You've probably heard this question asked a lot over the past 2 weeks.
A short response. A🧵.
From late 1987-1988, Palestinians in Gaza rose up in a series of non-violent demonstrations, strikes, boycotts & protests. They killed 0 Israelis. They were unarmed.
In response, Israel killed 142 Palestinians in Gaza.
Source: Jean-Pierre Filiu, Gaza: A History (2014), 206.
In 2005, Palestinians organized a non-violent movement, Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS)
In response, Israel: 1. said the movement's true goal is to destroy Israel 2. called BDS supporters antisemitic 3. Punished its founder w/threat of displacement haaretz.com/israel-news/20…
In 2008 & 2009, the residents of Ni'lin, in the West Bank, protested non-violently every week against the expansion of the separation barrier that was confiscating their land.
In response, Israel killed Ahmed Moussa on 29 July 2008; Israel killed Yousef Aqel Srour on 5 June 2009
In 2003, unarmed Palestinians in Bil'in organized weekly protests against the separation barrier that was confiscating their land.
In 2009, Israel killed Bassem Abu Rahmah w/a shot in the chest; in 2010, it killed Jawaher Abu Rahmah, who died from tear gas inhalation.
Beginning in March 2018, tens of thousands of Gazans marched to the fence, unarmed, demanding the right of return. Israel killed 223 Palestinians & Israeli snipers left 6,106 Palestinians with life-changing wounds. Not a single Israeli experienced any major physical harm.
These incidents represent a tiny fraction of Palestinian non-violent resistance.
In the vast majority of cases of Palestinian non-violent resistance, Israel responds w/ lethal & disproportionate violence.
And you wonder why a tiny number of Palestinians have turned to violence?
A brief history of Israel's support for apartheid, atrocities, war crimes & genocide around the world. A 🧵
In the 1970s & 80s, Israel was one of the main arms suppliers 972mag.com/investigate-is…) to Chile's military dictator Augusto Pinochet. Israel trained (haaretz.com/israel-news/20…) the country's security forces, who abducted & murdered 3,000 persons & tortured 35,000.
In the early 1980s, Israel helped Guatemala's Efraín Ríos Montt carry out a coup. Israel supplied the country w/ weapons (nacla.org/news/2013/4/23…) to slaughter 45K-60K Mayans in Guatemala & destroy 440 Mayan villages b/w 1981-1983. Many call it genocide. (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…)
A brief history of genocidal rhetoric in Israel BEFORE Oct. 7th, 2023. A 🧵
Zionist leaders have convinced themselves Palestinian Arabs were genocidal since the 1920s. Yosef Hecht (leader of the Haganah in the 1920s) confided in his diary, “we are always persecuted [&] murdered by the majority of ‘civilized’ peoples, or savage & cruel [peoples] like the Arabs…their intention toward us is not only to humiliate but also to destroy [us] physically.” haaretz.com/israel-news/20…
In Aug. 1947, David Ben Gurion said: “The aim of the Arab attacks on Zionism is not robbery, terror, or stopping Zionist growth, but total destruction of the Yishuv.” They are not “political adversaries,” but “pupils & teachers of Hitler, who claim there is only one way to solve the Jewish question… total annihilation." source:
Was Zionism about rescuing Jews from persecution? A 🧵
Zionists believe Zionism was primarily about saving Jews fleeing persecution. Yet key Zionist leaders from the 1880s-1948 rejected this idea, believing the interests of the state-to-be trumped the interests of persecuted Jews. This 🧵 is a history of the #1 Zionist myth today.
From 1880s-1914, the Zionist leadership rejected the overwhelming majority of Jews hoping to settle in Ottoman Palestine. Arthur Ruppin and Menahem Sheinkin, in charge of Zionist immigration policy, told ~61% of Jews who wanted to move to the colonies not to come. Source:
A brief history of Zionism (@harari_yuval style) 🧵
Zionism is about 500 years old. To tell a history of Zionism Harari style, we thus need to spend 2/3rds of the story on the pre-1850s period.
2/3rds of our story is before there were very many (any?) Jewish Zionists.
There was a return to scripture in the 16th century. the attitude was, to hell with the catholic church. go straight to the texts. the bible. translate it. learn the stories by heart. know the old testament inside out.
Zionism says Jews should have a Jewish State in Palestine.
When Jewish Zionists developed this idea (1870s-1890s), Palestine was 90-95% non-Jewish.
At the time, 0 Zionists believed it was possible to establish a Jewish State in a land that was 90%-95% non-Jewish.
Instead, 100% of Jewish Zionists believed Palestine needed to be Judaized.
If you are trying to understand whether "Judaizing" a country that's mostly not Jewish is racist or not, ask yourself, if you happened to be one of those non-Jews (i.e. Arab Palestinian) living there...