@middleeasteye: “On 7 October, the armed wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, breached the high-tech, militarised barrier that Israel has used to imprison Palestinians in Gaza for more than 16 years. In the hours and days that followed, Israel’s western allies and leading media organisations were quick to call the attack “unprovoked”, aiming to justify an Israeli response that has already killed more than 15,000 Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The 7 October attack was indeed unprecedented, but to call it “unprovoked” reflects a deliberate attempt to obscure the fact that Israel created the violent conditions that rendered a violent response inevitable. What took place that day followed more than 75 years of Israeli settler-colonialism, and it was triggered by the unbearable conditions in Gaza amid Israel’s 16-year siege and imprisonment of more than two million people in the territory. While the physical carnage caused by Israel’s brutal assaults has been extensively documented, far less attention has been given to the human toll and the psychological devastation wrought upon an entire generation. An 18-year-old in Gaza is now living through their fifth major Israeli assault. They have seen friends and family massacred by Israeli missiles, artillery shells and sniper rounds. Israel’s long history of crushing all forms of Palestinian resistance, both non-violent and armed, is evidence that the issue was never the method, but rather the fact that Palestinians have dared to resist their oppression at all. The truth bears repeating: many Palestinians realise that the Israeli regime responds only to the language of violence and force. So long as Palestinians live under a constant state of oppression and provocation, armed resistance will remain inevitable”. 🔗 Click the link in our bio to read the full column from #Palestine and #Israel ✍️: Tariq Kenney-Shawa* *The views expressed in this column belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of MEE

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Monday 04 December 2023 16:08:01 GMT