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Disclaimer: This collective statement is written under the crucial understanding that Israel is an occupation and apartheid. It is an occupation in that it controls who goes in and out of Palestine and continuously and illegally occupies Palestinian land through Israeli police aggression and Israeli “Defense” Forces, which we will more accurately refer to as the Israeli Occupation Forces throughout this statement since “defense” falsely implies an equivalent power to defend against. Israel is an apartheid in that the Palestinian citizens of Israel are treated as less than by the Israeli government on issues from a lack of civil rights compared to Jewish citizens of Israel, to medical discrimination, to a lack of clean water, and property expulsions. Israel exists at the expense of Palestinians, and for that, this piece is centered on the importance of a liberated Palestine. 

Introduction

Saturday, May 15 marked the annual commemoration of the Nakba (Nakba is the Arabic word for “catastrophe”). Since 1948, the ongoing Nakba has resulted in the displacement of over 7.2 million Palestinians, the brutal genocide of over 1,240,000 Palestinians and the destruction of over 927 Palestinian villages. This day signifies yet another year of oppression and forced immobility for the Palestinian people as they continuously suffer from the structurally violent state of Israel that works to oppress, dispossess and displace Palestinians. The oppression of Palestinian people is commonly mislabeled as a “conflict” between two sides. This false characterization serves as an erasure of Palestinian oppression and suggests Palestine’s defense is equally oppressive. Israel has one of the most extensive armies in the world, while Palestine does not have a unified military and has restricted access to weaponry; it’s clear that “bothsidesism” and the notion of an equal conflict are not only inapplicable, but dangerous. The magnitude of Israeli settler-colonialism, the development of the apartheid-state and the ongoing ethnic cleansing committed against Palestinians indicates that this oppression should more accurately be termed a humanitarian crisis. The oppression of Palestinians is rooted in Zionism: a racist, ultra-nationalistic ideology that, while based on the desire for Jewish self-determination, strips Palestinians of their rights on their own ancestral land and justifies the continuous perpetration of inhumane war crimes towards Palestinians. The bigotry and violence birthed from Zionism is the direct reason that Israel violently targeted Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa Mosque on May 7, killed over 197 Palestinians in Gaza with airstrikes in the last week, murdered at least seven people in the occupied West Bank and violently attempted to dispossess Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah. 

May 15 of 2021, Nakba Day, commemorates 73 years of pain for Palestinians, characterized by years of air strikes, innumerable violations of humanitarian laws — including the denial of basic rights for Palestinians such as the right to own property or vote — and relentless weaponization of international aid in support of Israel. Much of academia, from students to scholars, dismisses the oppression endured by Palestinians as complex, but in reality it is quite simple to understand — Israel is the oppressor and Palestinians are the oppressed. 

The ongoing Nakba

In order to understand the Palestinian struggle, it is important to understand Zionism and how its implementation is inherently violent. Zionism is a political ideology founded by Theodor Herzl in 1896, rooted in the desire for Jewish self-determinism as a result of centuries of injustices and mercilessness against Jewish people. Herzl argued that Jewish persecution would continue without an established Jewish state, declaring, “The aim of Zionism is to create for the Jewish people a home in Palestine secured by law.” While initially considering Ugandan land and Argentina for a Zionist state, Zionists ultimately favored Palestine due to Jewish historical and religious connections to the land. The majority of Jewish migration to Palestine happened in early settlements, flourishing in part due to funding from western European Jews, notably Baron Edmond de Rothschild. In 1915, through British parliament, Zionist cabinet member Herbert Samuel proposed a memorandum entitled “The Future of Palestine,” stating that, with Jewish ownership of Palestine, “at last, some advance may be made towards the restoration of the Jews to the land to which they are attached by ties almost as ancient as history itself.” Although all Abrahamic religions have ties to Jerusalem, it is this incomplete, exclusionary analysis of history that serves as the foundation of this anti-Arab and anti-Muslim settler state.

Beginning in 1918, Palestine was under British rule in accordance with a dual mandate. The British had initially ensured Arab independence after the first world war with the Husayn-McMahon Correspondence, but less than a year later, they violated these terms with the Sykes-Picot Agreement and Balfour Declaration. The former, the result of a secret discussion between European diplomats, divided up the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) region between French and British rule. The latter was a statement of British commitment to the Zionist mission, declaring Palestine as a “national home for the Jewish people.” Palestinians and Arabs were not consulted in either of these designations. Thus, as early as more than a century ago, imperialist powers broke their promise of self-governance to the Palestinian people, and this pattern of blatant subjugation has only persisted since. Many refer to the 67-word Balfour Declaration as the “original sin” and catalyst of the ongoing Nakba — the seed planted to disrupt and prevent Palestinian self-determination.

The Balfour Declaration via Wikimedia Commons.

To actualize the Balfour Declaration, the British began facilitating the immigration of European Jews to Palestine. By 1935, the Jewish population had risen to 27% from 10% in 1918. As demographics shifted in the region, native Palestinians were either pushed to unfarmable land or left landless. As a result, Palestinian Arabs launched a four-year uprising in 1936 against British colonial rule known as the Arab Revolt. Throughout this time, the British responded with gruesome force, destroying at least 2,000 Palestinian homes, forcefully deporting Palestinian activists, killing more than 10% of the Palestinian male population and imprisoning 9,000 Palestinians in concentration camps. Following the end of the British mandate in Palestine, the U.N. passed Resolution 181 in 1947, partitioning more than half of Palestinian land as Jewish territory despite Jewish population being 35% – a minority in the region. On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was founded at the expense of Palestinians. The very next day began the initial Nakba with Israeli troops forcing the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians, causing them to flee to neighboring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. Zionist forces took 78% of historic Palestine, destroyed about 530 villages and cities and killed an estimated 15,000 Palestinians through more than 70 massacres.  

The next forced annexations were during the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel seized and began building settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt and the Golan Heights in Syria. Over 140,000 Syrians were displaced from the Golan Heights, and 280,000 to 325,000 Palestinians were forcibly removed from the West Bank. After the events of the war, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242, calling for the “withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” This was profound when written in text but futile and ultimately ineffectual in reality —  the resolution served as a confirmation of Israel’s national legitimacy and made it appear as if the U.N. was taking actionable steps to alleviate Palestine’s oppression, but ultimately there was not any action taken to uphold these words. 

In following decades, organizations such as the U.N. Reliefs and Work Agency for Palestineans in the Near East and the International Committee of the Red Cross created refugee camps for the countless Palestinians forcibly removed from their homeland. Nevertheless, even these refugee camps did not see peace. In 1982, Israeli forces surrounded the Shatila refugee camp in West Beirut when Phalange, a known anti-Palestinian and anti-Shia group, initiated their attack. Israeli troops fired flares throughout the night to allow Phalange to continue making their way through the camps and used IDF bulldozers to dig up mass graves. By the end of the second day, the Israeli forces and Phalange had massacred 3,500 Palestinian refugees and Shia Lebanese civilians. 

It is important to note that any event in Palestine cannot be viewed as an isolated event — years of subjugation under the British, and consequently the Israelis, created an unignorable domino effect. During their twenty-year occupation of the region taken during the Six-Day War, Israel established curfews and conducted deportations, frequent raids, arrests and house demolitions. In response to the Israeli occupation of these regions, the First Intifada (Intifada is the Arabic word for “uprising”) took place from 1987 to 1993 — characterized by widespread Palestinian protests in the West Bank, Gaza and Palestinian regions seized by Israel in 1967. By the end of the First Intifada, 1,500 Palestinians were killed and 120,000 were incarcerated. Afterward, the Oslo Accords were enacted, U.N. Security Council Resolution 607 and 608 were passed, and still the Nakba continued as Israel persisted with its illegal annexations and human rights violations.

In 2000, Israel refused to adhere to the Oslo Accords, and due to clearly indicative American biases towards Israel, the 13-day long negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli representatives at the Camp David Summit concluded with no consensus on permanent status. Later in that year, Ariel Sharon, the general of the Israeli military, entered Masjid Al-Aqsa with 1,000 police and soldiers, initiating the Second Intifada, which persisted from 2000 to 2005. In response to unarmed protests in Palestine, the IDF began a series of military offenses and curfew restrictions similar to the First Intifada. Within the first five days, Israeli forces killed 47 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilian bystanders. By the end of the five years of state-violence, over 4,973 Palestinians were killed — 1,262 were children.

In 2014, Israel began one of its most vicious attacks against the Palestinian people, killing 2,251 and injuring 11,000 all in the span of less than two months. The Israeli Occupation Forces claimed to have only been targeting Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, but independent investigations from both the U.N. and Amnesty International found that they killed mostly civilians. It is important to note that Hamas also launched attacks as well, but there’s an apparent false equivalency between Hamas and IOF based on unbalanced power dynamics, Western funding and support of the IOF and Hamas’ small size and scale. Just one example of this is Israel’s use of an advanced Iron Dome, which serves as an air-defense system, intercepting and destroying rockets that have been fired into their radius. Moreover, the extent of Hamas’ impact on Israel is minimal compared to Israel’s continuous and forceful history of violence on Palestinians, as the aforementioned events indicate. Israel has killed more Palestinian civilians in this past week alone than Israel civilians have killed by Hamas in the past ten years. Although we condemn the deaths of Israeli civilians by Hamas, we do so with the understanding that any militant aggression towards the powerless is wrong. With that principle, anyone who condemns Hamas must also condemn the actions of the initial aggressor: the IDF. 

Enablement of Israeli Aggression

Israel is not the only country contributing to the Palestinian genocide — Israel has relations with Zionist apologists throughout the West and in the SWANA region. One of Israel’s biggest proponents, if not its biggest supporter, is the United States. An undoubted participant in the displacement and violence Israel wages against Palestinians, the United States has funded the IOF with approximately 146 billion dollars since its inception in 1948, and 3.8 billion dollars annually. The U.S. has also supported Israeli aggression through political action such as moving the American-Israeli embassy to Jerusalem — not only a violation of international law but also a disruption of the city’s prior neutral status based on its significance to multiple religions. As a result, American taxpayers’ money is being directed to fund state-sanctioned violence, both at home and abroad. For instance, the U.S. additionally supports Israel through non-fiscal measures such as the continuous collaboration on police and military tactics. Together, Israeli occupying forces and American police forces work to ensure the dominance of the marginalized — the U.S. in its vapid police brutality against Black Americans and Israel in its cruelty towards Palestinians and Arabs through institutional violence. Relevant to our local community, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took the Michigan State Police chief alongside her on a trip to Israel to learn from Israeli police and militias. Considering that a state official’s sole role is in state politics and not foreign affairs, the only possible answer as to why a state official, accompanied by the police chief, would meet with a foreign entity — besides the governor’s clear support of Israeli companies — is the deeply interconnected network between the two colonizing nations in their attempts to brutalize the marginalized. 

The U.S.-Israeli bilateral relationship has often been defended by politicians arguing that it cements a stronghold in the SWANA region in terms of geopolitics, curbs terrorists in these nations and solidifies the “only democracy in the Middle East.” These notions are wholly motivated by America’s dependence on oppressing marginalized communities worldwide and reflective of the foundation of America itself. Israel, by function, cannot be a democracy as it is an apartheid and an occupation. A country can not claim to be a beacon for democracy while representing the opposite of democratic politics in restraining the voting rights of Arabs and Palestinians within its borders. Furthermore, many arguments for Israeli occupation are driven by strong anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry as they purposefully depict the SWANA region as one fraught with terrorism rather than one struggling with Western interference and the lasting effects of past and present colonialism. The U.S.-Israeli alliance is meant to ensure the maintenance of imperialism and, consequently, domination as they both have financial and geopolitical interests in the region. The US works hard to maintain dominance within the SWANA region and that is evident through wars in gulf countries and Iraq. By having a strong imperialist ally through Israel, American imperialism is strengthened, and as such, its support for Israel remains steadfast.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that Arab governments are not to blame for their support of the Zionist regime. Despite staunch pro-Palestine sentiment within the people of these countries, several Arab dictatorships have supported the Israeli occupation. Ingeniously understanding that support for oppressive regimes with power ensures the viability and credibility of their own unhinged political power, dictatorships have normalized Israel’s oppressive regime, consequently threatening Palestinians. As an example amongst many, Egypt borders Palestine and has the strongest military in the Arab world. As a result, any military aid and safety Egypt can provide for Palestinians is crucial, yet the Egyptian government insists on a blockade of goods and the closing of tunnels to and from Palestine. Through the implementation of friendly relations with Israel, the Egyptian government’s signing of “peace” treaties that protect Israel knowingly leaves their Palestinian siblings to fend off Israeli aggression with limited resources. Additionally, Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and Bahrain have all allied with Israel by recognizing the Israeli occupation as legitimate. The Arab world is complicit in the ongoing Nakba, and it is undeniable that powerful dictatorships in the Arab world are aiding and abetting the global north in the oppression of Palestinians.

The mainstream news media is also complicit in Israeli cruelty as most American coverage, on both sides of the aisle, is heavily biased toward Israel. As Malcolm X once said, “If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” True to the revolutionary’s words, the media is engaging in dangerous rhetoric as they unapologetically persist in their support for Israel. Employing “bothesidism” constantly and purposefully convincing the rest of the world that the “Israel-Palestine conflict” is much too complex to understand, Western news outlets actively misrepresent the oppression of Palestinians. For instance, in a recent article by The New York Post, reporters misled their readers by wrongfully painting Palestinian casualties as Israeli ones. In headlines, organizations such as the Associated Press and Reuters portray Palestinian murders as mere deaths and the disproportionate Israeli casualties as murders. Reporting Israeli gassing of worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque as “clashes” and choosing to highlight stones thrown over airstrikes is blatantly dishonest and harmful, a reminder of many news sources’ aim to protect Israeli support in the West. During coverage of Israel’s rapid vaccinations, publications left out the realities of medical apartheid and Israel’s purposeful blocking of Palestinians’ access to the vaccine, instead praising Israel’s selective public health. On channels such as MSNBC and CNN, primetime cable news shows such as Rachel Maddow’s disregard attacks on Palestine as pressing news, opting to ignore Palestinian death to analyze lukewarm stories. Contributors in support of a free Palestine such as Marc Lamont Hill are fired from their positions and forced out of mainstream media. This immoral and inaccurate reporting does not solely apply to larger news outlets – The Michigan Daily is just as wrongful. Regarding a recent Central Student Government (CSG) statement that was just released supporting Palestinians, the news section of the paper knowingly chose to portray the current genocide in Palestine as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Furthermore, The Daily has allowed for multiple articles that support Israel in its human rights violations such as one published on Nov. 20, 2019, arguing that U.S. aid for Israel should not be conditional. Free speech in news outlets is absolutely crucial; however, by choosing to propagandize on behalf of the Israeli government, all types of news outlets are tangentially advocating against Palestinians and their humanity while supporting apartheid and occupation. The recent article on the CSG statement indicated such biases, with leading questions directed to student representatives in terms of “division on campus” and Israel-Palestine “conflict.” Thus, it is evident that the demonization of Palestinians in support of a cruel and inhumane Israeli regime is a journalistic norm that has knowingly protected bigoted Israeli support, and for that, news outlets are strategically upholding the oppression of Palestinians.

Brief History of the silencing of Palestinians and Pro-Palestine Voices on Campus

As the staff of Michigan in Color, we must acknowledge that our section’s inception came about due to the silencing of and discrimination towards students of the University of Michigan who have spoken out against Israel’s human rights violations. We acknowledge and pay tribute to the tireless work of alumni and students before us who courageously spoke out, led demonstrations and teach-ins and attended CSG meetings, and our founders Rima Fadlallah, Kayla Upadhayaya and Jerusaliem Gebreziabher who created a space at The Daily where Palestinian students could finally express their grievances. We pay tribute to the student activists who got the divestment resolution passed, which encouraged U-M representatives to divest from their ties to companies fueling and supporting the occupation of Palestine, though it was met with wide opposition and little action.

The outrage that has followed the recent statement of solidarity by CSG signifies the deep loyalty to the colonial ethnostate of Israel and the conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism that is too often cited as an argument against Palestinian advocacy. Considering the racist and anti-Palestinian statements by former CSG President Ben Gerstein that surfaced last year, we echo the voices of many who say the recent statement by CSG is a huge step towards bringing awareness to Israel’s ongoing oppression of Palestine, normalizing conversations that go beyond the guise of “respectful dialogue” and genuinely addressing the issue at hand.   

The mistreatment of Palestinian students and allies on campus dates back decades. From being put on international blacklists and having to attend classes in which their very human rights were debated, to having to walk past pro-Israeli demonstrations and celebrations yet being approached by police when peacefully sitting with Palestinian flags, to constantly having to prove their right to exist and Palestinian organizations being censored by Zionist groups, being Palestinian or a pro-Palestine ally at the University has not been easy. It must be understood that Palestinian and pro-Palestine activists have been disproportionately targeted in attempts to silence their voices. The advocates who speak out against the state of Israel are often blacklisted and those who shy from speaking up are intimidated as they know speaking up will risk their future professional and educational endeavors. At the University of Michigan specifically, these blacklists have widely been weaponized to censor pro-Palestine students, professors and faculty members who have spoken out against the settler-colonial state of Israel. Furthermore, oftentimes those who are anti-Zionist are labeled as antisemitic. Not only does this claim construct a false narrative and understanding of antisemitism, but it also conflates Zionism — which intrinsically stands for colonization, apartheid, forceful removal and genocide — with the religion of Judaism. Arguing Zionism is akin to Judaism and a part of Jewish identity is a blatant fallacy, considering that Zionism is roughly a hundred years old, and Judaism has been around for approximately 4,000 years. Labeling the critique of the state of Israel or critique of Zionism as antisemitic not only deters attention from real instances of antisemitism but falsely implies that all Jews are Israeli and in support of Israel. In reality, the Jewish population is not a homogenous one, as there are Jews of all different beliefs and nationalities — many of whom actively oppose Zionism — and additionally, there are many non-Jewish Zionists. To characterize any person, Jewish or not, who critiques Zionist ideologies as antisemitic is a false equivalency. As such, criticism of Israel, similar to that leveled against any other country, cannot be regarded as antisemitic. Working with the convoluted argument that anti-Zionism is antisemitic, these blacklists function solely to silence support for the human rights of Palestinians and have been active in suppressing Palestinian voices on campus, especially because Palestinians on the list are not allowed into Palestine by Israeli forces. At the University of Michigan, Palestinian students pay tuition at an institution that actively plays a role in the oppression of their people, sponsors propaganda trips to Israel every year and subjugates portrayals of the truth with neutralizing language, notions of two-sided language and “conflict” which assumes an equal fight instead of a clear imbalance of power. 

We reject the misconception that because we oppose Israel’s violent oppression of the Palestinian people, we are reverberating antisemitic sentiment, but furthermore, we reject the notion that we must constantly defend ourselves against this claim and prove that we are not. Palestinians have every right to retaliate and defend their homeland and livelihood against occupation and attack. We implore all those who are supportive of Israel or who are choosing to remain silent to ask themselves why their opposition to police violence, militarism, racism and colonialism does not extend to Palestine. 

Moving Forward

As a community of marginalized people, we know what the struggle against systems of oppression feels like — whether systemic racism, colonialism, apartheid, prison and military-industrial complexes, facism, terrorism and so on. We each know what it is like to suffer immense tragedy and loss while watching the oppressors evade justice. We know what it feels like to be stripped entirely of human rights and dignity. We also know how important it is for us to recognize that each of our individual systems of oppression is interconnected. It is imperative that we recognize the universality of our struggles so we may unite and strengthen our forces against injustice.

With so much pain and torment in the world, apathy should never be a viable option. It may feel easier to stop caring because it seems as if the world will never be void of injustice and that the situation in historic Palestine is “too complex.” In response to this pessimism, critical race theory scholar Cheryl Harris reminds us that “apathy is one of the great tools of the ruling class.” Feelings of hopelessness and indifference are often a result of deliberate attempts made by the oppressor to avoid accountability and continue their cruelty. The Michigan in Color community strives to emphasize and embody how the pursuit for justice and liberty anywhere in the world will never be in vain. We will continue the struggle for freedom until every human, in every corner of the globe, is free. No matter how difficult or painful it may be, no struggle or person will be left behind. 

Resources

Michigan in Color was founded with the intention to make the voices of marginalized groups heard — specifically, Palestinian voices. As a section, we aspire to play a role in providing truthful, unapologetic coverage that amplifies the Palestinian voice. With that said, MiC will live out our mission of being a brave and safe space by supporting the people of Palestine. In doing so, we support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and urge our readers to do the same. BDS is a Palestinian led-movement that pushes for the decolonization of Palestine. BDS serves as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel that advocates for freedom, justice and equality and upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. Drawing inspiration from previous Palestinian resistance movements, the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, BDS pressures Israel to comply with international law through three requests: 

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands from Gaza in Palestine to Golan Heights in Syria.

2. Granting Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel their right to full equality.

3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in U.N. Resolution 194. 

As the movement’s name states, BDS centers grassroots work in boycotting, divesting and sanctioning, acknowledging that Israel has only been able to uphold its settler-colonial status because of international support for Israel. Its efforts encourage institutions of all sizes to support Palestine until it is liberated. Furthermore, the organization urges advocates sanctioning governments in support of Palestinian human rights. BDS has become a global movement, gaining support from and inspiring other movements all over the world. Examples of companies that are on the BDS list to boycott include Sabra Dipping Company, Hewlett Packard Development L.P., Puma, L’Oréal cosmetics and Sodastream. 

Through supporting BDS and reading, watching, amplifying Palestinian voices on social media, protesting and signing petitions, readers can work in dismantling the oppression of Palestinians. Change is possible. Algeria gained independence after over 132 years of living under French occupation. The South African apartheid ended after nearly 50 years of legal racial segregation. These historical victories serve to remind us that liberty is within reach. Nelson Mandela, one of the leading voices of the South African anti-apartheid revolution said, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” Palestine will be free because the liberation of Palestine is a victory for all of humanity, and it’s our duty as a collective to aid in Palestinian liberation. Free Palestine.

To Read: 

  1. “Freedom is Constant Struggle” by Angela Davis 
  2. “The Question of Palestine” by Edward Said
  3. “Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide” by Ben White
  4. “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine” by Rashid Khalidi
  5. “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine” by Ilan Pappé
  6. “Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation” Compiled and edited by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke
  7. “Ten Myths About Israel” by Ilan Pappé
  8. “Zionist Colonialism” in Palestine by Fayez Sayegh
  9. “Palestine: A Socialist Introduction” by Sumaya Awad and Brian Bean
  10. “The Balfour Declaration: Empire, the Mandate and Resistance in Palestine” by Bernard Regan
  11. “Return to Haifa” by Ghassan Kanafani
  12. “The Secret Life of Saeed” by Emile Habiby
  13. “Justice For Some: Law and the Question of Palestine” by Noura Erakat
  14. “The Battle of Sheik Jarrah” by Moe Alqasem
  15. “Israel Palestine Conflict 101” by Jewish Voice for Peace

To Watch: 

  1. “Born in Gaza” (2014)
  2. “Five Broken Cameras” (Free on Tubi)
  3. “Leila and the Wolves” (1984)
  4. “1948: Creation and Catastrophe” (iTunes)
  5. “Looted and Hidden: Palestinian Archives in Israel” (Vimeo)
  6. “Off Frame aka Revolution Until Victory” (Amazon Prime)
  7. “Naila and the Uprising” (Vimeo)
  8. “The Occupation of the American Mind” (Vimeo)
  9. “The Great Book Robbery” (Youtube)
  10. “The Last Shepherds of the Valley” (AlJazeera) 
  11. “Jerusalem: Between a Rock & a Hard Place” (Free on YouTube)
  12. “Al Nakba” (AlJazeera)
  13. “The Wanted 18” (Amazon Prime)
  14. “The Tower – Animated Film” (Amazon)
  15. Congress Speech by Rashida Tlaib 
  16. Congress Speech by Ayanna Pressley 
  17. Congress Speech by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
  18. Sheikh Jarrah: 5 Facts to Know (by @subhi.taha)
  19. Israeli Settlements, Explained (via Vox)
  20. Palestine, Occupation Every Day (via AJ+)

To Sign

  1. Text PTFDZN to 50409
    1. Sends a pre-written letter to your representatives in support of H.R. 2590 — The Palestinian Children and Families Act
  2. Protect Palestinian Families and Stop Israeli Ethnic Cleansing in Jerusalem
    1. Sends a pre-written letter to your representatives to stop U.S.-funded and U.S.-supported ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Jerusalem
  3. Take Action for Palestine: Halt Illegal Evictions
    1. Sends a pre-written letter to Congress and the Biden Administration to credibly engage the Israeli government to halt their evictions and other provocations
  4. Stop Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians From East Jerusalem
    1. Call on the U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to demand an end to Israel illegal evictions of Palestinians and demolitions of their homes
  5. Petition to the ICC to Investigate War Crimes by Israeli Military
    1. Call on the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor to look into and investigate crimes by the Israeli military judicial system as part of the Israeli apartheid regime, and further call for the end of prosecuting Palestinian civilians in Israeli military courts.
  6. Stop Supporting Israeli Settlements on Occupied Palestinian Land
    1. Call on your government to ban Israeli settlement goods from entering your markets, and to stop companies from operating in settlements 
  7. Rashida Tlaib’s Petition
    1. Call on the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense to demand an end to Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem
  8. In support of the CSG statement released 5/10/2021
    1. The CSG members who published the statement have received a lot of backlash and even threats because of it. Fill out the following form in support of that statement and its writers. 

To Follow:

  1. @eye.on.palestine
  2. @JewishVoiceForPeace
  3. Lets Talk Palestine 
  4. @theIMEU
  5. Noura Erakat
  6. @middleeasteye
  7. @landpalestine
  8. @PalestinianYouthMovement
  9. @MohammedElKurd 
  10. @muna.kurd15
  11. Rabet
  12. Electronic Intifada
  13. Pali Roots 
  14. IJV (Independent Jewish Voices Canada)
  15. Breaking the Silence Israel
  16. Documenting Palestine
  17. Visualizing Palestine
  18. Alaa Daraghme
  19. Dena Takrur
  20. Saleh Zighari 
  21. Muna Hawwa 
  22. Ala Hamdan
  23. Aya Halaf 
  24. Mohammed Matter 
  25. Tarek Bakri
  26. Maya Hussein

To Boycott:

  1. Puma
  2. Sabra Hummus
  3. Airbnb
  4. Ben and Jerry’s
  5. The Coca-Cola Company
  6. SodaStream
  7. HP
  8. Motorola
  9. Volvo
  10. Pampers
  11. Nestle
  12. Ahava
  13. The Strauss Group
  14. General Mills (Pillsbury)
  15. Angel Bakeries

**Check out the BDS website for more information

Donations will not liberate the Palestinian people. We must show up to protests fighting for Palestinian liberation and continue amplifying Palestinian resistance on social media, using the hashtags #SaveSheikhJarrah, #GazaUnderAttack, #SavePalestine and #FreePalestine as well as further our own education.

The Michigan in Color team can be reached at michigancolor@michigandaily.com.