Editors note: this zine was written in December of 2023. Certain details may have changed in this time. For inquiries or corrections feel free to email us at bigbabypub@gmail.com
History for dummies
The state of Israel is a product of the Zionist movement of the late 1900s and early 20th century. Early Zionism posited that the Jewish people should have an ethnostate as a result of rising antisemitism in Europe in the late 1900s. Despite this, many Jewish people at the time were opposed to the idea of an ethnostate, and instead wanted acceptance in the European states where they resided.
Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1914, British and French diplomats met and took control over the Levantine region, and divided it up among themselves. This imperial act was done for economic reasons, primarily relating to oil fields in the Middle East. The British designated Palestine as a home for the Zionist Jews of Europe, and in the late 1910s, Jewish immigration to Palestine increased significantly. The Jewish population in Palestine tripled from 1922 to 1935, and in 1936, Palestinians revolted against British zionism. The revolt was unsuccessful, and resulted in the destruction of homes, and the placement of thousands in concentration camps. The Holocaust in Europe in the 1940s led to thousands more Jewish people fleeing terrorism to the shores of Palestine.
In the late 1940s, Britain ceded control of Palestine to the United Nations, which allocated ~70% of land area to the Jewish people. Before this, Jews in Palestine owned 6% of the land. Following this, in 1948, Zionist groups launched large scale attacks on the Arabs of Palestine. This is now known as the Nakba.
Nakba is the Arabic word for catastrophe. The 1948 Nakba was the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land, resulting in the murders of 15,000 people, and the displacement of at least 750,000 over the course of two years.
Today, we see the open air prison that is the Gaza strip, and the Palestinian West Bank, which is occupied by Israel— illegal under international and Israeli domestic law. The UN reports that there have been 3,372 verified reports of violent actions at the hands of Israeli soldiers, yet still the international community remains complicit, if not encouraging.
Since October 7, we have seen intense carpet bombing, shootings, and occupation by the Israeli imperialist forces. We must remember these horrors are nothing new. Sources today indicate the death toll in Gaza since October 7 has surpassed 15,000 people. Many of them are children. This is genocide. The Nakba continues.
Via Al Jazeera; The Foreign Policy Research Institute; The UN.
Enforcement of an apartheid state
The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF for short, is the military of the state of Israel that comprises ground, sea, and air forces. Israel itself is a highly militarized state, requiring at least two years of enlistment for all citizens, and receiving billions of dollars from foreign donors. In November, the House passed a bill to provide 14.3 billion dollars to the IDF.
Israeli officers are known for use of excessive force in policing, and the use of live rounds in unnecessary contexts. The IDF has facilitated the illegal occupation of the West Bank, and heavily arms the wall that lines Gaza; the wall stretches high and goes underground, while soldiers are at checkpoints with orders to shoot to kill if Gazans get too close to the fence. The IDF also patrols the Gazan coast with warships, willing to shoot to kill if Gazans get too far into the water. This means Gazans are unable to fish for food— a practice which is vitally important both culturally and practically. This is apartheid.
Apartheid can be understood as a maintained system which favors and enforces the rule of one racial group, and oppresses and controls another racial group. The word comes from the Apartheid rule in South Africa, which has since been abolished. Apartheid is illegal and highly condemned under international law, and yet the practice continues today in occupied Palestine; as we see the prison of Gaza, the forced migration of the Palestinian people, the indiscriminate killings, and the extreme propaganda against the indigenous people.
In detailing the war crimes of the Israeli government, it is vital to remember that the U.S. backs these crimes completely, and that our government is involved in other genocides across the world, and committed genocide on this land, all in the name of profit. In the discussion of these topics, it is vital we do not put up a wall of separation between us and the suffering that is being funded by our tax dollars.
Via Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; Al Jazeera
Origins of Hamas and the Israeli myth
We are fed a false narrative around the origins and motives of Hamas. We are taught to condemn Hamas’s October 7 attack, yet have tremendous compassion for the Israeli counterattack.
In reality, Israel is responsible for the dominance of Hamas. In the late 80’s, Israeli diplomats actively funded the party, in hopes that a highly polar faction of Palestinian activism taking control of Gaza presented / would present an opportunity for the Israeli government to engage in warfare.
The original 1988 Hamas charter is functionally a manifesto. It outlines their beliefs on Palestinian land belonging to the Palestinian people, their beliefs on the place of Islam on the Palestinian land, and their willingness to use violence to achieve these means. This document was highly criticized for the presence of anti-Jewish rhetoric— which was undeniably present.
The 2017 revised Hamas Charter paints a more tolerant and nuanced position of the organization, saying in article 16 “Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity.” The state of Israel is able to frame Hamas’s resistance to the Zionist movement as an anti semitic act with genocidal intent, as it is Israel itself that removes the barrier between Judaism and Zionism—- despite the religion of Judaisim predating the political sector of Zionism by millenia.
The 2017 Charter also outlines a willingness to accept a two state solution in article 20, even despite the acknowledgement of Israel being “entirely illegal”, by saying “Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus.” This is not without conditions, and calls for the end to the Zionist regime, and a restoration of Palestinian rights to the land.
It is also worth noting that there are more Palestinian political groups in Gaza than Hamas, some more conservative, and some that lean more to the left, including Palestinian communist parties. In the 2019 Great March of Return, many of these parties were present as a united front at the wall that separates Israel from the Gaza strip. This was a peaceful protest, with thousands present at the wall for days, dancing, chanting, throwing rocks, and providing care. Israeli soldiers fired live rounds at protestors and medics alike, again in a violation of international law.
Via The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement; Gaza Fights For Freedom
The IOF and US policing
U.S. police officers are known to train in Israel and occupied Palestine, with the U.S. citing Israel’s commitment to “counterterrorism,” which in reality is a practice of wild brutality. This practice has been deemed the “deadly exchange” with both the IOF and U.S. police swapping techniques on surveillance, use of force, as well as the supplying of weapons, such as tear gas— a substance that is technically banned under the Geneva Convention, but permitted in domestic policing, not to mention Israeli apartheid practices. The racist practices in one state are not unique. Struggle is universal. Liberation is for everyone.
War and the economy
War is excellent for the economy. While poor people suffer domestically, the United States spends billions making sure Palestinians suffer abroad. Why? So Wall Street can boom! Since October 7th, stocks have gone up. No coincidence.
As the U.S. privatizes all industry, the military is no exception. Heavy artillery, bombs, warplanes, and warships are manufactured by private companies that make two killings selling their equipment to the US government, and then to Israel.
Boeing makes bombs and warplanes in Everett, before finalizing them in Tukwila. In an act of resistance, the Seattle chapter of Resist US-Led War has organized multiple protests at the Boeing campus in Tukwila, shutting down the offices and Museum of Flight.
Since Oct7, Boeing stocks have risen by a net 47 points, Lockheed Martin has risen by 46 points, Northrop Grumman by 66 points, and Raytheon by 13 points. This is all in direct correlation with the genocide of Palestinians.
Financial protest: BDS
Today more than ever, it is important to keep our consumption in check. The “ceasefire” in Gaza over Thanksgiving weekend was nothing more than a ploy to get Americans to feel really good about dropping approximately 20 billion dollars, according to Forbes. It is our duty as wholly privileged Americans to put our money where our mouth is.
Boycott, Divest, Sanctions is a Palestinian-led movement working to impose financial consequences on companies and governments that either directly or indirectly fund the genocide in Palestine.
An overview of boycotts, divestments, and sanctions from the BDS website (www.bdsmovement.net)
“BOYCOTTS involve withdrawing support from Israel’s apartheid regime, complicit Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions, and from all Israeli and international companies engaged in violations of Palestinian human rights.
DIVESTMENT campaigns urge banks, local councils, churches, pension funds and universities to withdraw investments from the State of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid.
SANCTIONS campaigns pressure governments to fulfill their legal obligations to end Israeli apartheid, and not aid or assist its maintenance, by banning business with illegal Israeli settlements, ending military trade and free-trade agreements, as well as suspending Israel’s membership in international forums such as UN bodies and FIFA.”
Many businesses are easily avoided with a little finesse and skill. This provides a time for us to consider ways to live and uplift our direct communities without the help of multimillion dollar corporations that have no interest in us but for profit. Before buying more shit you don’t need that helps no one, run down a list. Is it urgent? Can you fix it? Can you make it? Can you borrow it? Can a local maker help you? Oftentimes the answer is yes.