Combat Racism for Palestinian Well-Being

By Nur Aryssa Marzuki

Is the long-standing issue between Palestine and Israel a ‘conflict’ of two equal sides or a dispute rooted in religion, culture, or nationalism? The war has been going on for over seven decades with Israel backed by powerful allies like the United States. They have established a system in which the Palestinians are stateless while Jewish Israelis are favoured for full citizenship. Meanwhile, Palestinians have become victims of repression of the settler-colonial project of Israel. They have been cruelly disregarded of basic human rights by the Israeli government.

Palestinians have faced racism in the form of limited access to basic human rights. Discriminatory zoning and planning regimes have been imposed in East Jerusalem to restrict their access to housing, safe drinking water and sanitation, and other essentials including healthcare and educational facilities. The system prioritises the placements for Israeli settlements while also segregating based on race, limiting the housing options for Palestinians.

Palestinians have encountered further prejudice from media like BBC which hides the truth and instead victim blames and presents Palestinians as ‘terrorists’, ‘anti-Semitic’ and ‘undemocratic’. These journalists enforced the discrimination with popular myths in the west and forms of Nakba denial, which included that the land was empty, that Palestinians did not exist, and that opposition to Israel is fascist and racist.

Additionally, Palestinians have been denied nationality which is rightfully theirs. Israeli authorities have made them stateless as they abolished the nationalities of dozens of Palestinian Bedouin from the Naqab area without due process or filing appeals. Statelessness has dominated and shaped the lives of four generations of Palestinians since 1948. More than half of the eight million Palestinians are considered to be stateless. This statistic includes owners of ‘Refugee Travel Document’ (RTD) issued by neighbouring Arab countries, owners of nationalities of convenience that mainly consists of temporary Jerusalem passports, and owners of the Palestinian passport issued by the Palestinian Authority (PA) which is regarded as a travel document pending formation of an established Palestinian state.

Yet, despite the undisguised discrimination that has caused the forced migration and endangered many Palestinians, the world still views them as terrorists. The masses choose to blindly believe biased media reports instead of researching the truth. Due to this, the role of racism in this conflict that has resulted in the loss of many innocent lives is mostly unexplored due to the deep-rooted prejudice towards Palestinians.

The 21st of September this year marks the International Day of Peace 2022 which is themed “End Racism. Build Peace”. The theme aims to work towards a world free of racial discrimination where compassion and empathy overcome suspicion and hatred. In conjunction with this important event, we at Justice for Palestine Action Front (JPAF) would like to raise awareness on the unacceptability of the blatant disregard of human rights of the Israeli government towards Palestinians and end racism towards Palestinians.