"To downplay the unjust and oppressive reality that Palestinians endure on a daily basis in such a negligible way is a disservice to Palestinian human rights and a distortion of history."
Re: “Israel occupation makes Palestinian territories ‘open-air prison’ — UN expert”
July 13, 2023
While it was refreshing to see Reuters quote UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and her comments about Israel’s apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territories, it is disappointing that the article downplayed the Nakba – a historical and ongoing injustice against the Palestinian people. Describing Israel’s founding as a victory against “Arab armies from around the Middle East” is a complete myth – one that positions Israel as an “underdog” and absolves it of its war crimes and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people.
The word “scattered” fails to capture the mass displacement and forced expulsion of approximately 750,000 indigenous Palestinians nor does it encapsulate the violence Palestinians endured at the hands of Zionist militias between 1947 and 1949. There are over 1.5 million Palestinians who live in neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Syria – not to mention the 5.2 million who live in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem – rendered refugees on their own land and denied basic human rights. To downplay the unjust and oppressive reality that Palestinians endure on a daily basis in such a negligible way is a disservice to Palestinian human rights and a distortion of history.
Tayla
Montreal, QC, H4H 1V7
438-380-5410