about American ideals, justice, or mercy.

His inability to recollect cannot present events to him in a single file, like soldiers marching to a destination, and his statement defies realism. Americans will go to the polls and vote for a president this November. We do not have time to wait for him to organize a cluster of distorted memories and have certifiable proof that he is incompetent. His decisions may be based on a lifetime of experience that no longer exists and comes to him in broken pieces that don’t always fit together perfectly. President Biden’s social competence is disastrous, he can no longer navigate those awkward moments with congenial ease. He smiles at his own mistake and then offers his audience inconclusive information.

Did he not think about the fact that 40,000 Gazans are dead, and thousands will be disabled for the rest of their lives? These were ordinary men and women whose circumstances at birth dictated the manner in which they were likely to die, and only by a rare miracle might they be able to break out of their entrapment and survive. How many times has Biden mourned the death of his son Beau? How many tears has he publicly shed? Many Americans felt his grief. Now, he looks upon the deaths of babies in the neonatal unit of a hospital without any remorse. He sees toddlers wandering the streets of Rafah and Khan Yunis, searching for a parent that no longer exists.

The demonization of Palestinian families has a long and troubling history. For the past half-century, supporters of Israel have often repeated a quote attributed to Golda Meir: “Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.” Rather than reflect the humanistic values frequently ascribed to motherhood, this quote does the opposite. It denies A Palestinian woman’s affection for her family, and the struggle she endures for their survival underscores a legitimate struggle for freedom.

This denial has grown into more significant stereotypes about Palestinian mothers and the Palestinian people in general. I thought about the many loving Palestinian mothers I know and how they welcomed me into their homes with broad smiles, sweet words, tight hugs, and plates of food.

For Palestinian mothers living under occupation, harm is unavoidable. The harm comes when they’re detained at checkpoints, when their homes are raided in the middle of the night, and when soldiers shoot tear gas canisters and live bullets into crowded areas. It’s easier to resort to worn-out stereotypes about Arab mothers’ supposed callousness than to try to understand the harsh conditions under which they live. She is not a victim of hopelessness; she is like a person whose boat has overturned, and though she cannot swim, she thrashes about trying to safeguard her children, instinctively grabbing at them to save their lives, even if it means sacrificing herself in the process.

Arab women encounter extraordinary forms of discrimination not adequately addressed by human rights advocate groups, those who claim to champion civil liberty, and proponents of the “equal rights under the law” agenda. Western societies, influenced by the cultural explosion of people of color, have seen Palestinian women fight against exclusion in favor of dignity and honor and deliberately ignore the political circumstances they have been forced to endure.

Advocates for women’s rights have historically dismissed Middle Eastern women, disregarding their creed and culture, in favor of a brand of solidarity that centers on the safety and comfort of white women. The movement failed to recognize different latitudes and margins across our planet, as well as the capacities that included the cultural agenda of women from various temporalities and circumstances.

Western women have argued that gender should not overshadow ethnicity and creed since its inception. This rhetoric not only erases the experiences of women who march to a different drum but also alienates many from a movement that claims to want equality for all.

It is easy for people worldwide to have the illusion of knowing what Arab women and Arab families are like — from images provided by widespread electronic media to magazines and other forms of literature, or perhaps from having met a couple of Middle Eastern women here or abroad. Despite the strength of their struggle, which includes debunking the stereotype of the content, passive, and subjugated woman, it is still far too easy to discount the realities and values of those who live in a different world and gaze out of a different window.

Through the eyes of the Western woman, an Arab woman is a failed creature, unable to define her own goals regarding what features of her society and polity should be changed to initiate her own evolution. Commonly, the stereotype of the Arab woman is far from flattering and has influenced the capacity of Western women to have any real impact on the plight of Arab women, failing to recognize their right to generate their own political ideals and theories grounded in their experiences. The Western position is based on two flawed assumptions about Islam, Palestinians, and Muslim women in particular. They assume, firstly, that these women are forced to wear Muslim religious clothing and thus need to be saved and, secondly, that these practices conflict with some predefined understanding of “Western values.”

It was gross typecasting for Meir to infer that Palestinian women cannot articulate the kind of rights that promote a position of legal and social equality sought by her and her cronies. She failed to recognize the distinctive spiritual and cultural environment of Arabism throughout the world and the fact that the objectives of these women cannot be defined in the same way. This attitude pressures Arab women and other marginalized women of color to consider the norms of Western white women as universal and ventures to make the realities of the “other” fit into its own framework. In short, it attempts to make its female counterparts relocate themselves outside their own particularities.

Understanding the historical and current forms of genocide against the Palestinian people involves recognizing the multifaceted nature of this atrocity. Since October 2023, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, with nearly 35,000 of these victims being women and children. Palestinian women have been at the forefront of exposing how genocide transcends mere numbers, highlighting it as an orchestrated policy aimed at erasing their existence.

Genocide is an assault on the very foundations that sustain life: it targets the land, crucial for their livelihood and heritage; it attacks bodies, inflicting physical and psychological trauma; and it disrupts the everyday work of production and reproduction that maintains Palestinian society. This includes the systematic destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure, making daily life a constant struggle for survival.

Moreover, genocide manifests in the erosion of cultural and social structures. The imposition of checkpoints, the separation wall, and restrictions on movement impede the social and economic activities essential for a thriving community. The targeting of educational institutions and the imprisonment of Palestinian leaders and intellectuals aim to dismantle the fabric of Palestinian identity and resilience.

This comprehensive attack seeks not only to reduce the Palestinian population but also to erase their culture, history, and future. It is a deliberate attempt to undermine the basis of Palestinian life, forcing them into a perpetual state of vulnerability and dependency. Recognizing these dimensions is crucial in understanding the full scope of the genocide being perpetrated against the Palestinian people.

We have witnessed countless Palestinian women shield their children with their bodies in Gaza; the mothers who built a nation have been buried in mass graves. Nasreen, 31 years old, was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier as she sought to protect her two children from an unprovoked attack. This act of brutality is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of violence aimed at breaking the spirit of the Palestinian people.

The dynamics of occupation today are epitomized by Nariman, a 42-year-old mother of four from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. Nariman has spent her entire life under occupation, witnessing the gradual encroachment of the nearby Halamish settlement on her family’s and neighbors’ lands. In 2009, when Halamish settlers seized the village’s spring, denying Nabi Saleh’s residents access to their main water supply, the villagers began holding weekly unarmed protests to raise international awareness and regain access to their water.

Nariman has played multiple roles in her community’s struggle. She has served as a medic, tending to the wounded during protests, and as a citizen journalist, documenting Israeli human rights violations. Her efforts to highlight the injustices faced by her community have been met with brutal repression. In 2012, Nariman witnessed IDF soldiers shoot her brother Rushdie in the back and then prevent others from coming to his aid, leading to his death. An IDF probe later concluded that the bullets that killed Rushdie were fired “without justification,” but this acknowledgment does little to comfort a community in mourning and constant fear.

The stories of Nasreen and Nariman are emblematic of the broader struggle faced by Palestinian women. They are not just victims but also resilient figures who continue to fight for their rights and the rights of their communities. These women, through their actions and sacrifices, challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions held by the outside world.

The Western feminist movement, often centered on the experiences of white women, has historically failed to recognize the unique struggles of Palestinian women. The assumption that gender issues can be addressed in isolation from race, creed, and the geopolitical context is fundamentally flawed. Palestinian women are fighting a multi-faceted battle for gender equality, national liberation, and the survival of their families and communities.

The genocide against the Palestinian people is not just about the numbers killed; it is an orchestrated policy designed to dismantle their society. It is an attack on their land, their bodies, and their cultural identity. It seeks to erase their history and undermine their future, forcing them into a state of perpetual vulnerability and dependency. Understanding these dimensions is essential to grasping the full extent of the atrocities committed and the resilience of those who continue to resist.

Newsweek, the Times, or Democracy Now cannot adequately exhibit the pictures of starving children in Khan Younis Refugee Camp, nor slaughtered babies piled up under the earth, with the anesthetic message of a journalist’s alienated eyes, and convey a secret meaning that such things do not exist — or if they do, then only in a way that cannot touch others or make claims upon their lives and careers.

The Israeli government is conscious of its power, intolerant toward Christian and Muslim people, inconsiderate of equality, and dishonest in its policies. It is not obliged to maintain peace, as it enforces Zionism and the uncivil laws that accompany it. American missiles do not provide military security in Israel but enable aggression. We know that the American goal is to arrange the world in a way that materially benefits it. Their interest is not humanitarian but economic, and they have made it their mission to gain autonomous control of the Middle East and oil-producing regions by whatever means necessary. This is nothing new. Americans have historically provided support to Middle Eastern monsters, Arabs, and Israelis alike.

Drones, bombs, and bullets damage public health, destroy public utilities, demolish land resources, and spread the call of injustice. More firepower will be facilitated for the Israelis as long as they request it. By allowing the expansion of the military target area in Gaza, Netanyahu salivates as he seeks to transform everything around the area, inside, as objects to be demolished or dismembered. By mowing down their homes, confiscating their land, and assassinating their people, he has reduced the Palestinians to being disposable units. His vision of an end to the siege in Gaza is the complete annihilation of the people living there.

So, why is it incumbent upon the Arabs to be obedient and loyal to a government that places their lives at its disposal? When the Palestinians spoke, the Zionist regime twisted their words or refused to listen. After the International Court of Justice denounced Israeli crimes and the justices advised them, they still failed to dismiss and discredit them.

The Palestinian woman’s outrage does not suggest culpability, nor does it make her a victim in the conventional sense, but rather a casualty of Israeli aggression. Those who have died must be remembered not just as individuals, but as part of a broader, systematic extermination driven by a longstanding grudge. After 75 years, Palestinians have not seen the diplomatic revival promised by those who have hurt them, those who refused to accept that there was nothing worse than being labeled internationally as a “problem” unable to be solved.

The scope of her rejection is larger than Israelis are prepared to recognize. It is the same with many other forms of protest and denunciation. When mothers say “no” to the use of targeted assassination, to the defoliation of olive groves, and to the incineration of their children in the West Bank and Gaza, they are not suggesting “some other method” of conducting an illegal war; they are demanding that the war itself should be halted.

The insistence upon ‘constructive criticism’ in a situation like this pretends to miss the real point of the protest. Palestinian mothers and others who resist are not calling for better ways to manage oppression; they are calling for the end of the oppression itself. The refusal to engage with this fundamental demand prolongs the injustices they seek to eliminate, transforming their cries for justice into acts of resistance driven by a desperate need to protect their loved ones.

The myth that Israel is a democracy is just that — a myth. This narrative lacks a historical foundation. The reality is far more complex and troubling, reflecting a systematic disregard for the rights and lives of the Palestinian people. Evasion of the role of power is, of course, a calculated luxury of those who wield it. In the Israeli state, this is both a transparent and self-serving lie: self-serving for the power class within this land. It underscores the domination that it holds over the lives of millions of poor and homeless people. There is always an insufficient reason for a cease-fire. The underlying assumption in this process of denial and evasion is neither honest nor conscionable. It is the pretense that there are no grounds within that social order for strong and risk-taking resistance and opposition. The more we look, the more we listen, and the more we talk, we will find natural battle lines of power, combat, competition, and absolute freedom.

There are Palestinians, and there are Israelis — oppressed and oppressors — each with conflicting goals. Resources are infinitely expanding and available to all on an unequal basis. The refusal to acknowledge these power dynamics and the reality of oppression perpetuates the status quo. It denies the legitimate grievances of the oppressed and pretends that superficial dialogue can resolve deep-seated injustices.

The persistence of these protests and acts of resistance underscores the depth of their rejection of the status quo and their unwavering demand for genuine peace and justice. By insisting on ‘constructive criticism’ and superficial reforms, those in power sidestep the core issue: the systemic and ongoing violence and discrimination faced by Palestinians. These mothers and their communities are not seeking mere adjustments to the existing system; they are fighting for fundamental change that recognizes their humanity and their rights.

We must begin to ask ourselves, what do Americans think about justice and fair play? They must also be willing to ask the Israeli government to reflect on this, mainly when it uses the power of US weapons to kill civilians in refugee camps. How are they to protect their own people from an army that even attacks foreign journalists because the IDF wished to suppress their stories? Considering the American tradition as a democratic nation, which once fought against a horrible state of oppression of its own, it seems to me that we would be on firm ground in soliciting an explanation.

Palestinians call upon others to acknowledge that there is both good and evil in the land, and they encourage them to work tirelessly to root out the latter. They warned people of the danger of sheltered nationalism and patriotic dogmatism. They wished to remind them that it ought to be apparent, by this time, that they will never enjoy a lasting peace if they continue to make the Palestinians victims of their missiles and automatic weapons. Further, they encouraged all young Israelis to develop an ethical sensitivity to the needs and aspirations of all human beings, including the Arabs. They summoned all of its citizens to no longer place their patriotic standards first and their conscience last.

• Khalilah Sabra