I was walking along a side path in Lekwungen the other week
and went through an area bedecked in graffiti. I saw some
scrawl upon a wall that read “Hamas rapes women and kills
gays.” And one of the most commonly asked questions in
response to the pro-Palestine movement is "What about Hamas?”
For the record, I fucking hate Hamas. The massacres that
happened on October 7th were horrifying, and although the
claim of 40 babies being beheaded was pure propaganda*, it
seems very likely that women were raped, either by Hamas or
other militants who were involved in the attacks, and I don’t
condone the harming of innocent civilians. However, I
understand how Hamas came to be, and according to very
reliable sources, including John Oliver, Hamas were funded by
and encouraged to continue by the right-wing government of
Israel in order to further their radical agenda. It sounds
like a conspiracy theory, but it isn’t. Even within Israel
many people questioned as to why their government did nothing
to stop the attack when they had reliable intelligence
indicating that violence was on the horizon.
Hamas grew in popularity as a direct result of Israeli
aggression, out of desperation to resist Israeli occupation,
which in the course of 76 years has displaced, murdered,
incarcerated, raped and beaten millions of Palestinians;
depleted aquifers, uprooted close to a million olive trees
(many of which were centuries old), bulldozed homes, destroyed
farms and dehumanized Palestinian people to the point of
treating them like insects to be eradicated.
Israel is a colonial project and Israel aids America and the
West in subjugating the greater Arabic world in order to
maintain hegemony over land and resources. Israel is now the
fourth largest military in the world (think about that for
second in relation to the size of their occupied territories).
What's really sad is that Palestinians and Israelis have more
in common genetically and historically than they do with
anyone else.
Had Israelis harmonized with Palestinians, re-Indigenized
themselves to the lands, and mutually resisted America and the
West - then they might be able to claim Indigeneity. But the
way they have behaved has been like White colonizers, and now
they’re re-enacting the cycles of abuse that have played out
against them for thousands of years in Europe.
As a person with European (mostly Germanic) ancestry who lives
in a developed country (so-called Canada) with access to
housing, clean water, healthy food and fresh air, I am a part
of this conflict just by existing. White / Western supremacy
is at the core of what's playing out, and I falter in how I
can be a part of dismantling the oppression that I'm embedded
in, but I at least want to acknowledge the place of White
European supremacy in this conflict, because I think it's
often overlooked.
And when America tries to say that they’re involving
themselves in foreign politics in order to protect democracy,
that is a lie. America, Britain and other Western powers do
not care about democracy. They care about land and resources.
The CIA coup in Iran is a really good example of this, as Iran
had a democracy, and in 1953 America and Britain were involved
in overthrowing that democratic government in order to protect
their oil interests.
And while it’s true that groups like Hamas and Isis
do scary fucked up shit, America and the West are
1000 times worst. We are the real global terrorists; crippling
the governments, social systems and ecosystems of any country
that we see fit.
I think it’s important to recognize the reality of how power
is played out in the world, and acknowledge our place within
the ongoing genocides that are taking place.
I’m writing all of this out for myself as much as anyone who
might stumble upon this piece of writing because last week
when 4 hostages were rescued in a mission that killed over 200
Palestinians, I re-watched some footage of the October 7th
attack, and it was terrifying. I thought, How can I keep
supporting the pro-Palestine movement? It felt wrong,
and I removed the Palestine pin off of the back of my bag and
took a step back.
But then several days later I read an article
published by the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and I was
reminded of the bigger picture, and the scale of suffering
that's happening. I went back and read statements by Gabor
Mate. I thought about how I would feel if I were a Palestinian
person on the ground, growing up in the midst of all of the
destruction and bloodletting. Would I support Hamas? If I saw
my community get bulldozed, bodies left to rot under the
rubble, humanitarian aid blocked, friends getting murdered in
front of my eyes by sniper rifles - I might see Hamas as my
only option.
I don’t want Hamas to be the only option for Palestinians. And
the only way that will ever be possible is if they are free.
Resisting oppression isn’t terrorism. But orchestrating and
enabling genocide is.
When the first major conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke
out in 2014 there were instances of pro-Ukrainian groups
abducting, torturing and executing Russians and pro-Russian
separatists. The Ukrainian resistance was responsible for
thousands of murders, including innocent civilians. Yet in the
West we understand that Russia is the primary aggressor, and
we support the liberation of Ukraine. Imagine if China had
given billions and billions of dollars to Russia in order to
suppress Ukraine and that Ukraine had zero support from
America and the rest of the West. Would we think that was
justified?
If the British had indiscriminately massacred 40,000 Irish
people, mainly women and children, in response to the IRA’s
armed resistance and bombings, would we think that was
justified?
Why is it okay in Palestine? Why did the world only start
looking at Palestine after October 7th? There were many other
instances where thousands of Palestinians were massacred,
abducted, raped and displaced, but the international community
took no action.
It’s really fucked up to sit here in my place of comfort and
security where I get to sip dandelion tea and make judgments
about situations that are happening a world away from me. But
the footage doesn’t lie. I’ve been watching live from
Palestine since last year and what’s happening is atrocious.
It’s a level of brutality and heartlessness that's left me
grieving helplessly, and brought me to the brink of suicide.
And I’m just looking at it on a digitized screen. To have this
be your every day reality, like the medical staff dealing with
dismemberment, shattered bones, starving babies, burns, severe
trauma, and lack of adequate medical supplies and anaesthesia,
would be soul shattering. And in the process of trying to help
the wounded, hundreds of medical professionals have been
killed. Remember when Israel began their bombing campaign and
they claimed that they had "accidentally" bombed a hospital?
Now they have bombed nearly every hospital in occupied
Palestine.
800 people were killed last week.
So even though I’m a heathen, and wouldn't be accepted in most
Islamic societies, I still support Palestine. And though it’s
true that homosexuality isn’t broadly accepted within
Palestine, the situation is more complex than is being
sensationalized**; and I know that acts of discrimination and
violence would happen less if Palestinians were free.
Societies can’t develop socially when they don’t have the
resources that they need to sustain themselves and when
they're living under constant oppression. It wasn’t too long
ago that gay people were routinely beaten and murdered in
North America where I grew up, and it’s on account of having
security, freedom and education that we're progressing in that
regard.
Palestinians need a homeland where they can flourish. Not an
open air prison.
But I can't wipe away the Israeli perspective completely,
because they never had a home in Europe.
I wrote a blog a little while ago exploring the darker aspects
of my own ancestry and I've linked it below. Feel
free to judge me and leave comments. I don't know how to get
out of this mess, but I know that blitzkrieging Palestine
isn't the answer..
