By C. T.
Ahed Tamimi (pictured above) is a 16-year-old Palestinian activist who stood up to Israeli soldiers. The soldiers shot her 14-year-old cousin, Mohammad, in the face with a rubber bullet after firing tear gas canisters directly into the Tamimi’s home. Mohammad had to be put into a medically-induced coma for 72 hours. The Zionist state has jailed Ahed Tamimi, who was unarmed, for confronting the soldiers. She has become an international symbol of Palestinian resistance to occupation and genocide. Free Ahed Tamimi!
“If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them, their oil would become tears.” — Mahmoud Darwish
On December 6, the current U.S. regime declared Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world, to be the capital of the 69 year-old settler-colony of Israel. Since the illegal occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, the zionist entity has demolished 2,000 Palestinian homes, stolen 35% of East Jerusalem’s land for illegal settlements, and denies Palestinians born in Jerusalem citizenship. 75% of Palestinians in East Jerusalem live under the poverty line. 50% of the city’s tax revenue is generated by Palestinians while they receive little to no municipal services.
Further, Palestinians in both East Jerusalem and the West Bank risk their lives on a daily basis to provide the labor that fuels the city’s industry. In addition to risking their lives by crossing checkpoints and working in neighborhoods where settlers carry rifles and work in collusion with the zionist army to hunt Palestinians, their unregulated labor lack a living wage, benefits and labor rights.
Prior to the arrogant US declaration regarding Jerusalem, which the international community has denounced, the US has played a central role in attempting to erase the Palestinian people and their sovereignty. In James Baldwin’s 1979 essay “Open Letter to the Born Again” he writes that “the state of Israel was not created for the salvation of the Jews; it was created for the salvation of the Western interests”.
The West has been successful for decades in perpetuating the myth that this is a religious conflict rather than the active theft of land and resources. In 2016 alone, the Obama regime promised $38 billion dollars in military aid to the zionist entity. The U.S.’s interests in positioning the zionist entity as a military watchdog in the Middle East has been evident since 1948. Unfortunately for Americans who are not the 1%, US interests do not include education, health care, housing or living wages, let alone recognition of indigenous people’s sovereignty abroad and on US soil.
As the American war machine speeds ahead, so does Palestinian resistance. As the Palestinian Authority has consistently proved itself inadequate in representing the full liberation of Palestine and right of return for all Palestinian refugees, now is the time to support grassroots Palestinian movements from Palestine to New Orleans.
One of the best ways to stand with Palestine is to stop the normalization of zionism across every facet of life. This means joining the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement (BDS) that seeks to stop the normalization of zionism in our government, our universities and our supermarkets. This means proactive measures to build liberation movements and strategies with the global Palestinian community. This means listening to Palestinians and letting them take the lead deciding the tactics we use against zionism and US imperialism.
This current effort to displace and erase Palestinian life, culture and resistance is nothing new to a people steadfast in our struggle. From the river to the sea, Palestinians will accept nothing less than the restoration of our rightful place on our land and the right of all Palestinians to return to historic Palestine, including Jerusalem, which has been and will always be the true capital of Palestine!
