On October the 7th 2023 the world changed dramatically. It had been changing for a while. Some may have been aware of the atrocities occurring, but many kept a blind eye. Too complicated of a situation for them to wrap their heads around. Keeping a distance to the 75 years of ethnic cleansing that had been occurring to then one day explode and become mainstream news.
“Hamas has attacked Israel”
“Israel was taken by surprise”
“Do you condemn Hamas?”
“Hostages taken, Israelis killed, raped and babies beheaded”
The news came out at a speed. 75 years of Palestinian destruction suddenly became the “9/11 for Israelis”.
Then began the lies. But if you have been following the Palestinian cause you will know lies from truth. You will know the history.
UK educational guidance
On the 17th of October 2023 the British Government released a guidance document from their education department on advice to schools about this ongoing 3 week “war”.1
Even though the governments stance had been placed into the public less than a day after 7th of October, reading this document still made my stomach churn. Within the first paragraph alone the reiteration of “…barbaric terrorist attacks in Israel” follows the unsentimental and uneducated nuance of the full reality.
Nothing happens out of nowhere. We are very quick to overlook the previous 75 years of destruction and penalisation of Palestinian voices. When you have been subjected to the terror that Palestinians are on a daily basis then tell me what would you do to your oppressor? Would you sit still till you are totally eradicated or would you fight for your land, life and people?
We shouldn’t forget. Nelson Mandela fought for his people’s freedom and land, yet he was labelled a Terrorist by the West. He was still on the terrorist watch list in the US till 2018 – Nelson Mandela died in 2012.
The ‘terrorist’
“Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, and it is illegal to encourage support for them.” Hamas is only known as a ‘terrorist’ organisation because they have stood against Israel. The Wests foothold in the Middle East. However, when looking into history you will find that Hamas was created by the Israeli government after the first intifada.
They were created so that control over the Palestinian region was easier. Hamas is a group that was created in favour of the Palestinian Authority [which was established after the Oslo accord]. In 2006 Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election against the opposing party of Fatah. Fatah had been the governing party since the Oslo accord however not all Palestinians were in favour of them due to corruption.
Even though there had been a victory for Hamas, not all went to plan. After the win they decided to separate themselves away from their military status and bid to create a unified governing body with Israel. However this was fiercely rejected by the US and Israel. With the help of the opposition party of Fatah, they led a coup ultimately unseating Hamas in 2007.
Hamas backed into Gaza, leaving the West Bank under the unofficial control of Israel and partial control of the Palestinian Authority. By keeping Hamas within the walled barricades of Gaza, Israel could keep destabilising Gaza under the pretence of ‘destroying Hamas’ and killing 1000’s of Palestinians in the process. This became their scapegoat reasoning when questioned by the UN and international bodies.
We have to remember that Palestinians do not have an army or military. They are a nation without any form of defense. These individuals fight with what they find after years worth of failed peaceful protests.
Hypocrisy in the West
The policies set out towards Muslims in the UK have always been about ‘Prevent’ – the government backed counter-terrorism strategy. We have been part of the collective ‘hate crime’ category. No special measures have ever been taken to look out for us as we are always viewed as the criminals. This document further pushed this line of thinking.
“The Prime Minister has announced that £3 million of extra funding will be provided to the Community Security Trust to protect schools, colleges, nurseries and synagogues and other Jewish community buildings.”
What about the Muslims?
Since the 7th of October there has been a increase in hate crime towards the Muslim community. Palestinian restaurants are being targeted. Mosques have been attacked – one being the Central Oxford mosque that had a petrol can with ‘IDF RULE’ and ‘IDF’ written on it thrown over the gate.2 Other than the police “condemning this cowardly attack” there was no urgency on it being labelled a potential terror attack on the local Muslim community.
Visible Muslims are having to take precautions when out and about. Stabbing and killings have risen in the US; with the youngest being a 6 year old boy who was stabbed to death 27 times by his landlord due to them being Palestinian. His mother survived the attack. The latest attack was on a Sikh man who the perpetrators thought was Muslim. He was physically assaulted on the streets of New York City. These attacks were the same as the ones the Muslim community and Sikh men endured in the aftermath of 9/11 and 7/7.
Children and Alienation
Instead of educating the children of today and helping them to get their heads around the entire situation, the government is encouraging schools to monitor the students and report them to bodies like Prevent. They are increasing the presence of police around schools to tackle any form of ‘radicalisation’ [or in other words pro-Palestinian support]. All of this alienates Muslim students, ultimately creating a two-tier system where certain speech is acceptable but others are not.
A school should be there for all their students to debate, talk, listen and educate. Instead children are being taught that they have to abide by certain views even if they are going against humanity. We are teaching our children that they have no freedom of speech and if you do have strong views against the grain then you will be punished for it. Is that honestly how a democracy works?
By using the term “…British values…” the government is implying that only what they support is legal and everything else is illegal. Everything illegal goes against the Britishness that we should hold closely to us as citizens of the United Kingdom. So just to ask a few questions; do British values include and encourage:
• Destruction of humanity?
* Supporting a propaganda based on greed and profit?
• Massacring babies, children and innocent civilians?
* Propping the occupier with more weapons, aid and arms?
• Committing a genocide? Bombing hospitals, schools, places of worship, UN protected spaces.
* Not listening to the millions of citizens who are against the apartheid?
Dividing Communities
The beginning of the guidance document as well as the last paragraph site the use of the word “Jewish”. There is also the use of the term “antisemitism” with the document. This automatically creates a focus that this document is solely for the protection of the Jews and Israel supporters. Muslims are sited in passing within the bullet points. “For anti-Muslim hatred, Tell Mama provides a confidential support service…” Otherwise they are referred to within the “all young people” and “…other discriminatory bullying” categories.
Documents worded in this way do not help keep communities together, instead they create divisions and uncertainty between individuals. As it is, programs like Prevent were created to monitor the Muslim community and children are targeted through schools on a regular basis. By increasing the pressure in schools this way, the government is attempting to control the narrative by creating fear within a supposedly safe space.
This document is less a guidance and more a warning to schools and their students that they need to follow a certain rhetoric which includes the ‘British values’ otherwise they will be facing the strong hand of the law. Ultimately criminalising freedom of speech, the innocence of right from wrong and the belief on humanity.
For more information and ways to help, check out the previous articles: Palestine – Gaza: there are no two sides to this and Palestine: Update in Gaza
Educational resources:
Books:
The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine – Rashid Khalidi
Eliyas Explains What’s going on in Palestine – Zanib Mian [Children’s book]
They Called me a Lioness: A Palestine girl’s fight for freedom – Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri
Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s war against the Palestinians – Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe
Palestine’s Children: returning to Haifa & other stories – Ghassan Kanafani and Barbara Harlow
Documentaries / Films:
Farha [Netflix]
Born in Gaza [Netflix]
200 Meters [Netflix]
Dena Takruri Documentaries [Youtube]
AJ Plus Documentaries [Youtube]
Tantura
Just an astonishing piece of article, explaining what the UK government is up to. So called western value and democracy, they will bend however it suits them.