A Statement on Palestine.

I understand there are many people who have a romanticized vision of Israel and what the state of Israel represents. And I understand that for those people it is very difficult to be confronted with the realities of the Zionist project and what this project has cost. 

But the reality is that Israel is a heavily militarized and extremely violent apartheid state, functioning on an implicit racial hierarchy system for the Jewish people, and a violent apartheid system for non-Jewish Palestinians. I take no issue with the Jewish people or with the concept of Jewish people living in Palestine. But I do not believe in ethnic cleansing, and I do not believe in apartheid. And the creation and maintenance of the current hegemonic Jewish majority in Israel explicitly requires these violent mechanisms. It did not occur by natural processes. 

I believe, as Palestinians believe, as thousands of anti-Zionist Jews around the world believe, that people of all races and religions have the right to live freely and peacefully as equals in their homelands. I believe as they believe that the love and protection of the Jewish people will never require or justify the violent oppression of another people. If you have been told otherwise, I can only encourage you to listen to the voices of those, Jews and Palestinians alike, that have been hurt and killed by the Zionist project.

I have posted an extensive reading list of pieces I have read over the years for anyone that wants to know why I feel the way I feel about this. I would hope that you would read them before making judgements on my integrity or character. 

I understand there will be people who will be confused and upset by my support for the Palestinian people. And like many others who have expressed these sympathies, I may also face certain consequences. But that is not going to change my position on something so tangibly wrong. This violence would not be possible without the unprecedented financial and diplomatic support of the United States, who provides the state of Israel with more weapons and military aid each year than we have provided to any other country in our history. I believe I have a responsibility as an American citizen to express my objection to this.

Like previous generations struggled with South African apartheid, Native American genocide, American Black empowerment movements, and every global fight against racist imperialism, times always feel complicated when you’re in them. It’s easy for the waters to be muddied with nuance when you’re living in that moment. This situation is complicated, but it’s also not complicated at all. Palestinians have a right to return to their homes and live peacefully alongside their Jewish neighbors. They have a right to life and liberty as equals, not as prisoners of Israel. I support the Palestinian people in their ongoing struggle for freedom unequivocally.

From the River to the Sea,

Mahala