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The Israel-Palestine conflict: a brief, simple history
Sheikh Jarrah - 5 Facts to Know
The Israel-Palestine conflict is all over the news lately. This clash is just one of many in the ongoing conflict since the 1900s. Putting aside the cultural, ethnic and religious differences of the two people, the current conflict boils down to one key issue – Territorial Dispute.
Brief Background:
With the ending of the British Mandate, the UN split the region of Palestine in 1947, leading to the formation of Israel in the region. Decades of wars were fought between Israel and the Arab nations. The outcome: Israel occupies the territories legally owned by Palestine, including East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. The Israeli occupation leads to Jewish settlements into Palestinian territories. Israeli settlers can just steal and occupy Palestinian land and homes with the help of the Israeli Supreme Court and military, backed and funded by US. This puts many Palestinians without homes, on top of the extreme oppression (ie. military checkpoints, racial/religious discrimination etc.).
Current Conflict:
What transpired these few weeks started from a neighbourhood in Occupied East Jerusalem called Sheikh Jarrah. Recently, the Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that 6 Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah have to leave their homes in May 2021, despite appeals. Palestinians protested peacefully against the evictions by breaking Ramadan fast together and praying. However, the Israeli police were sent in with tactical gear to “disperse” the protest. The clash has escalated to violence, arson and bombings by Israeli forces since then.
As always on Micro Digest, this is a heavily condensed version of the incredibly dense issue, but with so many clips on social media, it isn’t hard to see that there is a clear oppressed and oppressor class, one with rocks the other with rockets. It’s disappointing for me to see people still hoping for the US and allies to do something about this and intervene, because they already have – siding with the oppressor by funding and causing this imbalance of power and resources in the first place.
I don’t have a solution to this, and urging for Israeli ceasefire and US ending funds to Israel is wishful thinking. Instead, amplify Palestinian voices, boycott complicit brands and donate to trusted orgs on the ground.
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