Tag: Palestine protests

  • ISRAEL CELEBRATES ATTACK ON HOSPITAL, LATER BLAMES HAMAS FOR ATROCITY

    ISRAEL CELEBRATES ATTACK ON HOSPITAL, LATER BLAMES HAMAS FOR ATROCITY

    After a heinous attack on a hospital in Gaza, Israel, initially taking credit for killing more than 800 innocent civilians, blamed the attack on Hamas.

    According to Al-Jazeera, an Israeli spokesman said that the hospital and five others could be a target by Israel.

    After the attack and the extreme backlash around the world, Israel retracted it’s statement and said that Hamas had hidden weapons in the hospital and then had misfired their own rockets onto the hospital. According to journalists, official Israeli accounts even posted footage of a rocket misfire – but the timing of the footage didn’t match the time of the attack – and was deleted by the Israeli accounts.

    Pressure mounts on US President Biden who is expected in Israel tomorrow to see if he will now go to the country after the Israeli state bombs a hospital – the most heinous crime in the history of the conflict.

    X (former Twitter) users have called out Israel and their supporters on the retraction of their statement and trying to put the blame of their atrocities on Hamas.

    Protests have erupted all over the world against Israel’s heinous and brutal attack on a Palestinian hospital which killed more than 800 people. From Sweden to Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank, people are taking to the streets and protesting against the genocide in Palestine. Protestors in Jordan have surrounded the Israeli embassy with calls to end the genocide.

    After the recent attack, Scotland becomes the first country to offer refuge to the people of Gaza.

  • To understand what is happening in Palestine, give these must-see films a watch

    To understand what is happening in Palestine, give these must-see films a watch

    As the Palestinian genocide unfolds and the world watches in horror, we have seen several celebrities and politicians provide one-sided, incorrect narratives in an attempt to foil the voice of Palestinians. We understand that it is important now more than ever to amplify the voices of oppressed communities living in Palestine in order to get a complete perspective of what they have been suffering under Israel’s oppression for years. Which is why we are listing down films and documentaries made by Palestinian people about Israel’s occupation and which goes back to 1948.

    Check out some of these recommendations below:

    1 Farha (2022)

    Written and directed by Palestinian filmmaker Darin J. Sallam, the film explores the coming-of-age experience of a young girl Farha in the backdrop of the 1948 Nakba, when countless Palestinians were murdered or expelled from their homes by Zionist militants. The film is available to watch on Netflix.

    2 Five Broken Cameras (2011)

    Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat chronicles his West Bank village’s resistance to Israeli encroachment, which lasted for five years. The film won the 2012 Sundance Film Festival award as well as the 2013 International Emmy Award. Watch the documentary here

    3 Promises (2002)

    Israeli-American filmmaker B. Z Goldberg interacts with seven Palestinian children from West Bank and Jerusalem to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian war from their perspective. The documentary can be streamed on Apple TV.

    4 Al Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe (1997)

    Directed by Benny Brunner, the documentary examines the Nakba that led to the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians. The documentary is divided into four episodes, and can be watched on YouTube.

  • Natalie Portman ignores 583 Palestinian children’s death in video about Israeli kids

    Natalie Portman ignores 583 Palestinian children’s death in video about Israeli kids

    Actress Natalie Portman shared a video on her Instagram account where she called for justice for the kidnapped babies and children taken hostage by Hamas. In the video, children can be seen holding up placards saying ‘Save Israeli Children’. However, none of the placards bear any mention of Palestinian children and babies killed by the Israeli bombs and airstrikes over these last few days.

    According to Defense For Children International Palestine, more than 583 children have died because of Israel’s onslaught on Palestinians, which continues to rise as Israeli forces cut off electricity, water, food and gas supplies for Gaza.

    “Israeli officials’ statements combined with widespread and systematic attacks carried out by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip raise extreme concern that this is now a campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people,” Brad Parker, attorney and senior policy adviser at Defense for Children International – Palestine said in a statement. “Israeli military assaults have reached an intensity where they are seemingly intended to deliberately kill large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza, and combined with Israeli total closure policies, show the aim is to destroy Palestinian life in Gaza.”

    Tellingly, Portman disabled comments on her post.

    Actress Jennifer Garner also released a statement on her Instagram page, where she wrote about the atrocities of war being unbearable for both Israeli and Palestinian children. The actress said she is donating to Save The Children, an organisation who are providing supplies for people in need.

    Save The Children has slammed Israel for ordering one million people from North Gaza to move South within 24 hours.

    We are extremely worried by Israeli military orders to evacuate 1 million people out of northern #Gaza in 24 hours which will have enormous consequences for #children.

  • #BoycottMcDonalds trends as the fast food giant opens five new restaurants for Israeli security forces, donates 4,000 daily meals

    #BoycottMcDonalds trends as the fast food giant opens five new restaurants for Israeli security forces, donates 4,000 daily meals

    The hashtag #BoycottMcDonalds began trending worldwide on X (formerly Twitter) after the Israeli McDonalds released a statement on their verified account expressing their solidarity with the IDF. In a post on their Instagram account, the food chain said that they have opened five new restaurants to provide free food to security and soldiers, providing them with 4000 free meals.

    “50% discount for the security and rescue forces,” the translated image reads. “We increased the discount from 15% to 50% for the security and rescue forces in uniform on every purchase. Our hearts go out to the families of the murdered, the heroic martyrs who fell in battle, the security forces, the wounded, the kidnapped and the missing.”

    The translated text in the post says:

    “Update that already yesterday we donated 4000 meals to hospitals and military units, we intend to donate thousands of meals every day to soldiers in the field and in drafting areas, and this is beyond a discount to soldiers coming to restaurants. We opened 5 restaurants that were open only for this purpose.”

    On Tuesday, the account shared a video of servers packing food for the paratroopers, with the caption in the video saying “Mcdonalds Giron Ashkelon Mall on the way to paratroopers.”

    In another video, the translated text in the video says this is the McDonald’s branch in Negev Mall which is packing food to send it to military bases

    X users expresed outrage over the videos by pointing out that Palestinians’ food and water supply was cut off, and they were denied other basic things like electricity or internet facilities- but McDonald’s was giving free food to Israeli soldiers.

  • Israel paying YouTube to put false news in children’s videos

    Israel paying YouTube to put false news in children’s videos

    As the genocide of Palestine’s continues to go on, Israel is now paying streaming platforms to put out misinformation on children’s content. Journalist Ahmed Eldin shared a clip on his Instagram account of a children’s animated video on YouTube. Before the video starts, a message pops up on screen giving parents misinformation about the conflict.

    “Israel has dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza, killing more than 500 innocent children. And they paying to brainwash kids and parents into believing they are somehow justified in this war crime,” writes Ahmed. “International law is clear, a war crime doesn’t justify another war crime.”

    The news of Hamas beheading 40 babies was debunked by several international journalists and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) itself.

    Read more: Did Hamas actually decapitate Israeli children and women? No, they did not

  • There is a painful history behind why supermodels Gigi, Bella Hadid support the Palestinian cause

    There is a painful history behind why supermodels Gigi, Bella Hadid support the Palestinian cause

    Supermodels sisters Gigi Hadid and Bella Hadid have consistently been vocal about supporting the liberation of Palestine on their platforms, even going to the extent of attending public marches and donating to causes providing aid to war-torn cities in Palestine. Bella has also revealed in a 2021 podcast interview that her activism has cost her jobs and even relationships, but refused to abandon her support for a liberated Palestine.

    “I had so many companies that stopped working with me…I have friends that completely dropped me…I know my family enough, I know my own history enough. And that should be enough.”

    But there is a painful history behind why the Hadid sisters have continued to advocate for a free Palestine, even at the risk of losing their prolific careers. It involves their own family members who were expelled from Palestine during the 1948 Nakba. During this period, more than 70,000 Palestinians were removed or expelled from their homes located in the area that was to be declared the state of Israel.

    Bella and Gigi’s father, Mohammad Hadid spoke at the #ABtalks podcast about his experience, sharing that he was born in Nazareth, the city where Jesus Christ was believed to have been born. In the interview, the real estate developer said that his family had taken in Jewish refugees who came on a ship from Poland, who were rejected from several countries before arriving at the Haifa port, that Hadid said his great-grandfather had rebuilt during the Ottoman Empire.

    The Jewish refugees lived with Hadid’s family for two and a half years, after which Mohammad was born. The senior Hadid recalled when his mother came back to their home in Safad, they were told by guards to leave, and weren’t even allowing his mother to get a blanket to wrap her baby.

    Mohammad Hadid is the descendant of the Arab ruler of Northern Palestine Zahir al-Umar al-Zaydani, the Prince of Nazareth from his mother’s side.

    According to an article, the monarch was the first Arab ruler of Nazareth, Haifa and Jabba of Palestine to introduce a mandate that allowed Muslims, Jews and Christians to live in harmony under his rule. Today, his ancestors still live in Northern Palestine, where he is celebrated as a national hero.

    Alongside Mohammad Hadid, his children have spoken about the trauma of Nakba and called for a liberated Palestine. In 2022, Bella reshared a clip by Al-Jazeera detailing the significance of Nakba Day, and wrote that it was heartbreaking how elders are still not allowed to return to their homeland today.

    Alana shared a picture with her father holding the Palestinian flag and wrote they were remembering the trauma of 1948. Gigi shared the image and added hearts.

  • Malala issues statement on the Israel-Palestine war

    Malala issues statement on the Israel-Palestine war

    Nobel Prize winner and education activist Malala Yousafzai has issued a statement on Israel’s war on Palestine.

    In her letter, she called for both sides to hold a ceasefire and prevent innocent lives from being lost, writing that it is cruel how Palestine and Israel children have been caught in the middle.

    The Nobel Prize winner reflected on her own upbringing during a wave of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkha, writing “We woke up to the sounds of mortar shells, saw our schools and mosques destroyed by bombs. Peace became something we could only dream about.”

    “War never spares children,” Malala further wrote. “Not those kidnapped from their homes in Israel, not those hiding from airstrikes or without food and water in Gaza.”

  • Jemima Goldsmith, Talha Anjum statements on Palestine-Israel war trigger intense backlash, debate

    Jemima Goldsmith, Talha Anjum statements on Palestine-Israel war trigger intense backlash, debate

    As the Palestine-Israel conflict rages on in the Middle East, several celebrities have come forward in favor of the Palestine struggle or against it.

    Rapper Talha Anjum took to Twitter to share how social media users should not encourage the war, as it might further aggravate the oppression Palestinians were already suffering from, leaving users divided.

    “An average Pakistani knows how to post praises for Hamas for killing hundreds of Israeli soldiers/citizens but isn’t smart enough to realise what’s stored in for Palestinians in coming days. 600 already dead. Stop glorifying wars. Grow the f*** up!!”

    Many users sided with the ‘Gumaan’ rapper, as one user wrote: “I tend to agree to this to some extent. These praises aren’t for Hamas, these praises are for the fightback. but yeah, things were already bad and are about to get worse for Palestinians. Prayers for Palestine.”

    While other user’s felt that Talha’s statement was extremely problematic as a user wrote: “No one knows this better than the Palestinians. Imagine the desperation of them to fight like this as a last resort! If peace talks ever worked they would have done it a long time ago. Each and every time Israel has broken their contract. They would never be liberated w/o war”

    Another user wrote: “Bhai rebellion against oppression..which the people of Palestine have been facing since years now isn’t w@r and Hamas doens’t even have the resources to compete with Israel atm ..what are you even saying ..the only ones suffering were and are suffering now are Palestinians.”

    Talha Anjum’s take alone did not trigger a debate about the conflict. Screenwriter and ex-wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, Jemima, shared on Twitter that she was standing in favour of innocent human beings who were killed in this war.

    “I stand with the innocent human beings on both sides of this conflict, especially the children. Condemn both.”

    Many users felt her take was justified

    While others accused the ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’ filmmaker of playing on both sides and refusing to take a solid stance against Israel’s senseless massacre of countless Palestinian civilians. On another post where Jemima shared a quote saying “I stand with international law and human rights. There is no humanity in political tribalism”, most of the comments from Pakistanis were overwhelmingly negative.

  • ‘Show empathy’: Mia Khalifa defends Malala Yousafzai over response to Palestine genocide

    ‘Show empathy’: Mia Khalifa defends Malala Yousafzai over response to Palestine genocide

    As Israel launches full scale war on Palestine, many celebrities, including prominent faces in Pakistan, have expressed outrage and sent solidarity to the Palestinian people. Among the Pakistani public figures, a few social media users were critical of Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

    Former adult star Mia Khalifa defended the activist after a Pakistani twitter user praised Mia on Twitter for vocally sending her support to Palestine, and commented on Malala’s silence on the issue.

    ‘You spoke more than our Noble Peace Prize winner Malala and earned huge respect for this act,” the user wrote.

    To which Mia had responded:

    “I appreciate your sentiment, but I don’t agree with this rhetoric. We need to be more empathetic to people’s traumas and ability to absorb and digest things unfolding in real time. Freezing is a trauma response, feeling overwhelmed is common, and we need to give people time to speak on their own time. Malala is a trailblazer for human rights, she’s an inspiration and a guiding light for many.”

    Many applauded Mia’s empathetic response.

  • #BoycottZara: Head designer’s alleged Islamophobic remarks create viral trend

    Hashtag ‘Boycott Zara’ is trending on Twitter after Palestinian model Qaher Harhash exposed anti-Palestinian and ‘Islamophobic’ conversation with Vanessa Perilman, Head Designer at Zara. Vanessa allegedly sent controversial messages to Qaher in response to pro-Palestine posts by the model from occupied east Jerusalem.

    The alleged message sent by Vanessa to Qaher said: “Israelis don’t teach children to hate, nor throw stones at soldiers as your people do. The people in my industry know the truth about Israel and Palestine and I will never stop defending Israel. People like you just come and go in the end.”

    “Maybe if your people were educated then they wouldn’t blow up hospitals and schools that Israel helped to pay for in Gaza.”

    “I think it’s funny that you’re a model because in reality, that is against what the Muslim faith believes in and if you were to come out of the closet in any Muslim country, you would be stoned to death,” she added.

    https://twitter.com/nooranhamdan/status/1403380108023545856

    In the most recent wave of violence, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza killed at least 243 Palestinians, including 66 children, in 11 days and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished territory. On the Israeli side, 12 people, including two children, were killed.