by Nadiah Abuswai

Created on: June 30, 2008

In 1947, after World War I, the League of Nations approved the British Mandate of Palestine (basically the British occupation of Palestine) as the the new home of a Jewish State. The UN approved the division of Palestine into two states, while the Arab League disapproved entirely. Israel's "independence" was declared on May 14th, 1948.

The foundation of an Israeli Jewish state was built on the suffering and hardship of others. Palestinians were left to face a cruel and destructive invasion, losing their homes and even families. The fact of the matter is, no legitimate state or country can be built on an unjust invasion. How can one justify killing and violence in the name of a Jewish state?

Why should Israel be granted the rights Palestinians never had? Why should they have any claim to a country that was never theirs in the first place? The Israeli media portrays it's air raids on Gaza as retaliation for the constant terrorism they face from Palestinians. The civilian death on the Palestinian side is described simply as "an accident in an effort targeting criminals and terrorists." These 'accidents' seem to happen very often, killing women, children, and innocent men. A war machine that is so advanced has no excuse to frequently make mistakes that cost people their lives. Yet, somehow, Israel's violent actions are excused and forgiven, and soon the lives that were lost are simply forgotten.

Palestinians are supposed to sit back and take the oppression, the control, the violence. Any fighting back is considered terrorism. Terrorism against what? Israel is completely illegitimate in it's formation, and Palestinians are simply fighting against the idea that a Jewish State could be formed on land that never belonged to them in the first place. They are fighting against an overly aggressive army and government that has them pent up like animals.

If it was your children, your home, your life that you lost in the result of an air strike or raid, how do you think you'd react? No human in the right mind would let such cruel merciless acts simply slide by, and succumb to a life of poverty and despair. We are all entitled to a good, just, life, and a hopeful future. Why can't Palestinians be granted the same? No one deserves to be forced into raising children that face an empty, restricted world full of hatred and violence. No one deserves to be treated like less than human, like a second class citizen. We are all entitled to freedom and independence, and sometimes it's worth fighting for.

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