2/ @SpeakerMcCarthy failed to cancel our event & silence the voices of Palestinian survivors of the Nakba. McCarthy's attempts to prevent Palestinians from sharing their lived experiences under Israeli oppression mirrors Israel's attempt to erase the Palestinian people.
3/ But as @4noura eloquently stated: "We exist. And today, gathered here we are collectively saying, Nahna mawjudin. It is of utmost importance to say that here because we are within the very institution that has sustained the ongoing Nakba."
4/ @YousefMunayyer noted: "Prior to 1948, only about 7% of the land of Palestine was owned by Jewish landowners after decades of trying to purchase as much as they could. After the ethnic cleansing, the [Israeli] state took control of more than 90% of the land."
5/ @shiranrobinson stated: "Between 1948 and 1949, under the cover of war, Zionist militias, and then Israeli troops, successfully expelled and otherwise uprooted roughly 85% of the indigenous Arabs of Palestine who inhabited the large portion of the country they conquered."
6/ Dr. Abed Musa, who was 8 years old at the time, shared his powerful experiences witnessing atrocities and being exiled from his village of Abbasiyeh, near Jaffa, in conversation with his daughter, Jumana.
7/ We also honored all the Nakba survivors who were able to join us last night.
She understands the grammar for fleeing,
unspoken rules that decide how
the journey will end, when words
like harb, war, and jou`, hunger,
might ebb and not flow.
Her toddler wakes asking for water
as the sea responds with crashing waves.
9/ @joshruebner: "US diplomats sent reports of discrimination by Israel against Palestinians who remained in cities such as Haifa & ‘Akka, Palestinians expelled by Israel from Tarshiha in the north & Majdal in the south, & wanton atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers."
10/ @JehadAbusalim: The Nakba "isn't just the loss of the homeland but the suspension of our lives & an assault on our dignity as a people. The Palestinian quest for liberation & return isn't just about reclaiming land but also about living in our historic homeland in peace."
11/ @basel_adra of #SaveMasaferYatta: "Palestinians have faced brutal attacks from soldiers & settlers. The Israeli army prevents Palestinian communities in my area from connecting to water. The Israelis make our lives hard so that we leave and they can take over our land."
12/ @RepRashida stated: "Speaker McCarthy wants to rewrite history & erase the existence & truth of the Palestinian people...We cannot allow the same people who want to ban books & erase history simply b/c they’re uncomfortable with the truth to silence Palestinian voices."
13/ @RepRashida also introduced a historic resolution: "As we mark 75 years since the horror of the Nakba, we honor the 1000s of lives lost, and the nearly 800,000 Palestinians who were...violently displaced from their communities during this period of intense ethnic cleansing."
THREAD: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just finished giving a speech to Congress. Here are the takeaways.
Benjamin Netanyahu has led Israel’s genocide in Gaza, killing well over 39,000 Palestinians in just 9 months while illegally starving Gaza’s entire population, half of whom are children.
Today, he called on Congress to give him enough weapons to “finish the job.”
Let’s be clear: Netanyahu just announced his genocidal intent in front of Congress.
THREAD: A new @UN report finds that Israeli soldiers are systematically sexually abusing Palestinians.
Content Warning: This thread includes descriptions of sexual violence.
For months, Palestinians in Gaza have reported horrific accounts of Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting them.
Now, a new UN report confirms that Israel’s sexual abuse of Palestinians in Gaza is part of its “operating procedures.”
Israeli soldiers’ sexual abuse of Palestinians in the past 8 months includes:
- Raping at least 1 Palestinian to death
- Raping Palestinians by forcing them to sit on hot, electric metal rods
- Sexually abusing Palestinian children, including by forcing them to strip naked in public
- Collecting the intimate wear of Palestinian women after violently forcing them to flee from their homes
- Writing rape threats on the ruins of Palestinian homes they’ve destroyed
- Videotaping and posting their sexual abuse of Palestinians online
THREAD: In the last 48 hours, the Israeli military has escalated its violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, killing 12 Palestinians. Since October, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 543 Palestinians, including 133 children.
For the past 8 months, Israel has conducted daily raids on Palestinian homes and communities in the West Bank. Recently, this violence has reached unprecedented levels, causing widespread terror and suffering.
Israel has no legal authority to send its military into Palestinian towns and cities. The ongoing violence and humiliation inflicted on Palestinians in the West Bank are both unjust and unlawful.
THREAD: Israel invaded the Palestinian City of Jenin today, killing 7 Palestinians, including 2 children.
With full impunity, Israel is intensifying its broad daylight attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
At 8AM this morning, while Palestinians were on their way to school and work, the Israeli military invaded the Palestinian city of Jenin.
Israeli soldiers killed 2 children, a teacher, and a surgeon outside his hospital.
With all eyes on Gaza, Israel has escalated its atrocities in the West Bank to little global awareness or outcry.
There, Israel has destroyed Palestinian homes, stolen Palestinian land, and killed and unjustly arrested 100s of Palestinians, faster and more brutally than ever.