From Resistance to Resillence
In 1948, the United Nations decided to divide the British mandate of Palestine into two states. The Holocaust devastated the Jewish population in Europe, so the United Nations decided to give them their own state in the Middle East. The State of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, because of this historic choice that was influenced by the predicament of the Jewish people as well as post-World War II dynamics. Essentially, that’s when the conflict between Israel and Palestine started. When people call for a two-state resolution they mean that one state would specifically be the Arabs, while the other state would be the Jews. The conflict between both parties started to rise very quickly as many Palestinians were banned from their own homes because of military forces. The Nakba, an event where five Palestinian towns were mascaraed, killed thousands of Palestinians (Al-Jazeera, 1998). These horrific events of thousands of helpless kids, women, and men dying is not an invasion or even a war. This is a genocide, a genocide that has been happening for the past 75 years and has yet to cease. This is considered a genocide because a whole population of people are being wiped out and the Palestinians are not even fighting back. They are not fighting back because they do not have the resources. This is not even a fight, simply just the Palestinians are being attacked. Through exploring deeper into the history of the Palestinian genocide past and present, we can see that the culture of Palestinians is being washed away as they are being wiped out, but essentially a new culture is being created. Unraveling the Israel-Palestine conflict and its long history is a necessary step in educating ourselves on the injustices that happened and are still happening, so we can be on the right side of history.
It’s crucial to start at the beginning of this topic’s history while understanding it. According to “The Arab Israeli War of 1948” by the US Department of State, this conflict began in November of 1947 when the United Nations General Assembly Ratified Resolution 181 (Partition Resolution). This was the partition that took places on May 1948, that divided Great Britain’s former Palestinian Mandate into Jewish and Arab states. Due to this resolution, the land around Jerusalem that had religious significance was under the international control by United Nation. Although this partition was beneficial for the Jews, it was clearly not beneficial for the Arabs that had to remain on Jewish territory. It is not beneficial for the Arabs remaining on the Jewish territory as they will be fully controlled by the Jews. The US decided to side with the United Nations resolution, but also encouraged negotiations to happen between both parties. As the Jews were trying to control the land, they were given by the Partition Plan, the Arabs were trying to stop it (“The Arab Israeli War of 1948”). This situation is very similar to someone trying to kick you out of your own house.
The Palestinians did not and till this day do not want to give up their land, their home. In the article “Israel Gaza war: History of the conflict explained” by BBC News written in 2022 stated that Israel had completely inhabited East Jerusalem, the West Bank, most of the Syrian Golan Heights, Gaza, and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula in 1967. Due to Israel having the upper hand in this situation, many Palestinians were being displaced, since they could not go back to their homes. Israel claims Jerusalem to be their capital, while the Palestinians have East Jerusalem as their capital. Till this day, the people of Palestine hope to get their own state (BBC, 2023). The people of Palestine are just like everyone else, people who do not want to give up their home unless they have too. Most people are not trying to cross the border to go anywhere unless they truly have too, which sadly most people must do.
Both BBC News and the US Department of State recognize and extend on the fact that the Palestinians attacked first, but when your home, the people, the culture is being threatened, who wouldn’t fight back? Even though the Partition allowed for two states to exist, it did not include for the Jews to have complete control of both sides. Israel is an occupying force, so Palestine cannot defend themselves. In a conflict like this, there is no being neutral. To be on the right side of history, it is to give Palestinians their land back. This conflict revolves around many issues: concerns about Palestinian refugees, whether the Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank should stay or be removed, whether the two states should share Jerusalem, and most importantly, whether or not a Palestinian state should exist alongside Israel? Overall, this idea fights for peace between the two states. In response, efforts have been made to solve these problems, but many fights continued to break out during this time and even now.
Even though there are fights still happening between the Israelis and the Palestinians, it is a one-sided fight, since the Palestinians are not fighting back. In every video or picture you see on social media, not a single Palestinian have a weapon in their hands. That is why this is a genocide, only one group, the Israeli military is attacking and has the upper hand in this conflict. Every video you see on social media, you will see the title be somewhere along the lines of “Israel bombing Gaza (or Palestine)”. In current news, it is never “Gaza bombing Israel ”. There is a video posted on TikTok by an account called “Fast NewsNow ” on November 10th, 2023, that you can clearly see a massive bomb being thrown near the Gaza Indonesian hospital. All the Palestinians are running to safety, not a single one fighting back or armed (Fast News Now, n.d). This is not something that has just been happening since October 7th, this has been happening for years now. The sounds of bombs, airstrikes, and relocating are a part of the Palestinians daily life’s now, it is a part of their culture.
The painful reality of endless bombing at any given moment remains within the ongoing, one-sided conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. These bombings have gotten worse and worse over the 35-day war but have been happening prior to this time. On May 16,2021, a verified Middle Eastern artist, Carole posted a live footage of the Israeli army bombing Palestinian territory on TikTok. The video just shows how bad the buildings crumble down to the floor. Keep in mind the buildings are being bombed mostly with no warning, so people are still in there (Carole, n.d). In the image below you can see a glimpse of how the building was to how it became in the end (crumbled on the floor).
The snippet of the video above shows one of many buildings being bombed in Palestine.
The two videos (the TikTok’s videos) are so far apart in dates, yet are essentially in the same category, the bombing of Palestinian territory. Both sources support and extend on the evidence that these attacks happen to the people of Palestine so often. Just how New Yorkers move aside to let people off the train first is our culture. Israel is bombing Palestine so much that it just seems like a part of their daily culture now.
Prior to the non-stop bombings, historically their culture was trying to survive. This is sadly something still apparent today. For instance, in the article “Cultures of Resistance in Palestine and Beyond: on the Politics of Art, Aesthetic, and Affect” by Ruba Salih and Sophie Ritchter-Devroe published in 2014, it states that historically speaking the Palestinian culture is voiced and shaped as a national identity of trying to survive. The article states that “Both Palestinian resistance and its cultural production have a long history, as Maha Nassar notes in this special issue of the journal. Yet, with the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, much Palestinian art became more systematically a platform for the nationalist resistance movement” (Salih and Devroe, 2014). This shows that even though the unjust bombings are currently happening, their past has been full of resistance from the State of Israel. Palestinians have always had to fight and are still going till this day. In this culture, it is known to express anger about politics and social issues through hip hop. This is apparent in the song “I Have No Freedom” by D.A. M’s song. In this song they speak about being disappointed in their leaders, various failed resolutions to the conflict, and their livelihood being threatened. The culture of Palestinians resistance overall is very close to art and politics (Salih and Devroe, 2014). This particular culture is something that happened in the past and is still present today.
The Palestinian’s culture of resistance is still alive today, but their culture also has some more additions. Bisan Owda, a 25-year-old Palestinian filmmaker, created the culture of saying “I’m alive” in every one of her videos since this genocide started in October 2023. The BBC News wrote in the article “One week in Gaza: ‘There are no safe places here’ ‘ by Jon Donnison, that Bisan has worked with the United Nation on women rights (Donnison, 2023). Bisan has started every one of her videos with “I’m still alive”, which is now a part of their culture. They continuously say that because given all the bombings they are shocked that they live to see another day when many people around them are not. She is not the only person documenting this genocide that also starts the videos like that. On Instagram, the “guardian” page has posted a compilation of Bisan’s videos starting with “I’m still alive”. It is truly hurtful to see the beauty of Palestine be wiped out and being surprised by the new culture (bombings almost every mintute). The things the Palestinians are going through are inhumane and unfair. They have never been able to live peacefully, but still cherished what they could. In the video the “guardian” posted, it shows the beautiful farms Bisan’s grandfather used to take her too. Sadly, these farms were destroyed by Israeli vehicles (The Guardian, 2023). This is truly upsetting to see their land is being destroyed, the people are being destroyed, their culture and way of life are being destroyed.
Although in Palestine things are being destroyed, all around the world people are fighting for the people of Palestine. We are protesting and making sure we will all see a day where Palestine will be free. During these protests, you can see millions of people gathered standing up for Palestine, but most importantly repping their culture. In the image below taken by Buck Ennis, posted in the BBC article “NYPD boosts security for deterrence on tensions over Israel” by Katia Porzecanski on Oct 12, 2023, you see many people wearing a keffiyeh in solidarity with Palestine (Ennis, 2023).
Lennard J. Davis is a literature teacher at Brandeis University and writes fiction and ideology novels. As stated in the peer reviewed article “Review: Palestinian Society and the Exile” by Lennard J. Davis in 1987, “He notes that the “images used to represent us only diminish our reality . . . Say the word ‘terror’ and a man wearing a keffiyeh and mask” immediately appear” (Davis, 1987). Many people think wearing a keffiyeh is like being a terrorist, but this is false. When you closely look at a keffiyeh, you can see typically three different designs on it. In an Instagram post by Ahmed Aburayya (@ahmad_aburyayya) on October 17th, he described the patterns on a Keffiyeh. “The olive leaves represent strength, resilience, and perseverance. The fish net design represents the connection between the Palestinian sailor and Mediterranean Sea. The bold line design represents the trade routes going through Palestine, a long and rich history of merchants, travel, and cultural exchange” (Aburayya, 2023). So no, a keffiyeh is not a terrorist or terror mask, it is a symbol of strength of all the horror the Palestinians are continuing to go through. Therefore, the keffiyeh is still worn today to stand with Palestine, and to not allow the people and culture of Palestine to be wiped out.
In conclusion, diving deeper into the history of the Palestinian happening in the present and the one that started years ago allows us to see that the culture of Palestinians is slowly starting to fade away as the people are dying quickly in a short amount of time. Even though they are being wiped out in Palestine, all across the world people have them in their heart. Educating ourselves on this genocide is important because this is an injustice and there’s only one stance to this situation, to be on the right side of it. You can be on the right side by one being Pro-Palestinian, two start speaking up, and three boycotting brands. What the people of Palestine are going through is inhumane and is unacceptable. Do not forget to call for a ceasefire, so we can all live to see the day Palestine is free.
Work Cited:
Ahmed Aburayya [@ahmed_aburayya]. (2023,October 17). “Why do Palestinians wear
Keffiyeh” [Photograph]. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CyfrCWRNwtE/
Buck, E. (2023) NYPD boosts security for deterrence on tensions over Israel
[Photograph]Crain’s New York Business. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics- policy/nypd-boosts-security-deterrence-tensions-over-israel
Carole [@carolesamaha]. (n.d) “Live footage of the Israeli air raid bombed the office of Al
Jazaeera Tv & the associated press in #Gaza city” [TikTok profile] Retrieved May 16, 2021 from https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8ynguQk/
Davis, L. J. (1987). Palestinian Society and the Exile [Review of After the Last Sky: Palestinian
Lives., by E. W. Said]. Journal of Palestine Studies, 16(3), 145–148.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2536796
Donnison, J. (2023, October 15). One Week in Gaza: “there are no safe places here.” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67116407
Fast News Now [@fastnews.now]. (n.d) “This is not Hollywood, Massive Israeli bombing near Indonesian Hospital in Gaza” [TikTok Profile] Retrieved November 9,2023 from https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8ynoCcy/
Hatuqa, D. (2023, May 15). The Nakba: Five Palestinian towns massacred 75 years ago. Al
Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/15/the-nakba-five-palestinian-towns- massacred-75-years-ago
News, B. (2023, November 15). Israel gaza war: History of the conflict explained. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396
Office of the Historian. (n.d.-b). The Arab-Israeli War of 1948. U.S. Department of State. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/arab-israeli-war
Salih, R., & Richter-Devroe, S. (2014). Cultures of Resistance in Palestine and Beyond: On the Politics of Art Aesthetics, and Affect The Arab Studies Journal, 22(1), 8–27. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24877897
The Guardian [@guardian]. (2023, October 20) “ “I’m still alive” is how Bisan Owda begins many of the videos she films to share with others about her experience living through the
war in Gaza” [Video]. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyoKVs7I79d/?igshid=NTYzOWQzNmJjMA==
