An Israel-Palestine Ceasefire Doesn’t Equal Peace Or Justice

CNN’s headline on the subject says “Biden celebrates ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.” As if he didn’t try and approve an arms sale of nearly $800 million to continue the murder of Palestinian children by the Israeli Defense Force, but you know, that’s old news anyway. There’s a ceasefire now! Israel agreed to stop blowing up homes and media offices and clinics! Hamas has agreed to stop retaliating against Israel’s war crimes! Can’t we all go back to the negotiating table now?

On TV, Biden went on to reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorists who are “killing innocent children.”

In other words, he’s an apologist and fervent supporter of genocide.

And this is why the ceasefire is not peace. It’s just a return to the status quo. What that means is that Israel still maintains full control over the electricity, water supply, and freedom of movement of Palestinians. Israeli colonizers are still allowed to move into the homes of Palestinian families with virtually no consequences. The IDF continues to arrest children, enforce lockdowns, and overall uphold the apartheid system. Palestinians are still denied basic medical care, including access to COVID-19 testing and vaccines.

Just hours after the ceasefire was declared, guess what the IDF did? Went and shot more rubber bullets at innocent worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque.

No one in the world should be okay with this.

It is our moral obligation as human beings to continue to protest the state of Israel. It is our moral obligation to continue to uplift Palestinian voices, speak out against Israel, and keep making demands for not just quiet, but for justice.

Justice would be Israel standing before the International Criminal Court for its many, many crimes, which have been condemned by over 50 UN resolutions (17 of which were in 2020 alone, making it the most condemned nation of the year).

And yet condemnation is not enough. Israel must be boycotted and sanctioned. Its apartheid regime must be dismantled. Its terrorization of Palestinians must be acknowledged, and branded into world history instead of playing this “nuanced and two-sided” game.

Only then can we achieve the first step towards peace.

….

There’s a particularly good spoken word performance on the way Israel’s terms for negotiation is just a softer form of violence against Palestinian people.