Islamophobia's Wretched Effects Linger
With the boom of social media, people are hesitant to voice their extremist beliefs as much so that they don’t lose business or their jobs. However, there was a time not long ago when it was socially acceptable to despise certain groups based on their looks or beliefs. For example, the internment camps made for Japanese American citizens or the outlandish claims against Muslim-American citizens. YES. OUTLANDISH.
This belief against Muslims is commonly referred to as Islamophobia and erupted after 9/11 during President Bush’s administration. Shortly after that, the Afghan and Iraq war began. It is well known that the motives of this war were for natural resources: oil. But the casualties were the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. It is even known that the Bush administration was given false information. Colin Powell, the Secretary of State at that time, admits he made a huge mistake and that we are still feeling the consequences of his speech which was riddled with Islamophobic sentiment. Due to this time period after 9/11, there were tensions against Muslims and certain discriminatory acts committed against them as well. The notion was based on the fear-mongering tactics used by the Bush administration and television media.
The reason why we're talking about Islamophobia is because it is being used by today’s media to propagate a certain narrative against Muslims in Palestine. Israeli right-wing nationalist settlers are attacking Palestinians day after day using U.S. made weapons and U.S. provided funds. Israel implements fear-mongering campaigns like Islamophobia to portray Muslims in Gaza as violent and frame them in relation to the "war on terror" labeling them as extremists or terrorists and not as people who are simply demanding their rights to be free and to live in dignity. Other groups like right-wing Hindu Nationalists in India with Islamophobic tendencies are also taking a page out of this book to further their ethnic-cleansing campaign of illegally occupied land.
This sounds so familiar.... Oh ya, it's because they're both taking a page out of Colin Powell's book. No concrete evidence to back the attack. Using coded language to justify the violence that they will use. Just painting the picture of an invisible enemy that must be obliterated to get public support.
Their media reports that Israeli Intelligence has found evidence of Hamas hiding out in certain areas which is why they completely obliterate those buildings or tunnels. However, when asked for evidence, Israeli Intelligence says "in due time" but no evidence of Israeli Intelligence having actual proof that Hamas was actually in those areas ever gets released. In recent attacks, the Al Jazeera office was rocketed and many civilian households are being targeted where whole families are being murdered. Hamas may be launching rockets towards Israel, but because of Israel's advanced military budget, hardly any of those rockets ever land in Israel.
Photo Credit: Instagram/@ramsharana
They also fail to show the bombs that are being dropped on Palestine, specifically in Gaza, the displacement of Palestinians from their homes, and the casualties of Palestinians. Biden and most of the media that I've seen on television supports Israel having no choice but to drop bombs on Gaza in order to defend itself. We all know what it sounds like when Muslims are in the news. It’s usually negative spin and always a one-sided description to show how violent only the Muslims are...even if it is just stones they are throwing.
The ratio of Israelis dying from Palestinian attacks compared to Palestinians dying from Israeli attacks is disproportionate and a down-right slaughter. It’s like saying Palestine brought a knife to a machine-gun fight. It’s not even a fair fight. Palestinians get bombed, then retaliate by throwing rocks, and then the Israelis bomb them again. Yes, Hamas launches rockets from Gaza towards Israel which is a retaliation to a decades-long blockade, but most of those rockets don't ever land in Israel due to Israel's billion dollar budget in military defense and specifically Israel's Iron Dome. Gaza is an open-air prison and the prisoners are tired of being imprisoned. Israel then targets Hamas, which is not a centralized group. They assume Hamas is in a certain location and then send an air strike that area. Civilian casualties include women and children but also men; innocent men that work hard for their families to protect them, provide for them, and they are dying in these bombings leaving their widows and orphans to fend for themselves.
We, as Americans, are allowing the ethnic-cleansing of a people for what? Land? Is that really a justifiable cause to reduce other human beings’ lives to rubble in the time and age we are living in now? Will we be able to explain what we did to prevent this to our children or grandchildren when they learn about it in their history books? How can we voice our concerns to let our government know that we don't want our tax money to support the oppressive tactics used by the Israeli occupation?
Use social media to share the Israeli occupation. Create awareness and stay informed. Stay ready to engage in dialogue to change someone's mind on this topic.
Spread all the posts you see about this on our social media. Israel is losing the fight in the media and is becoming outraged. They hold their reputation with the media to a high standard and for them to be getting bad coverage, it is not good for them. But it is great for the Palestinian movement.
- TBC
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