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My parents told me about Palestine when I was young. I was one of those kids who was always asking questions. I was confused because the news kept calling them terrorists but all the footage showed them to be poor people getting monstered by armies and tanks.
My parents explained to me that Israel had more legitimacy with western governments than the Palestinians did and that because of that they were portrayed as legitimate in their use of force.
Why were they more legitimate I asked.
Why were they more legitimate I asked.
My mother explained it was because they were culturally closer to the west than the Palestinians. She pointed out the suits they wore and the professional political style they presented. As a child I was appalled by this. Wearing a suit? That justifies this?
Years later I watched documentaries about the history of boarder changes, wars, land grabs and oppression and read Noam Chomsky and Gilbert Achar talk through how it got this way. I'd understand the role of American hegemony and British colonialism in bringing this all to pass.
Mostly frequently when I allow myself to be emotionally engaged with the topic I am shocked that its still going on. That this awful thing that horrified me as a child has been allowed to persist for my entire life. I think about how many deaths and how much suffering.
The idea that I feel this way, because I hate Jewish people, is so beyond offensive to me and to the humanity of the people of Palestine. It represents such a grotesque twisting of basic human empathy for the ends of never allowing anything to change for the better.
