On Saturday, 7 October, in a surprise attack, Hamas fighters broke through the prison walls of Gaza via air, land, and sea. This unprecedented resistance is the result of Israel’s violent occupation of Palestine and the continuous human rights abuses that the Israeli military carries out against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This year alone, the Israeli occupation has killed 227 Palestinians, including 47 children.
In mainstream media, the predominant narrative of Israel’s occupation of Palestine has—for decades—been deliberately constructed on the pillars of colonial, imperial and racist discourse. The terms “terrorism” and “self-defence” are permeated with bias and weaponized to tell one story. CPT demands media outlets use journalistic integrity to appropriately address the historical events leading up to today’s reality and to question state narratives. We also challenge everyone consuming the current media storm to educate yourself, be critical of your sources, and understand the power structures at play that have historically silenced Palestinian voices.
A large majority of the international community is calling for Hamas’ adherence to international law. CPT urges these governments to examine their hypocrisy of condemning Palestinian resistance to occupation while at the same time refusing to hold Israel accountable for the blatant flouting of international law through 75 years of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. International human rights and humanitarian laws are not conditional.
Violence is cyclical. As long as the Israeli occupation exists, Palestinian resistance will continue. A generation of Palestinians have lived their whole lives under military occupation with the constant threat of surveillance, detention, arrest, and murder while the United States funds Israel. CPT calls on the US government to stop the cycle: refrain from sending military ships and aircraft and stop the yearly $3 billion in military aid which continues to perpetuate the Israeli occupation and apartheid in Palestine.
Israel has declared a ‘state of war.’ The CPT Palestine team in al Khalil/Hebron is under a military-enforced curfew where the Old City is completely closed off and any movement in the city is threatened with gunshots. Israeli forces have shuttered all 260 checkpoints in the West Bank and killed 17 people, seven of whom are residents of the al Khalil/Hebron governorate. Israel has also ordered a complete siege of Gaza, cutting off water and electricity and prohibiting the entrance of fuel and food. Almost 600 people have been killed by Israeli bombardments, including 91 children, and over 120,000 people displaced.
This Israeli declaration of war does not change anything for Palestinians. Israel’s response over the last few days is being portrayed as retaliation against Hamas for the deaths and kidnappings of Israeli military and citizens, but Palestinians have been living this war for 75 years.
CPT works towards collective liberation, and a society where the values of dignity, equality and peace are upheld and shared by all people. CPT continues to accompany our partners in nonviolent resistance and advocate that the safety of Palestinians and Israelis can only be achieved through complete dismantling of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. We demand a solution that includes equality not apartheid, demilitarization not occupation, and decolonization and freedom for all.
Read our reflection on the relationship between nonviolence and privilege.
