Trigger warning: Descriptions of human suffering, war crimes and violence.
You can find a TLDR at the bottom of the news post!
Normally we would say “I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday” and bring uplifting news. This time, we will not. Since October 7th, war crimes and risk of genocide* being committed in Gaza has been ongoing, with no real pause. Humanitarian aid has been blocked from entering and reaching displaced, wounded, and sick Palestinians. More than 25 000 people have been killed, most of them civilians, nearly half of them children. More than 119 journalists have been killed during the continuous attacks on Gaza, and nowhere is safe.
A lot of the on-the-ground footage and stories come from young people of Gaza, who through their phones and social media document the atrocities they are victim to. One of them being Bisan Owda (@Wizard_bisan1 on Instagram). She documents her everyday life as one of 1,5 million displaced Palestinians living in constant terror. Every video starts with “Hello, it’s Bisan. I am still alive”, and every day she recounts her experiences of living in a war zone.
This week, Bisan called for a one-week strike 21st - 28th January. Her plea goes as follows:
“We civilians across the world do not have the tools of war! We do not thirst for killing and death! We only have our throats in the demonstrations and our boycott of the economic movement in our countries, especially those that support the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza!
Strike from the economic movements, work and your normal life because nothing is normal in this life! Strike as much as you can and protest.. for a whole week or until this madness ends! You can disrupt the economies that support genocide and make your voices and our voices heard! Call for strikes during the next week for an immediate and permanent ceasefire!”
Educate yourself
In November we posted a news post on the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine. If you are unable to strike or boycott, you can still help in other ways or seek out resources to understand the conflict. The following is an excerpt from that news post.
If you want to learn more and educate yourself about this important topic, here are some resources of documentaries and books we collected:
- Tears of Gaza (2010) Documentary
- The Hundred Years' War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
- The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé
- Zionist Colonialism in Palestine by Fayez A. Sayegh
- The occupation of Palestine: A short history
Resources on Instagram:
How can I help?
In addition to boycotting, you can get involved in different areas. This can be done by writing an email to politicians, supporting political campaigns, signing local petitions, boycotting brands and businesses supporting the genocide, making sure Palestinian voices are heard, sharing and reposting articles/links/resources/news coverage to spread awareness, and protesting for justice and peace.
Please note that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a complex and sensitive issue, and perspectives on it can vary. The inclusivity group follows Amnesty International, the UN and other human rights organizations definition of genocide when posting this.
We also want to underline that the atrocities perpetrated by the Israeli government and armed forces on the Gaza strip and in lesser but still severe degree on the West Bank is not the fault of Israeli civilians or Jewish people. As the worlds’ eyes focus more and more on the suffering of Palestinians, there is a rise in antisemitism and antisemitic hate crime across the world. We should never conflate being Jewish with being a supporter of genocide or any other war crime.
With love,
The Inclusivity Group.
*Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
*Genocide: A Commentary on the Convention
The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 58, No. 7 (Jun., 1949), pp. 1142-1160 (19 pages)
https://doi.org/10.2307/792930
TLDR:
- Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda is calling for a one-week international boycott and strike to draw attention to the situation in Gaza and pressure international communities toward a ceasefire
- We have posted a list of resources to look into to learn more about the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict
- Genocide is defined as acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group
- More than 25 000 palestinians have been killed, 70% of which are women and children
- There are many ways to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, like boycotting, demonstrating, supporting Palestinian businesses, educate yourself and others
