When Israel claimed women were sexually assaulted on a mass scale on October 7, the world exploded. Almost the entirety of Israel’s genocidal war was based on these and other allegations, many unsubstantiated. We all remember the infamous’40 beheaded babies” story, do we not?

This article is not about Israeli allegations per se, neither will it only focus on violations against Palestinian women. This is about a world that is immediately up in arms when one side merely alleges atrocities while it turns a blind eye to actual documented violations against the “other”.

In Gaza, it is painfully clear that we indeed, are ‘the other’. How else can anyone explain the muted cries of women being stripped, raped, starved and murdered practically in real time, on our phone screens, documented in UN reports and described in horrific detail in eyewitness testimonies? There is no other explanation than that Palestinians are what Arundhati Roy calls “Children of a lesser God”. We are the victims of deep-rooted colonialism, one whose geographic demarcations may have vanished but whose insidious, dehumanizing mentality still prevails and manifests in the ugliest of manners.

For nearly six months, Palestinians have endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of Israel’s occupying army. Today, the Gaza Strip has been reduced to an emaciated shell of what it once was. As Gaza is being systematically decimated and ethnically cleansed, the world, for the most part, looks on. Barring sympathetic supporters and a few well-intended but timid political actors, nothing has been done to stop the carnage. Palestinians once believed there was no way the world would allow Israel to erase Gaza off the map, no way it could see a live-streamed genocide and do nothing. But that is exactly what is happening.

Then, when we thought things could not get any worse, something unfathomable emerged from the deathtrap of Gaza. When this happened, we were certain it would be the turning point in this hellish nightmare. Well-documented reports, corroborated by the UN and eyewitnesses on the ground, told of harrowing stories of sexual assault against Palestinian women in Gaza.

We were paralysed with horror when we heard of women being raped by Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza, assaulted and stripped in front of their families. What’s worse, we all know that in times like these, the undocumented atrocities will far outnumber those documented. Who knows what horrors will unfold once the dust settles in Gaza; no doubt they will be so horrific, our entire nation will be traumatized for years to come.

The real question here is not how Israel’s soldiers perpetrated such gross violations. I think by now we can all agree that this depraved military establishment and its political echelon to boot, has dehumanized and vilified Palestinians so much and for so long, they will justify just about anything. No, the question is more about the moral compass of the rest of the world. While alliances and political interests are always part of the equation, even when the issue pertains to basic human rights, nothing can better explain the blatant hypocrisy, double standards and loss of collective humanity than the deafening silence today.

Our women have not only been killed, starved and displaced, they have been exposed to the very violations that sparked global outrage and a genocidal war against an entire population under occupation, unprecedented in modern history. This is not only unacceptable, it is an indelible stain on humanity. Sexual violence is a crime so heinous it is imperative to condemn and prevent, no matter the perpetrator or the victim. That must always be the baseline in any argument.

Palestinians will never get past this genocide; it is not something you can come back from. However, be assured, this is not only about the Palestinians. The world’s women, the majority of so-called feminists who have remained disgustingly silent, must know this: when you do not stand up for women, all women, no one will stand up for you in your time of need.

I once heard that anger is not a real emotion, but a cover for other feelings such as sadness, disappointment or fear. You need to peel back that outer layer to understand what is really going on inside.

Strange how this has lately resurfaced for me, but I think I know why. Lately, I and surely, millions of other Palestinians, have been filled with a blinding rage -- at Israel, at the United States, and at the world overall. This is a rage that is all-encompassing, the depth of which is palpable at the cellular level, permeating every molecule and every atom of our being. The genocide in the Gaza Strip has grated our emotions raw and we are left stinging and burning from our head to our toes.

Our anger is like a huge magnetosphere and we are all trapped inside, but its walls are translucent and we can see the source of our rage mocking us from beyond. We Palestinians are angry because we are so disappointed and we are angry because we are disillusioned and we are angry because we are drowning in sorrow.

Our disappointment lies in the fact that the world has failed us in the worst possible way and has allowed the unspeakable to be committed against us. Genocide is the ‘mother of all crimes’ and, contrary to the promises, the conventions and the historical lessons the world was supposed to learn, it has been committed over and over again. The Palestinian genocide, however, is unique in at least one way: it is live-streamed, which means no one can claim ignorance and everyone has a responsibility in stopping it. Hence, our disappointment is not limited to countries, Arab or otherwise, or to international and human rights organizations. It has spread to everyone in our orbit; acquaintances and people we thought were friends, but whose silence towards our slaughter is a deafening betrayal. Our sense of disappointment has discolored every relationship it touches because every relationship for us is a dichotomy: you are either with or against genocide and either support Palestine in word and deed, or not.

Our anger is a thin veil concealing our disillusion with the international community and its institutions, supposedly established to protect people in situations precisely like ours. We have confirmed what we knew all along, that these organizations were constructed for some and not all, for colonial powers and not those who suffer beneath them. Even when the highest court in the land rules in our favor, the Global North ensures that its ruling will not be implemented to save us, the oppressed, indigenous brown people whose lives apparently do not matter.

And finally, our anger is a survival mechanism to shield us from our own grief. Our sorrow over the murdered men, women and children, defenseless, homeless, starving and shivering in the cold, is so deep, so immense, we ourselves cannot fathom it. If we dare peek behind this anger and truly feel a fraction of the aching in our hearts, it will paralyze us for sure, because no people can endure the magnitude and scale of such suffering and not lose their minds.

We Palestinians know we cannot let go and that a new day is near. We know we must hold on just a little bit longer, because Palestine depends on it. We are no strangers to oppression, suffering and sacrifice and we know the price of our freedom has and continues to be painfully high. Still, we also know that a life without shackles and the yoke of oppression around our weary necks is the only life worth living.

This may be the hardest article I’ve written so far, for obvious reasons. As the genocide in Gaza grinds on into its fourth month, with winter in full force, the situation is so dire it has been described as hell on earth. To date, some 27,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel, nearly 70% of them women and children. Another 70,000 have been wounded and at least 1.9 million people have been displaced. With only 2.3 million in the Gaza Strip to start with, this computes to 1% of its population being exterminated, and in less than four months.

However, in the midst of these horrific times, let us allow ourselves a sliver of hope. The ICJ ruling, announced on January 26, prompted mixed feelings among Palestinians who naturally, wanted to hear a clear and firm demand on Israel to stop its onslaught. However, even without the express demand for a ceasefire, the ICJ offered something to the Palestinians for which they have been demanding for many years: their suffering, their plight and the brutal oppression they live under, was finally acknowledged by the highest court in the world. More importantly, Israel is being called out for its crimes, displayed in real time for all to see. For this, we will be eternally grateful to South Africa and its exceptional legal team for bringing this case of genocide to the ICJ and forcing the world to look straight down the barrel of Israel’s cruel intentions.

Of course, for the Palestinians, we did not need an international court to tell us that Israel is committing a genocide, but it was cathartic to hear this acknowledged on a global platform. While we are aware that the actual charge of genocide perhaps needs years to prove, it only takes hearing the ruling and the case argued by South Africa to surmise that Israel is as good as convicted.

This is not insignificant, and we will cling to any shred of hope we can find in this unjust world. Having said that, this is no time to rest. If anything, it is time to push even harder because now, we have ICJ rulings in our favor and legal backing to claims we already knew were legitimate.

However, while this may have offered us some ray of light in the darkness in which we are all engulfed, the fact of the matter is that things continue to worsen on the ground in Gaza. This genocide is so heinous, not only in the brutality of the Israeli bombs and denial of basic aid to the people of Gaza, but in the fact that its people are suffering from multiple and simultaneous injustices. That is, those who are being starved are the same people who have been displaced and the same people who have been injured and cannot receive medical attention. They are the same people who have lost their homes and family members and the same people who are under the rubble. One atrocity does not cancel out another in Gaza and that is what makes this genocide so unimaginable.

We have reached a point where it is unnecessary to describe the horrors of life in Gaza because frankly, in the past four months, everyone has seen them. It is not a matter of the world not knowing. This may have been the case in other genocides and atrocities, but not this one. It really boils down to two things: The dehumanization of the Palestinians and Israel’s impunity for its crimes, the latter being a direct result of the former.

Shame on the world for accepting Israel’s vile propaganda, hook, line and sinker. Shame on the “western world” in particular, who we will never forgive. Shame on them all for aiding and abetting the slaughter of our people, their displacement, starvation and annihilation. This will not go unnoticed in the annals of history, which will paint each and every accomplice in the criminal light it deserves.

But these despicable powers do not know the lion-hearts of the Palestinians and their fierce loyalty to Palestine. They will never be able to kill us all and my hope is that this thought haunts them day and night.

A sign held up in one of the many protests around the world reads: “Killing the flowers will not delay spring”. Our Spring is coming, without a doubt.

This past Sunday July 31, on the eve of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent “greetings” to the Muslim world. In light of the Arab Spring, he stated that “Israeli-Arabs” can serve as examples to their brothers in the region because they “know the taste and meaning of democracy”.

Palestinians living inside Israel (or Netanyahu’s “Israeli-Arabs”) know the taste of Israel’s perfect democracy where their homes are routinely demolished in east Jerusalem and the Negev, where they cannot expand for natural growth, where they cannot live outside of Israel for too long because they will lose their residency, and where they cannot protest settlement products produced on stolen Palestinian land.

Netanyahu also invited President Mahmoud Abbas to join him at the negotiating table right away, with no preconditions. He went on to say, “We want to see the Arab societies and democracies succeed and I know, that if an Arab democracy will be born, there will be true peace”.

If you didn’t know any better, it might sound like Netanyahu’s words were sincere. Yet he fails to mention that nonviolent protests in the West Bank, similar to those in the rest of the Arab world that he praises, are brutally and violently shut down by the Israeli army on a weekly basis.

“I want to see a region of democracy and peace and I would like to wish you peace,” he concluded.

Fast forward some hours later to Qalandiya refugee camp just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah to witness the type of peace that Netanyahu spoke of. Around three in the morning, as people were heading to the mosque for dawn prayers, the camp was violently raided by the Israeli army. It is telling that the soldiers would invade the camp on this day, at this specific time, and then proceed to ransack homes and indiscriminately fire on those who stood in their way.

It was in those early hours that Mutasim Issa Udwan, 22, and Ali Khalifa, 23, were killed in what the army stated was a “routine arrest procedure”. One of the young men was shot in the head, the other in the stomach— shots aimed to kill.

And the nightly raid, save for its timing, was not an isolated incident. An Israeli military commander quoted in a recent New York Times article stated that the troops make about six nightly raids in Area A alone. Area A is under Palestinian control during the day, but the Israeli army reserves the right to enter come night time.

“For intelligence dominance and freedom of action, this is the minimum number of entries we have to make per night,” he said.

The fact that the army has to make a minimum number of raids per night shows that the incursions are simply part of the system of domination —a system that does nothing to promote peace or build confidence between the two populations. Instead, it breeds constant fear and resentment among Palestinians. The idea of conducting random nightly raids in order to assert dominance is reinforced by the group Breaking the Silence which consists of ex-Israeli soldiers who speak out against the occupation and what they were required to do while in the army. Many soldiers have testified that incursions are often carried out just to make their presence felt—to show the Palestinians that they are always there and that they are more powerful.

As Netanyahu preaches democracy and peace to the Arab world, he is simultaneously backing a system that promotes the very opposite.

As the September deadline for the Palestinians’ UN bid for statehood approaches, Netanyahu and his government appear to be increasingly nervous, but apparently only nervous enough to make bold statements, not action. The word “peace” is meaningless, almost laughable, when the man who utters it has made Palestinian life unbearable through the bombings of Gaza, the theft of land in the West Bank, the nightly raids that killed two bystanders just three days ago, and the various methods of domination and control that are actively enforced. No peace can grow under occupation.

Israel, the occupier, always with the upper hand, has the power to promote peace and begin to dismantle the structure of occupation. If they so badly desire to see an Arab democracy, they would not be conducting undemocratic acts and carrying out actions that are illegal even under international law. Netanyahu’s words, “I would like to wish you peace” say it all; wishing does not bring peace. Neither will nightly raids, bombings, or discriminatory policies. As the September vote gets closer, Israel is attempting to stop the process by calling for a renewal of negotiations. It is doubtful that the Palestinian leadership will succumb to the pressure of negotiations and the empty promises that they entail. And the reality is that no group of people should have to negotiate anything in order to receive basic human rights.

Correction from last week’s July 27 Viewpoint: Sabra hummus is not made in Israeli settlements. Sabra hummus is made by Sabra Dipping Company LLC which is 50% owned by the Israeli company, the Strauss Group. The Strauss group is the second largest Israeli food and beverage company and supports the Israeli army—specifically the Golani Brigade which has a history of human rights abuses. For more information check out www.bdsmovement.net.

Meg Walsh is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

As my time here in Palestine is winding down, I am trying to think of the best ways to take action against the Israeli occupation of Palestine even when I am thousands of miles away. I do not want to have just come and left as a typical observer. Last summer I learned about the Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) movement from its co-founder, Omar Barghouti. The movement, initiated in 2005 by Palestinian civil society, seeks to end the occupation through a rights based approach—to “implement divestment initiatives, and to demand sanctions against Israel, until Palestinian rights are recognized in full compliance with international law.”

Barghouti went on to tell us “For you- the bystander- we have no anger. Right now, all we ask of you is this: do not actively fuel this occupation. Remove yourself as a contributing force to this apartheid: we cannot ask for any less of your efforts.”

Put as simple as that, it is hard to find reason not to comply. The movement does not ask for money, it does not ask for time, it does not even ask for solidarity in Palestine. It is a simple call: do not buy products or invest in companies that directly aid Israel and its human rights violations.

What people don’t realize is that the effects of the occupation stretch all the way across the world, even back to California where I live. The strength of the occupation, in one aspect, lies in the fact that people do not know they are supporting it. At my university, for example, you can go to the student store and buy Sabra hummus, which is produced in Israeli settlements. By buying Sabra hummus, in addition to many other products marked ‘Made in Israel’, (when it is actually made in Palestine), one is supporting the appropriation and theft of Palestinian land unknowingly.

Furthermore, my own teachers’ pensions, as well as many employees throughout California and the rest of the country in the academic, medical, and research fields, are in TIAA-CREF, a pension fund that invests in companies that directly profit from Israel’s occupation. TIAA-CREF invests in Caterpillar (used to routinely demolish Palestinian homes), Elbit Systems (supplier of arms and unmanned vehicles used in Operation Cast Lead and involved in the construction of the illegal separation barrier), and Motorola (supplier of equipment for military checkpoints in the West Bank), to name just a few.

It would be nice and comforting to bring back stories of hope that I have seen here, but I can only be honest. That is not what I have seen at all. On an individual level, yes, there is usually some degree of hope that people naturally hold onto despite their situation. But on the political level, the level that actually affects people’s lives on the ground, I do not see much. I see a volatile situation that could erupt at any moment, made worse by the continuation of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, and the effective grip that the Israeli army has on every aspect of Palestinian life. Conflicts often occur in cyclical fashion, and being that now is a time of relative, although unstable calm, Israeli unilateral actions will only speed up the descent into more violence. There must be pressure from the outside, because from the inside, things do not look promising.

As I hear of new plans for settlement construction just recently announced – 7,000 new housing units in the coming years – it is obvious that Israel is choosing settlements over peace, as usual. The settlement enterprise is at the heart of the conflict, yet the government will keep building if history has told us anything. This policy has been in place since the late 1960s even though it goes against world consensus, international law, and a portion of Israelis including prominent figures such as a senior military commander who recently came out against settler violence in the West Bank.

Referring to the increasing number of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, Major General Avi Mizrahi stated that “What's happening in the field is terrorism”. He went on to say that “terrorism against Palestinians is likely to ignite the territories."

Due to the asymmetry of the conflict, it is inevitable that negotiations will continue to fail. And for the time being, it is unclear whether the Palestinian UN bid for statehood will make any difference, especially since the US will do everything within its power to see that it fails. For now, it seems as if taking part in the BDS campaign represents the only inkling of hope that will inch us along the road towards justice. This is why being aware of the things we are buying and supporting back home, wherever that may be, is so important. And now that Israel has passed the Anti-Boycott Bill, making it illegal for anyone within Israel to support the boycotts of settlement goods, or Israeli goods in general, it is even more crucial for the international community to do something, at the very least to be aware that “every dollar you spend is a vote”.

Similar boycott campaigns were used during apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s and they played a large role in garnering international support and bringing down the system that discriminated against blacks. It was a concerted effort from the grassroots consisting of churches, unions, students and consumers who all took a stand against what was happening. One of the leading anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has repeatedly compared the Israeli occupation to South African apartheid and he states that “if apartheid ended, so can this occupation, but the moral force and international pressure will have to be just as determined”.

The settlements and the violence that stems from them, the products they produce on Palestinian land using vital Palestinian resources, and the state that directly supports them must be boycotted in every way possible. We must educate ourselves about what we have been indirectly supporting and take action through how we spend our money. Because those who hold all the power will not change unless movements like this one force them to.

Meg Walsh is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

During the first Intifada which erupted during the late 1980s, countless numbers of Palestinians found themselves behind bars. Conditions were torturous, sometimes deadly; the cost of resisting the occupation was high. During their time spent in a military prison on the outskirts of Nablus, which now sits abandoned, three Palestinian men from Askar refugee camp came together and plotted. But they were not plotting revenge; they were discussing promising ideas for the future. They refer to their time spent in prison as their “university”.

The three young men, Ahmad, Mohammad, and Khalil thought about their lives growing up in the refugee camp and the opportunities they had had, which weren’t many. What could they do for the next generation? Life in the overpopulated camps is not easy, and the fiercest resistance often erupts from them. In response, the camps are hit the hardest by Israeli raids and excursions which leave no one unpunished and leave no one’s mind at peace. Resisting the occupation in some way, whether violent or not, gives people a sense of purpose, especially when other opportunities or outlets are not readily available.

Because of the severe overcrowding in Askar, it was forced to expand into “New Askar” in 1965. Since refugee camps do not spatially accommodate any natural growth of its residents, problems such as unemployment are even worse than in other areas in Palestine. By the second half of 2010, the unemployment rate of refugees in the West Bank according to UNRWA statistics stood at 27.9%, which is higher than that of the non-refugee population.

Refugees are classified as anyone “whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict”. This includes their descendants, still residing in the camps almost 64 years later.

For New Askar, even this classification doesn’t apply. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) does not recognize the camp as an “official” refugee camp and does not provide services as it does to the others. New Askar Camp falls under Area B, which means joint Israeli and Palestinian control. Israeli military raids that occur under the cover of darkness are a reality.

Back in prison, Ahmad, Mohammad, and Khalil decided they would provide a different outlet for the children in the camps, a different method of resistance. It would come in the form of a place to escape to-- a place to play sports, to create art, to forget the hassles of everyday life. This is how they came to open the Rehabilitation Committee of New Askar Camp in 1992, which originally sought to provide services to injured and disabled youth following the Intifada, but eventually expanded to become much more than that. They also opened the Nablus Association for Social and Community Development and recently a center in the nearby village of An-Nasiriya in order to reach additional populations.

During the summer camps that are held at the center, the kids are taken to the nearby water park or the cultural center in the city to watch plays, when funds allow. The teenagers assume the position of role models and they are there for the children when they need them. They teach them dabkeh, drama, and art as well as sports such as soccer, volleyball, and basketball.

Even though the center is a place for fun, no child lives outside the reality of occupation. During art time, the children sometimes draw tanks and sniper towers. Releasing their feelings through art and other creative outlets, acts as therapy for these kids who have internalized a war zone. Martyrs’ posters line the narrow streets of the camp, and the graves of young children are in the backyard of a kindergarten. When the camp was under siege during the second Intifada, the residents were forced to find places to bury their dead. Reminders of violence are everywhere.

The idea that was born in a prison cell many years ago is still very much alive today. The center has become widely known and internationals visit to form friendships and partnerships, showing the children that they are not forgotten by the rest of the world. Judging by their enthusiasm and excitement during the camps, it is clear that the youth will keep the center running for the next generation. In a place where safety and a sense of security are hard to come by, the center offers a slice of normalcy.

The center and all that it has accomplished is a testament to what a small group of visionaries can do when they refuse to lose hope, even in a dark prison cell where one has every excuse to do otherwise. It is what happens when people refuse to let the occupation dictate their dreams and instead, create something bigger than the political situation in which they live. The reality they have created will continue to instill hope in generations to come.

Meg Walsh is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

The Israeli settlement of Givon Ha’hadasha is built alarmingly close to the Palestinian village of Bet Ijza. The settlement is built practically on top of this village because the Jews believe that biblically, this is the site where the sun stood still for Joshua while his enemies were defeated. In this land, too often the beliefs of the past trump the realities of the present.

The Ghrayeb family, who refused to leave their home in order for the settlement to be built, even after threats of eviction and demolition, live amidst the Jewish enclave. However, they are separated from it on three sides by a seven meter high metal fence. In the one entry that they have, there are two surveillance cameras—one on the house and the other facing the opposite direction observing anyone coming toward the house. With only one gate, the family is at the mercy of the Israeli army who can close it at any time, for any reason. At one point, they were prisoners inside their home for an entire month.

Initially, the closure around the Ghrayeb house was supposed to be concrete, much like the separation barrier. The settlers decided, however, that this would block air and sunlight from their homes so they opted for the metal fence instead.

When we entered the Ghrayeb home, the family patriarch Abu Samir was lying in bed wrapped in a blanket even though the rest of us were sweating from the heat. His wife came out of the kitchen to greet us and talk to us, and eventually Abu Samir gathered enough strength to sit up and answer our questions. He had farmed and worked on this land for decades and now his precious land sits beneath the uniform red-roofed houses of his neighbors, unable to yield the olives, figs and grapes like in days past. In the last 30 years, he has been arrested or detained at least 25 times for resisting the theft of his property. His children and grandchildren have suffered similar consequences.

Abu Samir never smiles. It is obvious that a part of him has been taken away along with his land.

When discussing the conflict, many people try to differentiate between the different “types” of settlers – those who are just “regular people” trying to go about their lives and maybe living in settlements for cheap housing, and the “other”, ideological, violent settlers. Regardless, all settlements are illegal under international law. When I see the Ghrayeb family being suffocated by this aggressive colony, trying to force them to leave each day, there is no longer any differentiation to be made between the different “types”. Anyone who is complicit in this situation and is okay with looking out their window and seeing this family living in a cage is not innocent, no matter what their motivation is for residing there.

In recent years, the rate of settler growth in the West Bank has been 5%, which is close to three times the rate in Israel. Even when a settlement “freeze” is in place, such as during 2010 when it stemmed from US pressure, the loopholes abound and the bulldozers never fall completely silent. The policies of the Israeli government are not based on population needs, judging from the many settlements that still sit unpopulated, but on pure domination through architecture. The presence of these structures on the hilltops, inhabited or not, seem to be an end in themselves.

There is perhaps no greater setback to the peace process than the issue of settlements. With no real consequences, and the success that they have had in severing and controlling the West Bank through settlement infrastructure, including checkpoints and bypass roads, the Israeli government has no incentive to enter negotiations in which concessions will inevitably have to be made.

Abu Samir and his family like so many others, simply want to live in peace on their land. While Abu Samir told us many things -- the familiar incidents of harassment and the constant fear that his house will be demolished or overtaken, his main message remains clear in my head. As he wrapped himself up in his blanket once more and laid back down to rest, he told us that no matter what happens, he will never leave. This is the land he loves and on which he will one day die.

Meg Walsh is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.