Hi everybody, I hope you are well. In the past weeks, there has been a lot of tumult caused by recent events in the Middle East. After an attack by Hamas on Israel, which killed 1400 people, Israel has been continuously attacking Gaza and now the death toll for Palestinians is around 12,000.

With this, the world has been divided between anti-Palestinians and anti-Israelis. This is a complex situation, and inevitably there are sides to take. In the past days, I have tried to look into this difficult topic and I will show you what I have found.

Pro-Israel

The more mainstream media usually has pro-Israel views and U.S.A., U.K and Europe are supportive of the Israeli government. Media and Western governments mostly endorse Israel as they claim that that’s the only safe place for the Jewish people: historically, Jewish communities have been made unwelcome in all the countries they tried to settle and the land where Israel now Israel has the strongest religious and cultural connection with the Jewish people.

So, the State of Israel is a recent invention, it was created in 1947 thanks to the Balfour Declaration. With this, were also created the two regions of the Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with Jerusalem being divided into East Jerusalem (as part of the Palestinian territories) and West Jerusalem (for Isreal). This was done without consideration of those who were already living in that area who were displaced in nearby countries.

While Israel was granted determined territories, it started expanding its territories by building illegal settlements and taking lands from the Palestinians. the claims that the Israeli government has a right to defend itself from Palestinian attacks.

Strategically, Israel is the only non-Arab nation in the Middle East so all the Western Countries like to have it there. Israel is also the recipient of millions of dollars worth of arms from the U.S. (read also here and here).

So it makes sense that Israel is where it is.

Pro-Palestine

Those who are more pro-Palestine, do so because for years, Israel has been attacking Palestinian houses and buildings with the excuse that terrorists live and hide in civilian places and illegally annexing Palestinian territories.

There is also the issue that the places inhabited by Palestinians have been cut off water, food and basic necessities for years (more here and here).

Despite Israel’s behaviour has always been condoned by Western countries, many people are calling out Israel as well as calling for a ceasefire.

It is not a matter of religion

The main issue in this conflict is that it is being passed as a religious war, between Jewish and Muslims, but it is actually political. Israel has been governed by Zionists, a nationalist movement that claims that the homeland for the Jewish people should be in Palestine. Zionists are not a religious group, but political. Their ideology has nothing to do with the Jewish religion.

They are a far-right group that seeks to get as much land from Palestinians as possible.

On the other hand, Palestinians did vote for Hamas: this party came to power in 2006 with the vision for a two-state solution and to accept the 1967 borders with Israel. However, this position has changed since Hamas came to power with more extremist heads of Hamas saying that as Israel wants to eliminate Islam, all Muslims should destroy Israel.

This means that what Palestinians voted for in 2006 is not what is now in power.

There is also the issue of the disproportionate response by Israel, one of the most powerful armies, against what essentially are the Palestinian paramilitary forces.

And as said above, Israel continues to receive military and financial support by most of the Western countries.

How Can You Help Palestine – Avoid These Companies

It feels so frustrating and powerless when these events are unfolding. When it is clear that human nature and greed are the cause of all this suffering. You might think that you cannot do anything to help, apart from sending money to the relevant charities operating in the affected places. But there is something else that you can do – hit them where it hurts – don’t give money to those supporting this mass murder.

I wasn’t surprised to find out that some of the big multinationals that are most cruel towards animals and less respectful of workers and the environment are also those supporting the Israeli government. In this post, you will find an image of the main food companies and the ones they own.

Following are articles or pages showing the connections of these companies with Israel, or having a presence in the illegal Israeli settlements:

• Unilever
• Pepsico
• Mars Incorporated
• Nestle (also here)
• Johnson & Johnson
• CocaCola

On top of this, there are other companies on boycotting lists (such as here, here, and here).

It might not be surprising that these companies are also the same ones connected to Monsanto and that this one is famous for the creation of Roundup pesticide (you can read more on this here, here, and here).

These companies also have questionable practices regarding workers’ and animals’ rights.

Other resources

Please consider reading this clear BBC article, the fact-checking website MISBA.

Conclusion

This is a very difficult situation, saddening and frustrating. With all respect to all the lives involved, what has been presented above, are just facts. In 1947, the British created the State of Israel and two regions for the Palestinians. Since then, Israel has kept attacking these territories to then build Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands. The most recent response of Israel to the 7th October Hamas attack (where 1400 have been killed), has been to use missiles, rockets, etc. on hospitals, schools and civilian buildings (having killed indiscriminately military and civilians for an ever-increasing death toll of 12,000).

This is not a measured response – this is a genocide. And little is done to condemn the actions of a bully.

You have plenty of resources that you can check, but these are the facts.

Talk soon,

TVCL xx