Please note that due to the constant need to update this post, I wasn’t able to record an audio narration. I know that y’all love my voice, but don’t worry it’ll just be this post. I’d also like to add that if some of the dates (as in “number of days since” confuse you, that is my bad; I’ve been writing this post for the past three months and so have been adjusting day numbers as needed, but may not have caught everything. Furthermore, I intend to continue adding important updates to this as and when they happen (in the P.S) until a ceasefire is agreed upon, so come back!

As I sit down to start writing this, it has been 75 years and 222 days since Israeli forces have waged war on the lives and homes of Palestinian people. 77 days since Hamas retaliated. The Word document has stayed empty for over a month before now, and that is a privilege that I’d like to preface with acknowledging. I’m not directly impacted by it, and so I’ve had the ability to simply… prioritise other things. For half of a genocide. Though my intentions weren’t malicious, it just forces me to acknowledge that the people that have been forced to document this genocide in real time do not have such space or time. They live in fear for their lives, today more than ever before, and yet are still showing the Western world the atrocities that are being committed to their people. I literally ended my outline with the words “talk about Palestine, and pray that [this genocide]’s ended before I post this”. 40 days after writing that, we’re still here.

It’s a bittersweet feeling to have not found out about the history of Israeli occupation on October 7th, 2023; having learned about it through the family of one of my closest friends in highschool, who is Palestinian-Jordanian. This was at least 7 years ago. She used to tell me about her family born in Palestine and how they had to move to Jordan. It’s devastating to have known about it beforehand because of her, but it also makes me grateful that I didn’t find out about it in 2023. That I’m not part of those that still, even in the face of empirical evidence of the many war crimes Israel has committed over these 75 years and 222 days, wilfully choose to ignore the fact that this didn’t start on October 7th. That “Israel has a right to defend themselves after the attack from Hamas”. I’ve heard this from Zionist Jews, and, more disappointingly in the weeks following Hamas’s retaliation, from a vast number of Christians (but I will address THOSE people later).

Sure, the majority of ignorance was exhibited in the couple of weeks following Hamas’s retaliation, and now, at least in my friendship groups, those that were once ignorant have done their research and are on the right side of history. But, for those that still choose to remain “neutral” in the face of this genocide, let me educate you.

Zionism is the “religious” political ideology that emerged in 1800s Eastern Europe. At its (very reductive) core, it is the belief that Jewish people are a nation that deserve their own state. Due to anti-Semitism in the Russian Empire, Jews began settling in Palestine in their thousands from 1882 ¹.

Viennese Zionist, Theodor Herzl, published Der Judenstaat ²(German – translates to ‘The Jewish State’) in 1896. His pamphlet, which resolved that the creation of a Jewish state was the only appropriate remedy to anti-Semitism in Europe, came to be seen as a foundational basis for Zionism as it’s understood today. Ironically, some of Zionism’s pioneers initially proposed a Jewish state in Uganda or Argentina, because they concluded that setting up a Jewish state wouldn’t be feasible in Europe, but because God called the Jacobean people of the Old Testament ‘Israel’, and because the ‘Holy Land’ of the Old Testament was promised to the Jews by God, they decided on Palestine.

Please note:

1. No Zionist Jews were Israeli before they created the state of Israel. The majority of Zionist pioneers were Normadic or Slavic (see Moses Hess, Leon Pinsker, and Chaim Weizmann).
2. The word Israel (in Hebrew ‘Yisrael’) translates to ‘one who struggles with God’ ³. It was the name God gave Jacob in Genesis. The collective, Israel (of Exodus), which refers to Jacob’s people, has no correlation to the modern state of Israel. Particularly when you consider the fact that Jacob is a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ ^4,5. You know, the Messiah upon which Christianity is founded.
3. The same passages of the Bible in which Zionism is “rooted”, also required the Jews in question to obey God and His Levitical Law, otherwise God would (and DID) take it away from them.
4. Geographically, occupational Israel is being incredibly greedy. Even if we accepted the supposition that they “deserved” the Promise Land, what have Syria and Lebanon (which are both north of the Promise Land and yet have been bombed) got to do with it?

75 years and (now) 267 days ago, on May 15, 1948, the state of Israel came into existence. This does not, however, mean that Al-Nakba – the Arabic word referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that translates to ‘the Catastrophe’ – started or ended on that Saturday in 1948. The forceful dispossession of Palestinians had been occurring for years before 1948, and, sadly, is still happening to this day. By 1949, Israeli forces had annihilated roughly 530 entire civilisations, displaced more than 750,000 people, massacred approximately 15,000 Palestinians, and occupied over 78% of historic Palestine.

Prior to the settlement of Zionist Jews, Palestine was a multicultural nation. Among the Palestinian Muslims, there were Palestinian Jews – the Yishuv – who amounted to about 3% of the total Palestinian population. The difference between the two Jewish demographics? The Yishuv had no intentions of founding a Jewish state in Palestine and thus cohabitated peacefully.

Through my research, I’ve come to recognise the British as the true vehicle by which Zionism was able to succeed. The British never fail to be on the wrong side of history. The Sykes-Picot treaty (a secret treaty between Britain and France that divided the Middle East between the two empires in the name of ✨imperialism✨) gave Palestine to Britain in 1916 ⁶. The next year, as the result of some politicking from one Chaim Weizmann and a certain Baron Rothschild, the British government took on the arduous task of aiding Zionist aspirations in “establishing a national home for the Jewish people”. The Balfour Declaration was actualised in 1919, when the British began facilitating Zionist immigration to Palestine and caused the Jewish population in Palestine to increase to 27% of the total population in 1935. Their method of displacement began early, with Zionists buying already inhabited land by taking advantage of inadequate landlords.

Please note: in this treaty, Britain wasn’t outlined to have direct control over Palestine, only influence. They gave Palestine to Weizmann when it didn’t even belong to them! That would be like me, Temilayo, telling my friend that is looking for somewhere to live (when they have a family home, be it with a ton of family tension, but still) that they can move into a block of apartments down the street from the one I own. That’s a ludicrous thing to do. Why?

1. I don’t have direct control over that property, though what I do with my own property may affects theirs
2. I already have a home. They also already have a home. I could’ve offered to let them stay in my space temporarily until they found something that was unoccupied.
3. Someone else already lives there!

The influx of European Jews between 1933 and 1936 (because Nazism = bad) incited the Arab Revolt of 1936. The uprising of Palestinian Arabs against Britain lasted three years, but the British ultimately defeated their efforts the way colonisers know best: violently. Again, the British gave Zionists the skeleton for oppression they’re using today; they destroyed Palestinian homes, put 9000 Palestinians in concentrations camps (where they were subjected to torture), and deported 200 Palestinian national leaders.

By 1944, enough Zionists had immigrated to Palestine to overturn the British influence. So, when the government finally applied some critical thinking to the consequences of their actions and tried to slow down the rate of immigration of European Jews into Palestine during the Holocaust, Zionist groups declared war on Britain… and followed through. They launched a series of attacks on the British, most notably killing 91 people in a bombing in 1946.

The British rid themselves of their Zionist problem in 1947, when they handed over their influence in Palestine to the United Nations (more on that powerless organisation later). November 29th, 1947 was the day Resolution 181 was adopted, in which it was recommended that Palestine be separated into Jewish and Arab states. At this time in 1947, though Jews now accounted for about a third of the total population, they only owned <6% of the land. And they were fine.

You may be wondering: in light of all of the conflict that occurred prior to May 15th, 1948, why did Palestinians choose that date to commemorate Al-Nakba? The answer to this is simple: May 15th is the date the British government had announced would end their mandate. And subsequently, the Israeli state came into fruition. Conversely, May 15th is Israel’s independence day. Who they gained independence from, I haven’t a clue, but I digress.

There have been multiple attacks on Palestinian people since Al-Nakba in 1948. One such event was the Naksa (Arabic – translating to ‘setback’) in 1967, during which Israel expanded their area of occupation to about 85% of historic Palestine. Taking areas in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza to make them smaller for Palestinian Arabs, and displacing roughly 430,000 Palestinians. Like the ethnic cleansing today, many of those displaced during Naksa were originally displaced during the Nakba. Also, like today, Israeli forces broke international laws to succeed xx

Today, there are roughly 5 million Palestinians living between the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. There are a further 1.8 million Palestinians living in Israel. This population of almost 7 million Palestinians is not inclusive of the approximately 8 million Palestinian refugees; living outside of Palestine in other nations (like my friend) or in UN refugee camps in neighbouring countries like Egypt and Lebanon. In a land that belongs to them, Palestinian Arabs have been sequestered to three main areas: the Gaza strip, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank. In Gaza especially, Israeli control is the strongest; Israel controls the air space, sea and borders of Gaza (which is why it was “illegal” for them to collect the rainwater to drink). There are a plethora of laws that categorise Palestinians Arabs as inferior to Zionist Jews, having been relegated to what is, essentially, a caste system (explained in this video).

Finally, I wanted to give a brief history on Hamas, due to their seemingly critical involvement in the story today. HAMAS, which is actually an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya ⁷(Arabic – ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’), was formed at the beginning of the first intifada (Arabic – uprising) in 1987. It’s a subsidiary (of sorts) of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamic organisation founded in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in 1928 ⁸. Their charter is the perfect opposite of Zionism, with the goal to establish an Islamic Palestinian state, and their largest forces are between the Gaza strip and some areas of the West Bank. They have been performing organised anti-Israel attacks since the 90s, ranging in magnitude and effect. They replaced Fatah, the former Palestinian Nationalist Democratic Party, as the legislative power of Palestine in 2006. Both the US and the UN have determined HAMAS as a terrorist organisation, which, though in technicality is not incorrect, I believe there is a lot of nuance being ignored. Namely, the fact that HAMAS would never have been created if not out of necessity. Its constituents would have remained members of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The use of violent resistance was necessitated by the previous 50 years of armed oppression that had been imparted upon them by Zionists.

The definition of the word “terrorism” has many iterations, depending on who you ask. It can be generally boiled down to acts that meet the following criteria:

• the use of threat/ violence to create fear
• the use of that fear to further a political agenda
  • if the general population is scared, they may pressure their governments in favour of the terrorist organisation
• the use of propaganda to further their political ideology

The FBI states that terrorism (both international and domestic) is always categorised by use of violent, criminal acts ⁹. However, historically, there have been instances in which violence was necessary to fight against oppression. Think, for example, of the resistance of the African National Congress against South African apartheid ¹⁰, or of the resistance of Nazi occupation in France during WW2 ¹¹. If we can acknowledge the requirement for these resistant organisations, why, then is HAMAS condemned so? There are many (and I don’t overexaggerate when I say many) layers to this answer. All of which can generally be separated under the umbrellas of racism and capitalism (and I’m sure those who know political science could argue that there are connections between those, too). If you haven’t noticed, the little numbers next to certain words are hyperlinks to the sources used all over this blog post. Here, I’ll be leaving a bibliography of further reading. Because I still am yet to actually get to my point, and I don’t want this to be too long, if you’d like to delve further into the layers, particularly those regarding capitalism, there will be more than enough sources here to keep you busy. It will give you a full picture as to why our political leaders have acted as callously as they have these past 90 (now 123) days.

Now that I’ve given sufficient historical context, let’s discuss the events happening today. As mentioned previously, it has been 90 days (now 123) since October 7th, 2023, when Hamas surprised Israel with their largest series of attacks to date, killing about 1,400 people in total (this number has since been revised down to 1,139 ¹²). Israel’s president, Benjamin Netanyahu, subsequently declared war on Hamas, due to the “unprecedented nature” of their attack. This “war”, has resulted in a total death toll of ~30,000 (sources said over 30,000 in December ¹³, but numbers have since… decreased in January ¹⁴… somehow); 28,000 of which were civilians (including 12,000 children), and 66,000 injured. Injuries range from minute multiple amputations (most of which, in the last 45 days, have been performed without anaesthesia, due to the lack of medical aid). Please note though, the death toll of 30,000 doesn’t include those still under the copious amounts of rubble that are presumed dead. If you were to conflate the two numbers, it would be closer to 45,000 total. Over 1.9 million people have been displaced, and almost 3,000 have been taken hostage. Israel has bombed numerous hospitals, schools, and historic landmarks, killing healthcare workers and civilians in their droves. They’ve also killed 120 journalists ¹⁵, often going to the length of directly targeting them and their families.

As I mentioned, the United Nations have been incredibly useless. However, this time the problem hasn’t necessarily been the people themselves. The system in place is flawed. For example, the fact that the US representative of the UN (as well as the representatives of Russia, China, France, and the UK) has the bureaucratic power to veto every other vote? Treacherous. And all because they’re considered one of the five “permanent members” of the Security Council ¹⁶(as if all other countries represented have the ability to simply cease to exist). On October 18th, the United Nations Security Council held their second meeting in New York to discuss appropriate resolutions to Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Upon the proposal of humanitarian pauses (which… was a silly proposal to begin but was better than nothing), 12 countries voted in favour but the last country (the US) had the power to veto all of their votes. How does that democratically make sense? This system has allowed the US to veto proposals in aid of Palestine a total of 34 times since 1945 ¹⁷. This means that, though UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has openly condemned the international laws that Israel continues to break, there is nothing that the UN themselves can do. The US is essentially running the UN due to their vetoing capability.

The UN also established 64 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugee in the Near East (UNRWA) schools, which many Palestinians from North Gaza initially fled to. However, today, many of those schools have since been bombed by Israel as their attacks have moved further south (to the areas civilians were instructed to flee to). The WHO has also tried providing aid to Palestinians from the start, but the limited quantities that Israel has been permitting to enter into Gaza aren’t particularly alleviating any of the crises Palestinians face (like disease and starvation) ¹⁸.

There is, at this point, only so much else the people of Palestine can do to further assist their liberation. That ‘so much’ decreases as the days go by. That is where we come in. We in privileged places, places of power, intercede on their behalf. There is so MUCH we can do.

I can only speak about intercession from a religious, Christian perspective, because that is the lens from which I see everything, but a lot of what I’m about to say will apply to those who follow other religions, or no religion at all. Intercession is defined as “the act of interceding on behalf of another.” In Christianity, it is usually ascribed to intercessory prayer, and prayer alone. When you type into Google “what is intercession”, all sources (that I found at least) mention prayer, and examples of intercessory prayer in the Bible ¹⁹. However, I do not believe that our duty as Christians is solely to pray for those in need. Of course, God’s will is the defining factor, but in today’s society, when we have such access to the world, the intercessory actions of those in the Old Testament are not all we have the capacity to do. Also, if you bother them enough (both God – through prayer – and politicians – through action) it will get to a point where they’ll concede just so you can leave them alone about it. There is a literal parable about it in Luke 11:5-13.

In the old Testament, examples of people who interceded include Job and Abraham. Those babes didn’t have the Grace that we do today, through Jesus, so the way they had to pray was very different to the way we’re able to now. They were bound by Levitical Law (the same 613 laws that govern Judaism) and thus, had to abide by certain ceremonial rites – like burning offerings – in order to have a relationship with God. That didn’t stop them from interceding, though.

Today, Christians are lucky enough to not have to do such things. Grace has made it such that we can speak to God whenever we want, wherever we are. That is majorly to our advantage when we endeavour to intercede on behalf of others, because it means our faith and works can happen simultaneously. You can immediately supplement any intercessory action with prayer; we no longer have to go to the Temple and enter into certain rooms in certain garments like they did before. If the ceremony didn’t hinder those in the Old Testament, like Jeremiah (the master of intercession imo. He interceded so well that God directly forbade him from interceding for Judah anymore ²⁰), so why wouldn’t Grace be a larger motivator for us to intercede in ways they wouldn’t have thought of in the BC times? Christians today are ✨lazy✨.

Given how available everything is today, our largest act of resistance as intercessors is inconvenience. Everything we do to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves is, frankly, inconvenient. Boycotting is inconvenient, not particularly because you’re denying yourself products/ services that have changed your life in any significantly beneficial way, but because most of the time it requires us to change our routines. Not going to Starbucks in the morning before work; not popping to McDonald’s at 3AM after a night out. Little things that inconvenience us in small ways, but collectively devastate the companies in question. If the boycotting wasn’t working, McDonald’s wouldn’t be scrambling (especially in the UK) to release half-hearted statements or discounts, and Starbucks wouldn’t have paid celebrities to be sighted with their cups (before ultimately encouraging patrons to bring their own cups so that they still have the opportunity to purchase the coffee without the negative connotations of the mermaid logo). It is the same system that the genocide is being upheld by (capitalism) that will, ultimately, cause its demise. And we, as humans that care about other nations (Christian and non-Christian alike) have the responsibility of enforcing that process. Discomfort is a good thing; always, in my eyes. In all contexts, it’s the space in which the most change occurs. It applies pressure. As should we.

Boycotting isn’t the only manifestation of intercessory action. For those who have access to their local MPs, you can make their lives as uncomfortable as possible (as seen last week by the constituents of Camden at their local council meeting in this video). Everyone who is complicit in the continuation of this genocide shouldn’t feel calm enough to sleep through the night. Of course, everything should be done within reason; we still have laws to abide by, but there is a lot that can and is being done to disrupt the lives of complicit politicians. It will get to a point, quite like a child incessantly asking their parents for something, that our MPs will pressure Rishi for a ceasefire, too. Get educated on your rights and get creative x

I’d like to finally disillusion us all of the claim that Jesus isn’t inherently political in nature. Some Christians may still maintain a stance of neutrality in the name of verses in the Bible like Proverbs 20:3, where it says that avoiding conflict is a mark of honour, but I could counter this argument with the fact that the Bible routinely calls us as Christians to fight injustice. The same Proverbs (31:8-9) says that we should speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves to help them attain justice. Jesus himself protested throughout his life. Just because he wasn’t rallying people up to march doesn’t mean he didn’t stand up against things that were wrong. And Jesus wasn’t even always peaceful about it! In John 2:13-25, when Jesus storms the Temple courts, he goes around flipping tables and whipping people to get them out. What is peaceful about that? That’s rather riotous if you ask me x

If you’re one of those Christians who have stayed silent about what’s going on in Palestine (and Congo and Sudan) then you need to sit down in a dark room and reflect on your life. Maybe read the book of Jeremiah and the four books of the gospel while you’re reflecting. Get yourself together. There is always time for you to take a stance. If you’ve read this far, there’s no way you can claim inadequate education now. Just as God forgives our transgressions, the plight of Palestinans towards liberation will be positively affected by your additional support. There is no better time to start than now.

As I finish this blog post, it has been 123 days of genocide. I would’ve loved to have started writing and finished it on a joyous note because of a ceasefire being called, but I fear that is not the case. The press keep being murdered, and those that remain, like Bisan and Motaz (who recently evacuated to Qatar for the safety of himself and his family on January 22nd), look visibly like they’ve given up. I imagine, though, that the level of demoralisation that I am experiencing at present cannot compare to that which the people of Palestine are feeling. So we will persist, on their behalf. Intercede, on their behalf. Ensure Palestinian liberation, because that’s the very least they deserve.

This was a lot to write, and I hope it gives everyone a lot to think about. I undoubtedly did a lot of thinking as I wrote it. With all of this being said, Free Palestine. Free Congo. Free Sudan. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. God will deal with Israel like he did in Jeremiah 39 xx

And the class said: Amen.

That’s all.

To keep yourself updated, I link below the socials of journalists who still remain in Gaza (as of completing this on January 24th, 2024).

Bisan | Tiktok (she goes live quite often)| Instagram

Hind | Instagram | Twitter

Saleh (for Arabic speakers) | Instagram | Twitter

Lama (who is 9 years old) | Instagram

but there are many more. Though there is a lot of bad going on, please don’t forget to seek out (and share) examples of Palestinian joy, too; they have so much of it.

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P.S. I was having a conversation with a friend that studied PPE (philosophy, politics, and economics) and she offered me a very interesting perspective. As someone who knows multiple Palestinians that have been directly affected by the genocide, I can acknowledge that my view on things may be, at times, increasingly subjective, rather than objective. She and I were talking about how certain rhetorics that disregard the (be it wrong) mindset of Israeli people aid in the perpetuation of toxic cycles of prejudice, violence, and oppression. I know that what Zionists are doing is wrong; hopefully you know that, too. There are even many Israeli citizens that know it. It is because of that fact, I have categorised everyone that is a Zionist as an inherently evil person. And, while many of them are, that opinion doesn’t actually do anything to promote lasting change. Zionists, ultimately, have the upper hand, both socioeconomically and (as we continue to see) in terms of military power. And so, though it is incredibly frustrating, that is a key factor that must be considered when talking about what liberation for Palestinians looks like. Because that is what matters most, at the end of the day. Understanding their (warped) point of view will be part of the key to ensuring they leave Palestinians alone in the future.

P.P.S. In the month since posting this, a lot has happened. Namely:

• Aaron Bushnell, may he Rest in Peace, self-immolated (set himself on fire) in front of the Israeli embassy in DC. He died on February 25th, aged 25, and his last words were “Free Palestine”. Whilst he was burning alive, a Secret Service officer held him at gunpoint, offering no help. (Yes, two others “attempted to put him out” but that’s besides the principle of the point.) In Aaron’s will, he asked for all his savings to go to a Palestinian children’s relief fund. Also in his will, he asked for his remains to be cremated but not scattered unless there was a free Palestine in which to scatter them.
• The Flour Massacre (twice). over 150 people were killed and thousands injured trying to retrieve aid in North Gaza. Israeli troops told the Palestinians still in the north that they’d be able to collect bags of flour in the early hours of the morning, only to open fire indiscriminately on them as they tried to retrieve the aid for their families. This has happened twice; once on February 29th, and a second time on March 4th.
• The US dropped in aid on March 3rd. This aid consisted of roughly 38,000 meals. Fortunately, Israel didn’t open fire on them this time, but the amount of aid (according to aid organisations) isn’t enough to feed everybody. And one (me, I am the one) could also argue that America only did it because of the rife backlash Joe Biden is receiving; taking further into consideration the fact that he’d want his image to be as positive as possible before the May elections.
• I saw a man run over completely. By an Israeli tank. Unrecognisable as a human being bar the leg that was intact, his blood, and the fat cells that are meant to stay inside his body, but did not.
• Rishi Sunak said, and I quote, “They want us to doubt our country’s history, and achievements. They want us to accept a moral equivalence between Britain and some of the most despicable regimes in the world… When these groups claim that Britain is, and has been on the wrong side of history, we should reject it, and reject it again.” An Indian man. That’s all.

P.P.P.S. My friend, Fama, has started a mailing list, called Palestine, Resistance, and the Law, where she will be sending out weekly readings that provide historical context on Palestine from a legal point of view. It’s been really interesting to further read about the legal elements of this occupation. You can sign up here to join the mailing list x

P.P.P.P.S. March 25th update:

• The “official” death toll has now surpassed 40,000 people; the majority still being women and children.
• There are disturbingly increasing reports of IDF soldiers sexually assaulting Palestinian, particularly in the Al-Shifa hospital complex. Once such story (of many) being that a soldier beat a pregnant woman and then proceeded to rape her in front of her family.
• I saw a video of IDF soldiers playing football in one of the houses they’d plundered. On the same day that the World of Statistics ranks Israeli citizens (under 30) as the second happiest country IN THE WORLD.
• The Guardian, after 168 days, released a factually headlined article about the genocide. Read that here.
• The war on Sudan will reach the one year mark on April 15th. 5 MILLION people are on the brink of starvation, 230,000 of those being new mothers and babies.
• Aid massacres continue, and have occurred almost daily since the first Flour Massacre on February 29th.
• The girls trying to keep Gazans connected are running out of E-Sims. If you can donate, here’s a link to do so.

P.P.P.P.P.S April 3rd update:

• So much happened in the two hours after I posted my previous update. Namely:
• An “immediate” ceasefire clause was agreed by the UN Security Council to last the rest of ramadan (which amounted to two weeks…)
• In this vote, the US abstained, and they would’ve vetoed if the “unconditional release of all hostages” wasn’t included.
• However, because Israel can do whatever they please without ramification, in the days since the passing of this ceasefire motion, Israel escalated bombing in Gaza, alongside bombing Syria and Lebanon. They also proceeded to take an estimated total of 89 prisoners from the West Bank (where Hamas has no connection).
• The ICJ ordered Israel to allow unrestricted aid into Gaza on day 174 (it’s now day 179), however, Israel instead have resorted to directly targeting foreign aid workers. They killed seven aid workers on April 1st, 2 of whom were UK citizens, 1 Polish man, an Australian woman, 1 Canadian, an American, and their Palestinian translator. Netanyahu has since said that the bombing of their clearly marked aid cars, cars that had coordinated movement with Israel prior to travel, were “unintended”.
• Palestinian Christians were denied access to Jerusalem this Easter.
• Israeli troops finally left Al-Shifa Hospital… in ruin. They’ve set fire to the buildings, over 400 bodies of Palestinians that they executed have been found (what’s been left of their bodies show signs of torture).

May 3 Update – Day 210:

It’s incredibly disheartening to still be updating this blog post, but I can say that in the last month, I’ve felt something change. God is moving in the people. So many large demonstrations have happened in the past two weeks all over America alone:

• Columbia University students started the wave of encampments on April 17th. It was really an amazing time to see people coming together; students for the Palestinian cause and civillians for the students’ cause. They routinely created human barriers between the encampments and the NYPD.
• Harvard and Yale followed suit.
• There have been “liberated zone” encampments in many other universities, including: University of Florida, UCLA (I will talk about them specifically in a second), UPenn, Brown (the misguided darlings who disbanded their encampment for promises of a vote to divest), GWU, and many others. Resistance is rising, on both sides. There are universities in France, Australia and the UK that have created encampments also, though news outlets aren’t reporting on them.
• The Israeli Ambassador for the UN said yesterday in a speech that Hamas was now hiding in America’s top universities. The basic inference from that is that Israel is threatening to bomb American universities, considering what they’ve done to all of the “Hamas hiding spots” in Gaza over the last seven months!
• re: UCLA students. Maybe it’s because I’m seeing the most about their encampment recently, but the fact that droves of police have been sent out (like the NYPD for Columbia students) and have been allowed to shoot rubber bullets and tear gas at UNARMED STUDENTS makes me feel sick. It also confirms to me that we are on the right side; you never see this type of treatment with riots of far-right fascist groups. Any history book will demonstrate that the government agreeing with the ideology of a large group means said group is wrong. The police have even gone as far to publicly, on television, remove any disguising garments (like masks, goggles, and keffiyehs) from detained protestors in order to expose their identities… as if that’s a) not against their constitutional rights and b) ultimately going to do anything but put them in harms way, physically. If the intention was to ensure their future careers are killed, that won’t work. If the intention is to allow Zionists to be able to recognise them and potentially harm these people protesting against genocide (as if that’s a morally reprehensible action) then… they’ve done their jobs admirably. Police have also allowed pro Israeli mobs to attack the UCLA encampment, so it seems as though they weren’t actually called to keep the peace..?
• Columbia (the country, not the university) has officially cut all diplomatic ties with Israel.
• 143 countries have openly recognised Palestine as its own country. Those that are UN members have recognised Palestine as a member state, too.
• Turkey has stopped all trade with Israel.
• There are 37M tonnes of rubble in Gaza. 800,000 tonnes of which is asbestos.