By: Madam President
Today's hottest news and arguably the most controversial topic in the media; Palestine Vs. Israel. The cultural genocide on Palestinians has been an ongoing event for approximately 70 years. Yet Instagram influencers have generated quite a buzz for #FreePalestine during the past 5 months.
Marches and rallies are being held in order to show which side we support and calling representatives to hold them accountable is the new norm. The Palestine flag is being posted and reposted to show our solidarity. Workshops and seminars with the history of the subject matter are being produced.
Wait a minute…. I am having a case of Deja Vu…...
It’s almost as if 3 years ago another cause was being talked about a lot in the media. With rallies and protests and “trending Instagram hashtags.” In 2020, during the peak of the Black Lives Matter Movement, a similar trend was followed. Everyone showed their support, attended the rallies, used the hashtag and it was also the topic of every conversation. We even had multiple sides to an issue that seems pretty straightforward. The counter to Black Lives Matter was All Lives Matter. Just as the counter for the support on Palestine is neutrality. Very interesting how people pick and choose which justice events have anything to do with them and which ones don’t. For BLM, specific races felt left out and for the Palestinian movement, people have no problem looking the other way.
America loves to be neutral. And, free? As if separate but equal was a real concept but instead of equal, it is now separate and “not my problem.” But wait neutrality isn’t actually an option for the US, is it? Not when Israel's Military funding is being backed by our government. Kind of difficult for a United States Citizen to say “I’m not really involved” when your tax dollars are being used for mass murder. But hey I'm just the messenger. What do I know?
I do know that social media is a dangerous place for social justice. If something isn’t being constantly talked about and new stimuli aren't being present. The appeal of the cause seems to fizzle out. As if our brains just kind of lump all of the issues all together and store it away until a new and shiny toy comes in and we get excited.
Another danger of social media: ethos is not determined by the number of followers a celebrity has. It is astonishing to see how many celebrities either chose to remain silent out of fear or spoke up on Israels side and have no clue what they are actually talking about. The L.A Times themselves had to retract one of their articles because it was based on lies. I genuinely wonder how many of these so-called celebrities can even point out Palestine on a map. That may seem like a dig, but it is difficult for us to believe you would willingly side with an oppressor, unless you are ignorant.
The main fear for all of this is that the movement for Palestine will follow in the same footsteps as the Black Lives Matter Movement and end with a continuation of injustice. And a memory for future stories to tell our kids. When they come up to us and ask what happened to Palestine, those who stayed silent will bow their heads in shame or claim their ignorance. While those who spoke up will bow their heads in tears and cry for the loss of their brothers and sisters.
Resistance is justified when genocide occurs.
Free Palestine before it is too late. Please.
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