Tag: #palestine

  • 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.

  • Landlord stabs Palestinian- American child to death, injures mother in hate crime

    Landlord stabs Palestinian- American child to death, injures mother in hate crime

    Joseph Czuba, a 71-year-old man has stabbed a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy to death while also injuring his 32-year-old mother in Plainfield, Illinois USA in what local police have confirmed is a hate crime.

    The Palestinian-American family was reportedly attacked by the man after he got influenced watching and reading about the conflict in the Middle East.

    Czuba reportedly shouted “You Muslims must die” as he entered the family’s rented home and attacked the mother. When she ran to the bathroom to call 911, Czuba stabbed six-year-old 26 times, killing him on the spot.

    President Joe Biden has released a statement, saying that he is “sickened” by the incident.

    “This horrific act of hate has no place in America, and stands against our fundamental values: freedom from fear for how we pray, what we believe, and who we are,” he said.

    “As Americans, we must come together and reject Islamophobia and all forms of bigotry and hatred.”

    Czuba has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, hate crimes and aggravated battery.

    Will County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday that they received an emergency call while the woman was fighting the killer.

    She “ran into the bathroom and continued to fight off her attacker”, he explained.

    By the time the police reached the scene, the mother and the child had “multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities”.

    Bothwere taken to hospital, but the boy who was reportedly stabbed 26 times couldn’t survive the attack.

    Czuba, on the other hand, sat “upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence.”

    “Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the Sheriff’s office added.

    Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) identified the boy as Wadea al-Fayoume, and his mother as Hanaan Shahin.

    Wadea was born in the US, while his mother was originally from Beitunia in the West Bank and came to the country 12 years ago.

    According to CAIR-Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab, Wadea had celebrated his birthday only a few weeks back.

  • Saudi prince MBS kept U.S. Secretary waiting for hours

    Saudi prince MBS kept U.S. Secretary waiting for hours

    Only a couple of weeks back, the US was apparently succeeding in normalising the relationship between Saudi Arabia, arguably the most powerful Muslim country, and Israel. And while Saudi Arabia commenced talks, they made it clear that they will never compromise on their pro-Palestinian stance.

    However, the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7 and the consequential escalation has created a gulf between Saudi Arabia and Israel as well as Saudi Arabia and America.

    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been visiting the Arab world to persuade them to side with Washington’s narrative on the Israel-Hamas war.

    Washington Post has reported that after meeting Egypt’s Abdel Fatah El-Sisi and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Blinken told reporters on Sunday that “I heard a lot of good ideas about some of the things we need to do moving forward.”
    However, there came a conflict of views when it came to Israel’s right to wage intensified war in Gaza as both the Arab leaders do not approve of it.

    It was further reported that in Riyadh, “the Saudi ruler kept Blinken waiting several hours for a meeting presumed to happen in the evening but which the crown prince only showed up for the next morning.”

    While the US is in full support of Israel’s operations in besieged Gaza, El-Sisi and MBS, both stressed on the need for the Israeli forces to stop the attacks.

    MBS also stressed on lifting the siege of Gaza that has deprived residents of water, food, electricity and more.

    On the other hand, Sisi pointed out that Israel’s attacks have crossed “the right of self-defense,” and turned into “collective punishment.”

    And while he condemned Hamas, he blamed Israel for the devastating situation of the Palestinian.

    When Blinken brought into conversation his own Jewish heritage, Sisi, who himself grew up with Jew neighbours in Egypt, replied, “You said that you are a Jewish person and I am an Egyptian person who grew up next to Jews in Egypt.They have never been subjected to any form of oppression or targeting and it has never happened in our region that Jews were targeted in recent or old history.”

  • MSNBC reportedly removes three Muslim analysts from shows

    MSNBC reportedly removes three Muslim analysts from shows

    American broadcaster, MSNBC, has allegedly removed three Muslim news anchors from recording new episodes as Israel continues with bombing Gaza.

    Semafor reported that MSNBC did not air The Mehdi Hasan Show on Thursday, altered Ayman Mohyeldin’s programme and planned on having another anchor to substitute for Ali Velshi for the weekend.

    It has also been reported that a conflict within the organisation arose as an NBCU engineer created a “network-wide support event for staff who felt grief over the conflict”. But the conversation heated up after the engineer criticised Velshi’s show’s producer who asked why there were no Palestinians speaking at the event:

    “This is not about Palestinians and Jews/Israelis,

    “This is about terrorists and Jews/Israelis. Anyone entering this group needs to denounce terror and what happened on Saturday. Claims of ‘freedom fighting,’ rationalizations, really, anything not explicitly and unequivocally about being supportive during this difficult time; these do NOT belong here.”

    To which the producer responded, “You’re on here equating the loss of Palestinian civilian life with terrorism and saying that I have no right to grieve, as you do. You’re putting words in my mouth, demanding that I denounce terror as if I had anything to do with it. Not sure how you have managed to twist all this from a simple question asking, where can I, as someone with friends who are currently trapped in both Gaza and Israel, go to grieve?”

    The friction amongst the staff continued.

    According to Semafor, MSNBC has denied all accusations, and has”vehemently pushed back against any notion that anyone was being sidelined in any way.”

    While many pro-Israeli and Islamophobic individuals have welcomed the suspension, others have been highly critical of MSNBC’s open anti-Palestinian approach.

    https://publish.twitter.com/?query=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FIlhanMN%2Fstatus%2F1713256472853827958&widget=Tweet

  • Gaza supporter Huda beauty tells off Israeli who threatens to stop buying her products

    Gaza supporter Huda beauty tells off Israeli who threatens to stop buying her products

    Beauty mogul Huda Kattan has given us yet another reason to purchase her products.

    The owner of Huda Beauty has been sharing videos of Gaza, spreading awareness of the genocide inflicted by Israel.

    Among the comments was an Israeli woman, threatening to stop buying her products if Huda kept affirming her pro Palestine stance. To which the beauty mogul responded: “I don’t want blood money.”

    Twitter users lauded Huda Kattan’s blunt response to the Israeli commenter who claimed people from Gaza have no money.

  • Sonam Kapoor speaks out for Palestine, other prominent Bollywood celebrities silent

    Sonam Kapoor speaks out for Palestine, other prominent Bollywood celebrities silent

    Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor is one of the few Indian celebrities to condemn the bombardment of Palestine by Israeli army. The actress shared two post on her Instagram stories, as reported by Indian publication CNN News 18. One was a picture with the caption: “Half of the people in Gaza are children.”

    The other one was a quote from a New York Times article written by Nicholas Kristof which condemned the one-sided apathy towards Palestinian children.

    Most Twitter users lauded the ‘Aisha’ actress for taking a firm stand when Bollywood celebrities, including prominent Muslim actors, refused to speak out publicly against Israel’s atrocities towards Gaza.

    Among the few Bollywood celebrities who have addressed the conflict, Shah Rukh Khan’s 2014 tweet was going viral on social media where he condemned the murder of Palestinian children.

    Actress Swara Bhasker also condemned the brutal attack on Palestinian civilians by Israeli terrorists, and released a statement on her Instagram stories calling out the hypocrisy of those who were “shocked” by the violence of the Hamas.

    “If you have not felt shock and horror at Israel’s unending atrocities on Palestinians, the forcible occupation of Palestinian homes, the forced evictions, the bigotry and violence of settler Israelis, the murder of Palestinian children and teenagers, the decades long blockade and bombing of Gaza and civilians in Gaza, including bombing of schools and hospitals (not to mention the apartheid and occupation), then I’m afraid your shock and horror at Hamas’ attacks on Israel seem a bit hypocritical.”

  • 70% of people in Gaza without health services: what do we know about day nine

    70% of people in Gaza without health services: what do we know about day nine

    More than 400 Palestinians killed in Israeli raids in one day

    Wafa news has reported that Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 400 Palestinians and 1,500 have been wounded in the past 24 hours.

    China on Israel

    During a call with Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi deemed Israel’s operation in Gaza as “beyond the scope of self-defence” and alluded to the Israeli government to “cease its collective punishment of” Palestinians.

    “All parties should not take any action to escalate the situation and should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”, he added.

    Gaza death toll climbs to 2,329

    According to the health ministry, at least 2,329 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as the result of Israeli attacks whereas 9,714 have been wounded.

    On the contrary, 1,300 people have been killed in the Hamas attack on Israel.

    126 Israeli captives

    According to the Israeli army, 126 people have been taken captive by Hamas since October 7 attacks, whereas at least 279 soldiers have died.

    Israeli military at Gaza border

    As per Al-Jazeera’s investigation, the Israeli army has been “struggling to deal with infiltrations by fighters from Gaza” since October 7 attacks by Qassam Brigades.

    Nonetheless, Israel continues to attack Gaza and intercept rockets.

    Israel’s military is also setting themselves along the border as hundreds of tanks and heavy military equipment are proceeding with operational positions, indicating severe operations in the coming days.

    Israeli soldiers harassing Palestinians in Jerusalem Old City

    Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Old City are now under intensified harassment at the hands of the Israelis.

    Al Jazeera spoke to Palestinians who said that they are now facing “new interrogation tactics at its entry points, including phone searches, increased use of physical force and vulgar insults”.

    Additionally, as per Wafa news, 50 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

    No access to health services for 70% of people in Gaza

    Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, reported that 70 percent of residents in the besieged Gaza Strip are without health services after the UNRWA evacuated its centres.

    Water crisis in Gaza

    As per the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians, water has become a “matter of life and death” in the Gaza Strip as Israel has blocked water supply.

    UNRWA has stated that more than two million people are at risk.

    “It has become a matter of life and death. It is a must: Fuel needs to be delivered now into Gaza to make water available for two million people,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

    Additionally, it has been a week since no humanitarian supplies have been allowed into Gaza.

    Credits: Al-Jazeera

  • Instagram users say no views when people post pro Palestine content

    Instagram users say no views when people post pro Palestine content

    As the civilian death toll from Israel’s bombing of Gaza continues to rise Instagram users have complained that they are not getting views on pro Palestine content.

    While more than a 1000 Palestinians are dead, including more than 600 children, others are struggling to survive through Israel’s embargo on food, water, electricity, and other basic services.

    Israel’s atrocities in Gaza have resulted in people around the world raising their voice on social media and sharing footage.

    This also includes Pakistani influencers and Instagram users with a significant amount of following.

    They are now highlighting that the viewership on their Instagram stories has starkly decreased every since they started sharing pro-Palestinian content.

    This has not happened for the first time.

    Instagram (i.e. Meta) is known to deliberately restrict the outreach of content that is in support of Palestine or merely stating facts that put Israel in a bad light.

    Quds News Network, the largest Palestinian news outlet, has said that Meta has suspended it’s page on Israel’s complaint.

  • Palestinian bodies stored in ice cream refrigerators now: what do we know about day eight?

    Palestinian bodies stored in ice cream refrigerators now: what do we know about day eight?

    Go to ‘tent cities’ in Egypt’s Sinai Desert

    Previously, Israel had told 1.1 million Palestinians in northern Gaza to move to south Gaza within the span of 24 hours in the light of a potential ground operation.

    This led to a backlash from the UN, Palestinians, and many other humanitarian organisations who deemed it to be “impossible” and catastrophic.

    Yet again, Israel’s former deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, while speaking to Al Jazeera, suggested that Palestinians in Gaza should flee to Egypt’s Sinai Desert, where tent cities would be built for them.

    “The idea is for them to leave over to the open areas where we and the international community will prepare infrastructure … tent cities, with food and with water, just like for the refugees of Syria.”

    Evacuation impossible, says WHO

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that is impossible to evacuate hundreds of critically injured patients from hospitals in northern Gaza “without endangering their lives”.

    “Of the thousands of patients with injuries and other conditions receiving care in hospitals, there are hundreds that are severely wounded and over 100 who require critical care.

    “These are the sickest of the sick. Many thousands more, also with wounds or other health needs, cannot access any kind of care,” the WHO added

    The statement also pointed out that “The compressed timeframe, complex transport logistics, damaged roads, and, above all, lack of supportive care during transport all add to the difficulty of moving.”

    WHO has also called on Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza and to establish a “humanitarian corridor” on urgent basis.

    Hospital staff refuse to leave

    Despite no medical supplies and blockade of food, water and power, the medical teams at a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip have refused to evacuate, rejecting the Israeli army’s order.

    70 dead while fleeing northern Gaza on Israel’s callOfficials have revealed that a significant number of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids while fleeing the northern Gaza Strip.

    Among the 70 killed were mostly children and women and were in their transport, on their to South.

    324 Palestinians killed in less than 24 hours

    The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza has reached 324 according to health ministry whereas 1,000 have been wounded as the result of Israeli air raids in the last 24 hours.

    Reportedly, 66 percent of the affectees are women and children.

    Previously, hospitals in Gaza report that since October 7, Israeli air raids have killed at least 256 people, including 20 children, and wounded 1,788 others in less than 24 hours, according to hospitals in Gaza.

    According to WAFA’s correspondent, Israeli forces have targeted Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza city and the Red Crescent’s al-Quds Hospital that was currently sheltering hundreds of families.

    Simultaneously, dozens of homes and residential buildings have also been destroyed. Israeli fire has killed at least 52 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since Hamas’s attack on October 7, according to Palestinian health officials.

    Palestinian bodies stored in ice cream refrigerators due to lack of space in hospitals

    Due to lack of space in hospital morgues in Gaza, the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli air raids are now being stored in ice cream refrigerators instead.

    1,300+ buildings destroyed in Gaza: UN

    The United Nations reports that more than 1,300 buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed in the Israeli attacks.

    OCHA calculates the destruction of “5,540 housing units” in the destroyed buildings and nearly 3,750 homes have become uninhabitable.

    Top Hammas military commander dead

    According to the Israeli military, a senior military commander of Hamas heading the group’s aerial operations has been killed in Israeli air raids.Hamas is yet to respond to the news.

    credits: Al-Jazeera

  • 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.