The Real Reason Israel Keeps Bombing Palestine
On a day where we give thanks, blessings abound for many of us, but truthfully amid the chaos of the world it's hard to find the right words. I’ve had to force myself to sit down and process the atrocities we’ve been witnessing over the past 6+ weeks as the relentless attacks on Gaza under the guise of justice cut deeper and more somber. The air feels heavy - so much sadness, loss, blood spilled, babies killed. And for what? For righteousness? For religion?
No. It's because Gaza has gas and oil to exploit.
Israel bombs children and the rich laugh. Babies die and uncles are shot, mothers buried by bombs and children's bodies bagged, limbs scattered as scarlet reminders of crushed children's dreams -- and the world is distracted, entrenched in a narrative of nuance and defense. Did they deserve it? You chatter at the TV screen while our sister takes her last breath.
On October 29th, Israel granted 12 licenses to 6 companies to explore and "discover" natural gas fields in and around Falestine. He who holds the resources wields the power. And so it goes. The U.S. and Europe are accomplices in one of the worst human crimes of our lifetime: over Eleven Thousand lives extinguished in six weeks, maybe even Fourteen Thousand lives now terminated as the latest estimate ripples through the airwaves. Make no mistake, this is a genocide.
In their haste for greatness, politicians clamor atop their prized piles of bodies and finally seize.....what? Once they pillage the oil, land, and gas from Gaza, killing all culture and nature and life in sight, grabbing at the bloodstained fabric left behind by a desperate mother who outlived her baby for a brief moment before another bomb hits - What then? What is it they're really after? At the end of the day, what does it mean to win?
Promises of riches dangle in front of those who seek: Money - power - sex - ego - excess - Domination, drugs, dopamine.
What does it mean to win?
To chase a high to bury the guilt of a lifetime of a corrupted mind, when you can do nothing to quiet the knowledge that you've murdered again, and again, and again.
To dull the ache of shame and pain that haunts you at night, your complicity in others' suffering gnawing at your dreams. "Well, at least it wasn't me."
What does it mean to win?
To feel valued, to belong, in a time when you once were made to feel small. To make up for the time in your life when you simply were not valued at all. To fill the hole of hurt that gapes, desperate for validation, demanding more, more, more.
What does it mean to win?
Pillaging our Mother for her natural resources as if she didn't give us shelter, food, and all that we require.
Money and power are such wicked weapons in a world so beautiful and wide, propelling the perennial greed of certain humans who walk this earth. Whoever first thought to dominate another and label him "other" simply didn't understand their tongue. He didn't understand that "other" is in Mother. Is in Brother. That we need each other.
What does it mean to win?
To wish. To hope. To love.
To win – Down with colonization, down with occupation. May we witness Liberation.
We are all intertwined, and the pain of one is felt across the world. Energy is neither created nor destroyed. The ripples of real-time suffering have made their way across the world and back again through this crazy medium of communication, while we grapple with everyday life as the clock goes on. I only hope we can honor these innocent children, mothers and brothers who |srael has k*lled, and bear witness to their suffering. It is the very least we can do. To speak out against violence and hate.
So, what does it mean to win?
My hope is that one day, victory will be synonymous with peace. Vitriol can evaporate (inshallah) and we will settle disagreements as comrades, not colonizers. That we count our blessings, because only gratitude and love can fill the missing pieces of us. As Falestine is besieged, let us honor them and show them they are not alone. Because I don't know how we can go on killing, but I do know one thing: Fighting for others' freedoms can grant you your own.