The crisis in Gaza
I am sure many of you have been keeping up with the news about the IDF airstrikes, the invasion of Gaza, and the continuing crisis that has arisen from the blockade of aid, fuel, electricity and medical supplies
.
There have been recent reports of IDF usage of white phosphorous
, a poison gas which causes deep chemical burns and organ failure, upon the crowded ghetto of Gaza, packed tight mostly with the displaced and dispossessed. The bombings amount to collective punishment of Gaza.
There has been a great deal of argument
in the US about whether issues like this count as feminist issues and many are reluctant to examine the nature of war and colonialism as patriarchal projects, as mainstream feminism with its location at the militaristic heart of the global hegemon has long been disconnected from life and death issues that impact women around the world. I believe it is important to not lose sight of the gendered violence of war and the acuity of struggles faced by women and girls in wartime. Palestinian women are struggling to feed their families
amid severe shortages of food and water. Women have died as they attempted to shield children and homes.
ETA 1: I am referring here to the gendered tactic of some women who climbed onto the roofs during previous bombings in hopes of appealing to the attackers' potential qualms about killing women.
ETA 2: And women of course have died in this conflict in various other ways as well. but i felt constrained in how much I could talk about how colonialism systemically produces violence without someone on this forum derailing disingenuously about sympathy for terrorism.
The political climate since the the protests of the second Intifada intensified a discourse of extermination circulating among policymakers in Israel and a concern with population control, as the people indigenous to the land are viewed as obstacles to state expansion and conquest.
These arguments take on a kind of eugenic bent through racist policy discourse about Arab family sizes. A major conference was held between prominent policymakers and academics soon after the outbreak of the second Intifada titled, “The Balance of Israel’s National Strength and Security”. One topic of discussion was the “demographic threat” posed by Arabs. The consensus was that a “policy of containment” for maintaining “the Jewish character of Israel” was in order. Discussants stressed the importance of increasing Jewish birthrates and proposed cutting off state subsidies for families with more children as a way to target Arabs. The inequalities of a quasi-democratic state based on ethnicity essentially transform rights into privileges.
There needs to be a greater recognition in the US that the Israeli anti-war left exists, and acknowledgment of Jewish people with families directly impacted by the Holocaust who take deep offense to the political argument that the state of Israel is meting out further oppression in their defense and honor.
Lastly, I believe it is so important for people in first world, settler colonial states to be critical of and resist right-wing efforts to tie tragedies to the project of resource war and brand opposition to militarism as unpatriotic or treachery to one's people.
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ways you can take action to bring peace with justice to gaza
.
There have been recent reports of IDF usage of white phosphorous
, a poison gas which causes deep chemical burns and organ failure, upon the crowded ghetto of Gaza, packed tight mostly with the displaced and dispossessed. The bombings amount to collective punishment of Gaza.
There has been a great deal of argument
in the US about whether issues like this count as feminist issues and many are reluctant to examine the nature of war and colonialism as patriarchal projects, as mainstream feminism with its location at the militaristic heart of the global hegemon has long been disconnected from life and death issues that impact women around the world. I believe it is important to not lose sight of the gendered violence of war and the acuity of struggles faced by women and girls in wartime. Palestinian women are struggling to feed their families
amid severe shortages of food and water. Women have died as they attempted to shield children and homes.
ETA 1: I am referring here to the gendered tactic of some women who climbed onto the roofs during previous bombings in hopes of appealing to the attackers' potential qualms about killing women.
ETA 2: And women of course have died in this conflict in various other ways as well. but i felt constrained in how much I could talk about how colonialism systemically produces violence without someone on this forum derailing disingenuously about sympathy for terrorism.
The political climate since the the protests of the second Intifada intensified a discourse of extermination circulating among policymakers in Israel and a concern with population control, as the people indigenous to the land are viewed as obstacles to state expansion and conquest.
These arguments take on a kind of eugenic bent through racist policy discourse about Arab family sizes. A major conference was held between prominent policymakers and academics soon after the outbreak of the second Intifada titled, “The Balance of Israel’s National Strength and Security”. One topic of discussion was the “demographic threat” posed by Arabs. The consensus was that a “policy of containment” for maintaining “the Jewish character of Israel” was in order. Discussants stressed the importance of increasing Jewish birthrates and proposed cutting off state subsidies for families with more children as a way to target Arabs. The inequalities of a quasi-democratic state based on ethnicity essentially transform rights into privileges.
There needs to be a greater recognition in the US that the Israeli anti-war left exists, and acknowledgment of Jewish people with families directly impacted by the Holocaust who take deep offense to the political argument that the state of Israel is meting out further oppression in their defense and honor.
Lastly, I believe it is so important for people in first world, settler colonial states to be critical of and resist right-wing efforts to tie tragedies to the project of resource war and brand opposition to militarism as unpatriotic or treachery to one's people.
25
ways you can take action to bring peace with justice to gaza