Free Palestine
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A Jewish business owner in my neighbourhood in west Toronto recently had her storefront vandalized. Someone put stickers on it that say “Israel bombs hospitals, schools, women, children, babies”, “End the Israeli Occupation of Palestine”, and a drawing of Benjamin Netanyahu captioned with the word “Cunt”. In a social media post, she says this was an antisemitic hate crime. She believes that Jewish people have a right to self-determination in Israel, their ancestral homeland. Therefore, she says, when you target a Jewish-owned business with hateful messages about the only Jewish country in the world, that’s a hate crime.
I very much understand where her outrage and frustration comes from, but her framing here frustrates me.
First, so that we’re on the same page: The state of Israel is primarily a political group, not a religious group. It’s a government with a military and law enforcement. It does not represent Judaism or all Jewish people any more than Saudi Arabia represents all Muslim people. This is a very important distinction, which my neighbour does not acknowledge in her post. If any criticism of Israel or its supporters is automatically dismissed as antisemitism, doesn’t that give Israel unchecked power to do whatever it wants without consequences?
Second, here’s what Canadian criminal law says about hate crimes:
A hate crime is committed to intimidate, harm or terrify not only a person, but an entire group of people to which the victim belongs. The victims are targeted for who they are, not because of anything they have done.
So this vandalism would be considered a hate crime if its purpose was to harm or intimidate the Jewish community in our neighbourhood. If that was the vandal’s intention, then the owner has my support. Jewish people have been persecuted and targeted with hate crimes for centuries. This is not something we should ever tolerate in our communities.
But based on the evidence, I think there is another, more likely motive: The vandal wanted to raise awareness about the owner’s support of Israel and its ongoing genocide of the people of Palestine, so that our neighbours who may be aware of her background but unaware of her political stance can decide whether they want to continue doing business with her.
Regardless of the vandal’s true motive, they reached me. I cannot, in good conscience, support the owner or her business until she explicitly condemns the actions of the state of Israel and expresses her support for the people of Palestine. I will instead support the many, many people that have already done so.
It’s been decades since Palestinians have had any advantage against Israel in this conflict. Against all odds (and perhaps with some help from its powerful allies), Israel expelled Palestinians from the vast majority of the land they previously occupied. Israel crammed them into Gaza and the West Bank without the resources to become self-sufficient. Israel’s occupation of Palestine impaired its economy and drove its people to desperation. Then, whenever violence inevitably broke out, Israel’s response was swift and brutal. Today, Israel restricts Palestinians from travelling and heavily polices and surveils them, giving terrorism prevention as an excuse.
Israel claims that it’s just defending itself, but actions speak louder than words. It’s very clear to me that Israel wants the complete destruction of the Palestinian people so they can reclaim the land for themselves.
The attacks on October 7 2023 by Hamas militants against the people of Israel were abhorrent and the perpetrators must be justly tried for their crimes. However, I do not see how true justice can be served without acknowledging the truth: Israel is responsible for the conditions that created Hamas.
It’s like this: Israel wants to destroy Palestine at any cost. Palestine does not want to be destroyed. So Palestine creates Hamas to protect itself at any cost.
Except that only Israel actually has the means to carry out its goal.
The horror and despair of the war on Palestine has affected me deeply. Though I am powerless to change the conflict, almost every day I ask myself:
Why am carrying on as if everything is fine?
Why am I not dedicating my entire life to saving as many Palestinian lives as possible?
How can I live with myself as I waste time wallowing in self-pity over my own hypocrisy when thousands of innocent Palestinian children each suffer more in one day than I will suffer over my entire lifetime?
This post is my attempt to address these questions, an attempt to do something that helps. Maybe this will reach one or two people, and those people will each reach one or two more people, and so on. Maybe, in time, we can find a way to all agree on what peace looks like so that we can make it happen.
It’s true that opportunities for peace have been wasted by both sides of the conflict. It’s true that this is a complex issue and multiple parties, including some in Palestine, are to blame for what’s happening.
But right now, only Israel has the power to end this conflict. Israel must hold an immediate ceasefire and withdraw its forces from Gaza and the West Bank.
And more than that, Israel has an amazing opportunity here. I think that Israel can start something new and beautiful, something that kicks off the next golden age for humanity.
Given all they have suffered throughout history, Jewish people are entitled to a space where they can live peacefully, on their own terms, without fear of persecution. But does this space really have to be the a physical place? Does it have to exclude anyone who isn’t Jewish? Yes, Jewish people have a deep connection to the land of Israel-Palestine, but if that land is one day swept away in an earthquake or flood, will the spirit of Zion be gone forever?
Maybe we can create a place that nobody owns.
A place beyond the concept of nations and borders.
A place that’s held in trust for everyone in the world, present and future, and managed jointly by Israelis, Palestinians and the UN.
A place that anyone can travel through without restriction.
A place where we can gather peacefully with our chosen communities, live, love, worship and celebrate on our own terms.
A place where the highest value is mutual respect and understanding.
A place without fear or exploitation that the rest of the world will soon want to model itself after.
A place where we, maybe for the first time in human history, can be truly free.
This is what we imagine when we say:
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
If you can, please support humanitarian aid in Palestine by donating to the UN Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund or directly to people fleeing Gaza like Ahmed and his family. If you have questions, spot any mistakes or would like to discuss your thoughts on this, please reach out to me on social media.
Thank you for reading!
Edit (April 14 2025): Updating some wording to better reflect intent.