9 vital points to plant firmly in your memory about occupation, oppression and violence (so you can be like George Galloway in defending liberation)
Sumbella Khan
Community Lead @ Well Teachers: let's *do* something about teacher well-being | Honouring teachers ? | P.S. This is bigger than our careers. No one is free until we're all free. ??
The points in this article come from a speech by Omar Barghoutti, currently available at YouTube, but is being censored on other social media accounts:
I really had to sit and absorb the points in this speech.
They struck me as ones that will likely help to swiftly field, defuse and win an argument about 'Israel' as smartly and sharply as George Galloway himself.
So I wrote them up, into two parts, splitting his ideas into more bite-sized chunks.
I have put his ideas for the next part, on how to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction complicit individuals and organisations, into the next article.
Here are the points to remember:
1: Where on the timeline you refer to the violence beginning reveals a lot about your moral compass.
Resistance groups like Hamas always comes AFTER occupation.
Occupation is inherently violent.
Know that long before October 7th, but particularly in the months leading up to it, Israel had been escalating its violent pursuit of illegal settlements and violent displacement, abuse and murder of Palestinians.?
Remember: In any situation of occupation and oppression, where your timeline begins says everything about where you stand.
2: Violence is initiated by those who exploit.?
With the establishment of oppression and occupation, violence has begun.
3: The UN charter doesn’t give Israel the right to self defense as an occupying power against Palestinians.
Repeat: 'Israel' does NOT have the right to self-defense. Understand the law and remember it. Read it again and again until memorised.
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4: The genocide convention doesn’t allow ANY justification for genocidal acts.?
No justification.
5: The UN charter endorses the use of ANY means needed to resist colonialism and occupation.?
ANY means necessary.
6: There must be clear condemnation for the occupation (Israel) BEFORE condemnation of resistance to it of any kind. (Refer to previous point again).
Also: when you see people doing one without the other, red flag. It's another way to ascertain someone’s moral compass.
Here's looking at Politicians. Media. Celebrities - who only condemn the actions of Hamas on October 7th, without first condemning the brutal occupation that preceded it.
7a: There is nothing Jewish about land theft, genocide or ethnic massacres.?
Read that again. Along the same lines:
7b: There is nothing anti-Jewish about supporting Boycotting Divesting and Sanctioning to end these crimes.
Nothing.
8: Oppression is the root of violence.
It has to stop. People need to unite more and more to end complicity in this.
The pressure to end this must swell from the people to hold those responsible for genocide and apartheid accountable.
Institutions and organisations, especially educational ones, are meant to?support and serve the people.
In part 2, many ideas are provided for how to apply BDS pressure to these kind of organisations.