As of March, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs, over 30,000 Palestinian people have been killed with 1.7 million being displaced in Gaza as a result of Israel’s attacks on Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks.
As of December, they’ve bombed 70% of homes in Gaza according to the Government Media Office. Ceasefire attempts, aid of Palestinians being blocked, 164 Hospitals being bombed in October according to The World Health Organization. Israel also had many offensive attacks in general on Palestine with forced evictions, denying Palestinian refugees and other rights of freedom for Palestinians.
Israel has shown many cases of targeting Palestinian citizens when they are in their most vulnerable like with the “flour massacre” in February where over 100 people were killed and more than 700 wounded when the Israeli Army opened fire of dozens of hungry Palestinians.
In Gaza, Israel has been showing many examples of what can be considered war crimes and at this point can be considered a genocide of the people in Palestine.
Many countries, companies and politicians support Israel in ways that directly harm Palestinians. For example, the U.S., Germany and Japan voted to cut funding of a United Nations agency to support Palestinian refugees, an organization to provide aid to Palestinians who are in need since 1949.
Many people also use dehumanizing language towards Palestinians, to skew support toward Israel. On top of them saying it was for “self-defense” for Israel, some people in the media refer to Palestinians deaths using the word “died” whereas they use the word “killed” for Israeli deaths. Many also refer to Palestinian children who are killed as “minors” or “collateral damage.”
So, what can people do to help Palestine? Well one way is to boycott companies that support Israel and actively fund the Israeli military with Organizations like Boycott Division Sanction or BDS set up lists to boycott and not support companies like McDonalds, Domino’s and other major fast food companies along with pressuring companies like Disney and Amazon and instead look for alternatives.
You can also donate to organizations and families that are in need with sites like Arab.org that allow you to support Palestine with a single click and GoFundMe where groups like CareForGaza provide food and money for the people in Gaza. Other methods like pressuring representatives for a ceasefire by emailing and calling them can help go towards the support of Palestine. People have the power to help Palestine that are in need and call for a permanent ceasefire.
