It did not start on October 7. It escalated on October 7. For more than 75 years, we have been refugees living in refugee camps. We have been denied the right of return even though it has been articulated by international law. Before October 7, there used to be home demolitions every day, limits on movement every day, arrests of Palestinians every day, attacks on Palestinian farmers, women, children and elderly people every day. It’s not new. But this time, it is genocide.
When the war escalated in Gaza, I wasn’t in Palestine. I am currently studying abroad. It is very challenging and difficult to be away from family and friends. I have family and friends back in Jerusalem and the West bank. I have some friends who I know in Gaza. They don’t really reply a lot. So, it is a bit concerning because the Internet has been cut down.
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As an activist, it has been difficult to put the Palestinian perspective on the table. Because in the first weeks of the war, all the focus was just on the Israeli perspective as if the whole situation started on October 7. This is not true. We have been under an ethnic cleansing by the Israelis since 1948, since the Nakba, since 750,000 and more Palestinians were expelled from their land. The mainstream media ignores the Palestinian narrative. They don't want to talk about the root cause of the situation. They want to start the time scale from October 7. This does not lead to anything for the Israelis or the Palestinians because we are talking about a political situation on the ground that needs a political solution. A military solution will never solve the situation.
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Back home, it’s been difficult. People are not going out. Everything is closed. It reminds one of the pandemic-induced lockdown. By censoring social media posts, Israelis are trying to silence Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Ramallah is my home. Jerusalem is my home. I grew up in both these cities. Gaza is my home.
The Gaza Strip is a very, very small area. It is around 365 sq km big. Around 2.3 million Palestinians live in this area. It is completely locked. I wouldn’t call it an open-air prison because to be in a prison you need to commit a crime. These 2.3 million people did not commit a crime. Their only crime is being Palestinian. For more than 16 years, they have been living under a siege, deprived from their rights, deprived from travelling, from electricity, fuel. Unemployment and poverty rates are high. The situation is really bad because of a political decision taken by the Israeli occupying power.
The situation is escalating. Now there is genocide. There is an intent to destroy Palestinian infrastructure and starve the Palestinian people. They are not allowing food or proper items supplies to go into Gaza. They cut the internet and electricity many times. They want to isolate Gaza from the rest of the world..
(As told to Anisha Reddy)
(This appeared in the print as 'No, It Did Not Begin On October 7')
