UntoldMag selection of some of the best journalistic pieces on Palestine during the ongoing attack on Gaza and the West Bank.
Middle East Eye
By Nader Durgham
Beirut has been the only Arab capital, outside Palestine, that was occupied and sieged by Israel, in 1982. In the midst of Lebanon’s civil war, Israel wanted to eradicate the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as much as it wants to eliminate Hamas now. The occupation of Lebanon and the siege of Beirut left thousands of dead, but wasn’t met without resistance by the Beirutis and Lebanese. And while PLO lost its military strength and at the end left the Lebanese capital, out of the Israel violence, another movement was born in the 1980s: Hezbollah.
Los Angeles Times
Here’s what the mass violence in Gaza looks like to a scholar of genocide https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-11-19/israel-hostages-gaza-bombing-civilians-genocide-holocaust-studies
By Raz Segal
Raz Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies, discusses the urgency of stopping violence in Gaza, highlighting the dehumanizing language used by Israeli leaders and media against Palestinians, drawing parallels with genocidal language. He draws a comparison with the Ukrainian War and the slow death Palestinians in Gaza are enduring, emphasizing the urgent need for truth, justice, and equality for everyone in the region.
My Kali
Intersectional oppression: Queer Solidarity against Division, Exploitation, and Hypocrisy
By Hazem G.
The struggle of navigating a queer identity as a Palestinian under occupation. LGBTQ Palestinians are often blackmailed by Israeli authorities into becoming informants or being outed among friends and relatives. This adds to the difficulties of living, as all Palestinians, under the daily occupation, and in a conservative society. “The intersectionality of Palestinian queer experience”, Hazem writes, “ calls for solidarity that transcends the mere acknowledgement of their struggle, and advocates for Palestinian liberation and queer liberation together”
CNN
Opinion: ‘Beyond what a human being can endure.’ A lawyer reflects on life in Gaza | CNN
By Fatma Ashour
A lawyer living in Gaza, Fatma Ashour describes the dire conditions in Gaza after a month and 10 days of war, highlighting the lack of water, electricity, and fuel. The overcrowded living conditions, scarcity of resources, and the absence of basic necessities like food, fuel, and clean water contribute to a catastrophic situation for displaced individuals in Gaza. Ashour emphasizes the deliberate attempt to starve the population, characterizing it as collective punishment and approaching genocide, and expresses the need to pursue international legal action for accountability and the protection of basic human rights.
Verso Books
By Sai Englert
The article critiques the mainstream media’s biased approach and emphasizes the steady support extended by Western governments, including the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany, to Israel. The author establishes a connection between this support and enduring Western interests in the region, pointing to it as strategic measures to assert control over important trade routes, notably the Suez Canal. It contends that the rationale behind backing Zionism aligns with the same motives prompting Western governments to support authoritarian regimes in the region, aiming to ensure and perpetuate Western dominance over trade, resources, and money flows. The article concludes by spotlighting global solidarity movements that call for an end to Palestinian oppression and advocate for a democratic, decolonized Palestine from the river to the sea.
