December 2023
Israel and Palestine
00:00
Israel began illegally invading, stealing, and occupying Palestinian lands that day to go.
00:10
Israel's settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has been a major source of tension violating international law. Palestinian space challenges due to land confiscation, restricted movement, and infracted territory, impacting daily life and economic opportunities.
00:30
Any questions or opinions guys?
00:41
So before I ask the question, I want to show this for clarification. So you guys know, sorry, but I made a map, basically what happened, what is Israel right now. And just for a clearer understanding, this is Gaza Strip, where Hamas is out of, and where the Palestinians in the West Bank, and this is where they are in Israel. And then the rest is a territory by Israel.
01:14
And by the way, this is the Palestinians. They're completely bogged off. And Egypt won't accept them. So that's just a mistake. And regarding the humanitarian issues, Don, what do you think other countries are doing to support the Palestinians? I don't think many countries are around the neighboring
01:41
The neighboring countries around Israel and Palestine aren't doing much. Most of them aren't sending their troops in, not helping in aid, along with America itself.
01:57
So you're just a young man, a young student, and you don't find many students that have the passion that you have around the subject. Why is this so important to you individually? I believe this is important to me because it impacts me in different ways because I could be in their situation in their shoes as of right now.
02:23
with nothing, no water, no food, and I just think it's incredibly wrong for a human to be treated that way.
02:40
Does the audience have any questions or comments on the situation? Are things like seen online, social media, that they would like to add to?
02:57
Do you have any suggestions on what we should do to help people in...
03:03
question I do we could we could have us send donations to Palestinians helping them in human rights I mean helping aid with food water along with boycott boy party is a great great way to help the Palestinians like examples of boy party is like Starbucks along with McDonald's because their big support is
03:35
We will post a link to the website that has a list of places that are made for donating. We will be posting links along, how to aid the Palestinians to send donations to.
03:55
I'll go ahead and dive right into the stats of the human rights violation. All year, Israel has been killing, displacing, attacking, and suppressing Palestinians at rates higher than ever before. Israel has killed and displaced more Palestinians in 2023 than in any year in history. Meanwhile, American politicians and media continue to parrot Israel's lies and misinformation to dismiss and dehumanize Palestinians in Gaza.
04:25
Israel has killed over 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 6,300 children since October 7. It has driven 1.7 million Palestinians out of their homes and forced everyone in Gaza to drink to the brink of starvation. Nowhere is safe. In just the past seven weeks, Israel has brought unimaginable deaths, destruction, destruction
04:55
violations of Palestinians. Enough is enough. We need a permanent ceasefire and a permanent end to Israel's oppression of Palestinians.
05:15
Do you condemn them? Do you think they're a terrorist group or do you believe that they're doing the right thing? Yeah, I absolutely condemn them for what they did on October 7th. I don't believe it's right for anybody to take another human being's life. But I would also condemn the Israel Defense Forces for them doing the same as well as going into Gaza Strip and killing innocent human civilians along with women and children.
05:49
But I have one more question for you actually, if you don't mind. I don't mind asking. I don't mind answering. So I was actually doing a little bit of research on this. Throughout the days, you know, I was just interested on this. It's a big thing that's going on around the world. So I think it's good to stay informed, you know. So there has been multiple times where they canceled an agreement on Israel and Palestine. They recommended both of them, not just one.
06:15
it being fully Israeli or it being fully of Palestine. Right, and if they get some agreement, then they will agree on it, you know, it's an agreement.
06:28
sort of like a violent stance to disagree with that over time. Because they were fine, I believe it was in 1993. In 1993, they resolved it, sort of, a little bit. You know, it came to an agreement. They said, we know we recognize Israel as a state, as well as as a country.
06:54
and then get a band-aid to decay.
06:58
Well, the palace has made it a problem.
07:03
So what's your question? Well, my question is just, what do you think they resolved? What do you think they took upon violence to resolve this matter? They took upon violence? Can you be a little specific on the event or the act or the agreement? What are you trying to say? It's like, why did you have someone take the mastermind and took who?
07:28
just to get heard from Israel. But I think it's Israel. Israel threw the first bomb.
07:37
I think Israel didn't like what was happening or didn't like that. Didn't like what they were saying and that's where it started to war. This is like a big disagree. I don't think. Okay, I'll just.
07:50
Just for clarification, our stance here, even though Doss is passionate about his stance and because of his background and religious beliefs and stuff that makes him feel personally attached to this, we're not attempting to take a stance. Or Palestine is right, Israel is right. At the end of the day, both people are suffering. People are dying, and that's the point. That's the big issue that's going on, that companies want to support this. People want to support that. And that's the huge issue that's going on.
08:20
We need to be focusing on the deaths that are happening here and everybody's a victim. We can say pro-Palestine, pro-Dist, pro-Dach, but at the end of the day, the problem is children. It doesn't matter who they are, there's still kids that are dying everywhere around the entire territory. And these issues didn't start on October 7. They began from when the Zionist movement happened in the 1950s, when Britain wanted to take territory in Israel because
08:50
people needed a haven and at the end of the day, that's true. Judaism, they always have been condemned, but this, what is it? This imperialism that has happened has always been an issue, and it's something that continues to have been a problem. And this problem that's happening.
09:13
it's not going to be fixed by taking sides and deciding that this person is right, that Gaza should be condemned. And also another problem that's happening is that Israel is using Gaza, I mean, is attacking Hamas, attacking the Palestinians under Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist group, or they are people that are attacking innocent people, but they're also attacking the West Bank, which is a territory that there is no Hamas present there.
09:43
So they're just typing Palestinians under the name of terrorism when really it's just Palestinians there And Palestinians have nowhere to go. They have no haven. They're completely blockaded by everyone. Egypt won't accept them No other countries will accept them. So we're trying to put that out there
10:11
Um, yes. I'm here, right? So... Yeah, Jose has a question. Jose, go ahead and ask her a question.
10:22
Alright, well, this also goes into my media narration and narratives. I believe the media representation isn't doing a well job of representing what's happening in Palestine. They don't show a lot of what Palestinians have to suffer.
10:42
And I would say there's a lot of biases in the media and reporting that can influence policy decisions, underscoring the importance of balanced representation. And this has affected outside sources, outside people, outside of the war. Many...
11:01
Many Palestinians face discrimination in schools, outside of walking in the streets, and are quite embarrassed of their heritage just because of this war. And actually, people have been shot and killed over this.
11:26
How do you feel about the United States position? Like what they're doing or not doing? Well, yeah, the United States has been by sending billions and billions of dollars of...
11:42
military forces along with money sending support to Israel, but rather it's like, there's, I would say they're sending money to the oppressors rather than the people being oppressed because they're already in a state of occupation of the whole country, pretty much controlling more than 90% while Palestinians are like, are occupied in the Gaza Strip along with partially the West Bank with like...
12:11
Millions of them Millions of them like closed into this small little space Blockaded great word blockaded into this little small space with nowhere to go nobody
12:42
Yeah, there could be many factors to this. I would say one that stands out to me is just because of the power that Israel has, along with the religion that Palestinians stand on, because they're Muslim. And I believe there's a lot of Islamophobia in the media.
13:08
Could you please tell us your question? I was going to ask, how would you respond to people that side with Israel simply because of religions or political reasons like this precedent, Israel, so they go for Israel or their religion Islamists, how would you respond to that person? Could you elaborate on your question? I'm sorry.
13:39
I think she's probably saying it because thinking Israel's more Christian where then you have the Muslims so do you think that that's why the US is responding in a way that they are? Did you get that? I think in general people tend to see this as an Israel versus Palestine conflict. So you've explained a little bit more about the Palestinian context.
14:08
respond to somebody who says, yeah, but I'm pro-Israeli? Do you have a response to that? Is there a compromise? Is there a conversation that we can have? Yeah, I was just saying, how would you respond to somebody that's trying to look at it more as a political thing rather than as a human rights thing? Well, a political thing? In what ways of a politician?
14:40
So, Donald Trump sending stuff to Israel because he got this, got that, you know what I mean? And currently, the United States is siding pretty clearly with Israel.
15:03
you
15:06
So how can we have it?
15:10
conversations well that's outside of what I know because there is a lot of things like that need to be discussed further with this and I think like it's beyond the two-state compromise I don't think that Israel and Israel citizens can live in the same two states just because of their like of all the history they have would be hard to
15:39
I would have known how to respond to that. And I think further investigation and discussions need to be discussed with further politicians and the United Nations around that topic.
15:56
Are you asking how you think that aligns with our morals? Like how you think that should align morally, how somebody supports them?
16:10
Like, like, you might be like best friends with somebody and you are like trying to look at it from a human rights perspective and they tell you that they support the opposite side because of political reasons. Like.
16:28
I think the problem is looking at it like on a micro level the way
16:38
Instead of looking out and seeing what's going on, on a big perspective, everybody's suffering. Everybody. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity is, what your religion is, where in Israel, Palestine you live, everybody's suffering here. And everybody's scared for their life. You can't go to a music festival. You can't go to the gas station. You can't go to school nowhere without it. It doesn't matter what religion you are. Your life is in danger here.
17:08
I think that we should be focusing on like the power struggle that's going on I think the Israel has more power because they're backed more by bigger governments and We shouldn't be doing this. We should be kind of be trying to Like just stop supporting Israel we need to support the kids we need to support the problems that are going on and just focus on like
17:35
helping, instead of supporting Israel, that's just adding more to the issue. When you support Israel, you're killing kids in Israel. Israeli kids, that's what you're supporting. You're just supporting the war. So I don't think we should be supporting either side in that way.
17:55
to like, why are we so healthy? Is that I feel like we should all just, because a lot of people are seeing it as a, like a religion.
18:03
in like a religion way, instead of like taking a step back and searching up both sides. Because I didn't know a lot about the topic before, but I kept seeing things on my social media saying that I'm pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, I had no idea what that meant until I did my research and that's when I kind of picked a side in a way or saw both sides of the story. So I feel like that's what everyone should be doing.
18:29
instead of just picking one side based on your religion or your political view.
18:40
Any comments after hearing the lady?
18:45
Those are great comments. I respect your opinions.
18:51
Is there a bar? Oh no, there's no bar. Are we still like, pro one side?
19:02
Yeah, I would still say I'm pro-one side just because like Israel are the oppressors and Palestinians are being oppressed. Though I understand like, yeah, some Israel big citizens have gotten killed over this war. I do agree that like we, we gotta have peace all over the country.
19:26
and the war, but I think that's beyond that. And we can't solve the war. We can't institute peace. Rather, I would just, like Palestinians, they just want food, water, their families back, they wanna go back to school. So I just think we need to support Palestine in this situation, because they're the ones being oppressed.
19:56
So it's interesting, you actually came to ARC instead of us reaching out to you. What was, what made you decide to come to ARC to ask to discuss this topic?
20:10
Well, what I've seen like all over social media, many celebrities, politicians, they just wanted to spare their two cents on the situation. And I just think I needed to voice my opinion regarding the situation and show the bigger picture on my side of the view.
20:33
And we thank you for trusting us to allow us to help you bring it forward. I appreciate that. And like the platform this gives me to voice my opinion, I think it's a great idea. Yes.
20:53
Orlando, could you please?
21:01
Yes, how do you push for DOS? Putting yourself in the government's shoes, how would you go about this? What would you try to do to resolve this in a more, I guess, peaceful manner, you know, whether it be from the Palestine government or from the Israel government, it doesn't matter. How would you try to resolve this in a better manner? What would you do differently? What do you think they could do differently as well?
21:25
As I stated before, I believe this is outside of my hands and the United Nations need to discuss this topic among themselves along with Palestine and Israel and all the other neighboring countries. But one suggestion I would just say is just not go into the Gaza Strip along with the West Bank, along where Palestinians are, and stop them from.
21:57
don't cut out their food, don't cut out their water. I'll say that's one step towards the right direction.
22:07
Thank you Orlando for your questions. Any more questions?
22:23
about the...
22:32
experience.
22:36
Me personally, living in Key West, I don't think there's not much Islamophobia. I haven't experienced it, but I know others, my cousins, friends in Orlando, have heard little comments, remarks, smirks about the situation regarding it. Like them being called terrorists, like all the saying of being part of Hamas. But me personally, living in Key West, I think...
23:03
There's not much hatred to go around it and rather love.
23:12
Oh, you too. Me too.
23:21
have a question. How does that work? I have a question for Dost. What's it called? If you have had any people remark as long as phobic comments, what would you do to go around that? Because I too, like I follow a religion, like if somebody guesses my religion, I have my own way. Is there like a peaceful way you think that you could go about this?
23:49
Yeah, that's a great question Jose. I would say one is to de-escalate the situation. I would say either walk away and try to violently physically attack you. You have no other choice but to defend yourself. But just try to de-escalate the situation in your own way.
24:15
to not cause a bigger issue.
24:20
Yeah.
24:26
that has all sorts of suggestions for dealing with those exact kind of situations. So we'll post it. DASA's copy of it. Teeny tiny thing. Right here. The abolish- abolish-in-ist pocket. Bystander intervention and de-escalation. I'd say this is a great pocket. I keep it around me all the time to de-escalate the situation. Probably pass it around my peers, of course. Wow. For the past five minutes.
24:55
Wow, that's impressive. You're so great at this. How long have you been carrying it? Five minutes. You are so smooth. I haven't been in town for years. Just going to language it. So we'll post that for you guys.
25:23
Yeah, we will be posting this on the ARC website for you guys to print out and carry this little pocket for yourselves. It's great to have around you to de-escalate any situations you have regarding racial, discriminant remarks against yourselves.
25:46
I just want to say a good bye and thank you so much for being here. Thank you, Dost, Jasmine, and Eliani. And thank you guys for listening to this. This is an issue that we still have a lot to learn about and that we're still researching on. And overall, we hope everybody here has learned a little bit more and you guys continue to research because we're all unsure about this. And there's just a lot of different media coverage.
26:16
So it is a difficult thing for all of us to understand and there's just a lot of history So just want to add that Thank you so much for joining by the way arc and the ants is the anti-racial commitment coalition and you can find us at arc.com.org and We just post a lot about humanitarian issues political issues racism Things that's happening for us locally on a big scale and if you just want to learn more about that or future events like our podcast
26:46
and stuff, just join ARC.org and you can sign up and receive emails. Thank you so much for joining and we'll keep you updated on our next meet. Our next meet is actually on the screen. It's on 7-3-11 and it's on internalized racial inferiority. So please stay tuned and tell a friend and then join next meeting as well. So thank you for joining the cause.