Thread by @DrDanniellex2

1/15 Why "Free Palestine" is genocidal.
Jews, as human beings created in the image of God, have the right to exist with equal rights to national self-determination. Religiously, historically, legally, and culturally, the land of the Jewish nation is the Land of Israel. 🧵

2/15 From a Biblical perspective, this right is a commandment to settle the land. Within Jewish tradition, the obligation to settle the Land of Israel—Yishuv Eretz Yisrael—is a binding commandment rooted in Numbers 33:53: “You shall possess the Land and dwell in it.”

3/15 Sages like Nachmanides (Ramban) interpret this as two duties: 1️⃣ National Sovereignty: A collective duty to maintain governance over the territory so it isn't left to foreign dominion. 2️⃣ Individual Settlement: An active duty to reside in and build up the land.

4/15 Traditional sources view foreign rule as a state of "desolation" or "ruin" for the land. Biblical passages like Joel 3:2 and Zechariah 12:3 are frequently cited to reinforce the spiritual necessity of Jewish self-determination within the Land of Israel.

5/15 This is why, from a Biblical and historical perspective, "Free Palestine" is not a neutral slogan. In today's rhetorical environment, it frequently functions as cover for anti-Jewish hostility, a rejection of Israel’s legitimacy, and eliminationist aspirations.

6/15 The phrase has two faces. Some use it to mean an end to occupation or a negotiated two-state settlement. But it easily travels into darker terrain, acting as a moral wrapper for delegitimizing Israel, denying Jewish self-determination, or justifying violence.

7/15 This ambiguity isn't incidental; it's useful. A phrase can sound humanitarian while carrying a rejectionist program underneath. To understand this, look at the historical record and the words of early regional leaders themselves.

8/15 In 1977, PLO figure Zuheir Mohsen stated that a distinct Palestinian identity was emphasized primarily for "political and tactical reasons" to oppose Zionism. Early leaders like Awni Abd al-Hadi and Ahmad Shukeiri routinely argued that "Palestine" was simply southern Syria.

9/15 In the Ottoman and early Mandate eras, Arab demonstrations in 1920 explicitly carried signs reading "Palestine is part of Syria." While the Palestinian national frame hardened over time, early Arab rhetoric often rejected Palestine as a separate territorial unit.

10/15 Conversely, Zionist rhetoric consistently insisted Palestine was a distinct, historically meaningful homeland tied to Jewish national restoration. The modern Palestinian claim of ancient Canaanite descent functions as a narrative tool to reverse the burden of indigeneity.

11/15 The eliminationist strand is explicit in foundational texts. Hamas’s 1988 Covenant openly states Israel "will exist until Islam will obliterate it" and explicitly rejects peaceful solutions or international conferences as a "waste of time and vain endeavors."

12/15 This rhetoric has deep roots, from the 1920 Nabi Musa riots ("Slaughter the Jews!") to the 1939 Arab revolt ("The English to the sea and the Jews to the grave!"), extending through the Cold War, when Soviet disinformation helped globalize and anti-colonialise these themes.

13/15 The tragedy of October 7 tore away the pretense that "resistance" simply means liberation. The documented murder, rape, and livestreamed atrocities against civilians showed how the vocabulary of rights can be weaponized to launder atrocity.

14/15 A critical contradiction remains: no Palestinian state was created in the West Bank or Gaza when Jordan and Egypt controlled those territories from 1948 to 1967. If the core issue was truly the absence of a state, why did Arab rulers not create one then?

15/15 Zionism is the political expression of the Jewish people's historic connection to Israel. Palestinians deserve rights, but slogans cannot be divorced from history. "Free Palestine" must be read carefully, as humanitarian words can hide projects of erasure. 🔚

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