Right now millions are joining the fight against genocide through global encampments, sparking a commitment to Palestinian liberation Education is key to solidarity—defining terms matters. Here's why JVP's definition of antizionism problematic and what to do about it. A thread 🧵

https://twitter.com/jvplive/status/1783626501901971634

JVP defines anti-zionism as "a loose term referring to criticism of the current policies of the Israeli state". Even settler orgs like Regavim, El Ad & JStreet criticize Israeli policies. zionism, a settler-colonial project, can only be undone through decolonization.

Israeli forces withdrew from the Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis—the largest hospital in southern Gaza—leaving behind horrors for the civil defense crews and family to uncover.

190 martyrs have been recovered from the complex, but Palestinians expect to find hundreds more.🧵 The head of the Government Media Office in Gaza reported, "The occupation executed dozens of displaced, wounded, sick, and medical staff... In the Nasser Complex, we found corpses without heads and bodies without skin, and some of them had their organs stolen." 2/7

We are 6 months into a genocide and "Israeli allies" "anti-occupation activists" in Palestine have only offered self-centered parades that do not call to end genocide or colonization. They condemn resistance and call for peace while failing to even utter the word colonization. 🧵 These "allies" ask us to condemn Oct 7. They cry for peace but don't note that Palestinians haven't seen any image of "peace", or even "coexistence". Not over 6 months, as Palestinians have been slaughtered in a concentration camp built and maintained by Israeli hands—not ever.

According to an announcement from the Prisoners and Ex Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, Israeli forces kidnapped 25 Palestinians from the West Bank yesterday and today, including ex-prisoners. About 7,530 people have been kidnapped since Oct 7. 🧵 This latest mass arrest campaign by Israeli forces focused on kidnapping Palestinians in the Ramallah area, though others were taken from Qalqiliya, Bethlehem, Hebron, Salfit, and Jerusalem governorates.

For the last 3 months, the largest and most well funded US-based NGOs have centered their campaigns around this failed lawsuit.
From afar, we noted that this was the most likely outcome. These organizations also knew. So why was it framed as a serious action and possible win? 🧵

https://twitter.com/4noura/status/1752868709058683054

This is what we talk about when we criticize symbolic victories (as opposed to material ones). For so long, imperial core-based NGOs have used these kinds of legal battles and legislative campaigns that do not have a real chance of succeeding. This is how they get their funding.

Something that the arrogance of colonizers prevents them from grasping is that the colonized do not “misunderstand” them. They do not fail to grasp their ideology and motivation.
Colonized people generally not only understand colonizers—we also understand how colonizers see us.🧵 This knowledge is essential for colonized people to survive and navigate the systems built to entrap, oppress and dispossess us. It means that colonized people, better than colonizers, can often even intuitively navigate colonial infrastructure.

The other day, speaking to someone in the mental health profession in Palestine, one of our members asked about whether there had been an increase of requested services, or an influx of patients, since Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza began October 7. 🧵 The mental health professional confirmed that there had been an influx of patients—of all kinds. Among them, a notable addition was the influx of child patients seeking mental health services.

Palestinian children in Gaza hold a press conference outside Al Shifa hospital, speaking English so the world cannot pretend not to understand them: “We come now to shout and invite you to protect us; we want to live, we want peace… we want to live as the other children live.” Imagine that these are YOUR children, displaced from your home that is now rubble, sheltering in a hospital under threat and having to plead in another language for people to care whether they live or die or drink water again. Then act accordingly.

If you have ever once thought of yourself as an ally to Palestinians, stop sharing Israeli state propaganda as Gazans are mass murdered by the very same state.

@PeterBeinart, you should be ashamed of yourself, as well as anyone who collaborates with you. Allies DON'T share state propaganda provoking genocide. They also don't compare the oppressed to savages as we are already being slaughtered en masse as a result of genocidal rhetoric and settler colonial policies that dehumanize us.

Today, on Shuhada street in colonized Hebron, Israeli settlers blasted music and celebrated Purim in the middle of a space from which Palestinians have been scrubbed. This road, once a hub of local commerce, has been closed to Palestinians for years. #DefundRacism This video shows the reality funded by Israeli state funds and US tax dollars and protected by Israeli military forces. Israeli settlers enjoy privileged status and looted resources while Indigenous Palestinians face resource shortages and no freedom of movement. #DefundRacism

Yesterday morning Israeli forces raided Balata refugee camp east of Nablus, using live fire to shoot 17 year old Nader Haithem Rayan in the head, chest and hand and kill him. Nine others were wounded in the gun fire. In Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem, Israeli forces shot Alaa Shaham in the head, killing him as well. Six other Palestinians were wounded in this case by the live fire. Shaham was only in his 20s.

TODAY: Israeli settlers shot live fire at Palestinians in Hebron, injuring 4 people—3 of which are children. Settlers are carrying out this violence in a highly militarized space. It is clear that this is going on with the consent—or tacit support—of the Israeli military. This attack comes only days after the commemoration of the 29 Palestinians murdered by an Israeli settler in 1994 during the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre—an act that led Israeli forces to impose further restrictions on Palestinians’ access to their own city. #DefundRacism

People responding to news from Palestinian sources crying “Pallywood” are recycling one of the dirtiest lies of white supremacy: Indigenous people do not have the right to document, present, and narrate our own struggle because we lack “objectivity” in the eyes of the colonizer. This isn’t just despicable because it is an attempt to erase the daily realities of Palestinian oppression (or other forms of oppression) and silence those of us who are willing to document and explain these systems in context.

This morning PA forces attacked the hundreds of mourners who gathered to take part in Jamil Kayyal’s funeral procession. Kayyal was shot in the head and killed by Israeli forces in Nablus last night during a raid. Videos show him left on the ground bleeding as soldiers leave. The Palestinian Authority is an effective subcontractor for Israel’s settler-colonial regime, enforcing violent punishments for Palestinians who demand their political rights rather than uplifting the voices of the people it allegedly represents in the struggle.

Wisdom from Kwame Ture on the difference between “mobilization” and “organization” in the struggle. Despite daily acts of violence, we continue to try to move toward organization, creating a path forward for justice and out of a racist and unjust system. We cannot simply react. In Palestine, we often see activists—particularly self-proclaimed allies—who can effectively mobilize to respond to moments of violence or injustice. We don’t see carefully-constructed organization, empowering oppressed people to take the necessary steps forward toward justice.

Today Israeli settlers from Avigail outpost in the South Hebron Hills entered al Mufagara village by force and escorted by Israeli soldiers. They attempted to provoke Palestinians in the village, yelling abuse like “Go to Jordan,” and “This is not your place.” #DefundRacism This verbal assault, in which soldiers added insult to injury by protecting settlers and intimidating and harassing Palestinian locals and international activists, come just over a month after the attack by dozens of settlers in al Mufagara village. #DefundRacism

In Burin today, Israeli settlers set fire to lands and threw stones and Palestinians near homes, trying to scare Palestinians off of their lands. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers stood nearby doing nothing to curb the settlers’ violence or protect Palestinians. This is how settler-colonialism works: in order for settlers to be successful in replacing the Indigenous people, they must control resources. That means land, crops, water, energy, and so on. #DefundRacism

Late last night, Israeli forces shot and killed sixteen year old Amjad Abu Sultan during a raid in Beir Ouneh, a town located between Beit Jala and Jerusalem. They also arrested a fourteen year old boy, Mohammed al Arouj, during the raid. The children were targeted by Israeli soldiers because they were accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli military vehicles. The fact that the mere accusation of these children committing this act was enough to arrest one and essentially execute the other in his home

Yesterday, Israeli settlers likely from the outpost of Havat Ma’on broke into the garden in Atuwani and destroyed approximately seventy trees, from olive trees to fruit and vegetable trees. Some were trees planted through our olive tree project to protect vulnerable lands. Among the destroyed trees were also cactus plants and pepper plants, located in a garden created in collaboration with solidarity activists. When settlers attack these living plants, they are working to destroy traces of Palestinian presence in the land.

Last night, Jewish Israeli youths marched in the streets of Jerusalem, chanting "Death to Arabs."
What's left to say? Settlers are marching in the streets, calling for the genocide of those the land was stolen from. Is this one of the hallmarks of "democracy" we're just missing? Let's set aside our existential dread for a second to bring you some truth: the fact that people feel comfortable to do this en masse is a result of the rhetoric of organizations like Regavim, Israel Land Fund, Hebron Fund, Ateret Cohanim, etc, etc.

Since the breakout of six formerly imprisoned Palestinians a few days ago, imprisoned Palestinians have responded to Israeli decisions to move them to new prisons by threatening riots. In the wake of the breakout, Israeli military forces have made clear that they have no problem punishing other Palestinians for the embarrassment of this event—an event which has made clear that Israel’s security infrastructure and surveillance technology is not infallible.