Contemporary Relevance

The Israeli-Palestine conflict has greatly shaped recent movements geared toward to liberation of the oppressed. Angela Davis tells us “Black solidarity with Palestine allows us to understand the nature of contemporary more deeply.” Which is why the Movement for Black Lives has affiliated itself with the defense of the Palestinian people. As quoted on the movement’s website, “The Movement for Black Lives stands with the Palestinian people and especially those in Gaza, that have been engaging in resistance at the Gaza border.”

The Movement for Black Lives recognizes how the history of Black people mirrors that of the Palestinian people in the historical struggle for liberation and forced displacement. Not only are the Palestinian people oppressed because of their religion but because of their race. The Israeli-Palestine conflict is not just a race issue, it is a human rights issue. The moment we begin to understand that issues of race are human rights violations, the sooner we can move forward as a society.

To have a movement we continually perceive to be solely American aligns itself with the Palestinian people shows us that the fight against racism is, in fact, a global task. Continuing it acknowledges that Nakba is continuous in its current and historical unfolding, the same way we need to acknowledge the African diaspora is as well, in its current and historical unfolding.

The Israeli-Palestine conflict is not just a race issue, it is a human rights issue. The moment we begin to understand that issues of race are human rights violations, the sooner we can move forward as a society.

1.94 million Palestinians in Gaza live behind a blockade and are refused access to other parts of Palestine, which are also occupied. Specifically, Gaza experiences imposed movement due to an air, sea and land blockade. Restrictions imposed by Israel have occurred since the 1990s but have only escalated recently. A UN report done in 2012 predicted that Gaza would be “unlivable” by 2020 if no action was taken to stop the blockade. However, these conditions are unlivable now for the majority of the imprisoned population of Gaza, and with it the rest of Palestine.

84% (1.6 million people) of the population in Gaza needs humanitarian aid. 45% of those imprisoned are denied access to medical care by the Israeli government. As recent as 2017 only 55% of applicants who applied for medical care were permitted. Gaza also has the world’s largest unemployment rate due to it being an open-air prison, leaving 42% of the adult population without a job.

700 children have died in the three wars most recent wars of the Israeli-Palestine conflict. This has had devastating effects on younger generations, not only because the school system is dependent on other countries for funding, but because 50% of the adolescent population is traumatized by war, leaving 300,000 in need of psychological help.

By these standards, the majority of the Palestinians residing in Gaza are living not only people living below the poverty line, are denied healthcare, and are discriminated, but are experiencing a continuation of Nakba. The forced displacement and the oppression of the Palestinian people is a human rights violation and a tragedy that is affecting the growing generations to the point where it is more than critical to rectify.