Israel-palestine

01

WHICH CAME
FIRST?
 Brief history

The founding of the modern Israeli state: 1948

Purpose: For jews to have their own homeland, and escape

antisemitism

History of the Jewish people: 3000+ years

 931 BC: Death of king Solomon, Kingdom of Israel split into Judah and Israel.
722 BC: Israel invaded by Assyrians, remaining Jews fled to Judah
612 BC: Babylonians take control of Israel
586 BC: Judah conquered by Babylonians. Jews exiled.
538 BC: Jews in Babylon return to Judah after the collapse of the Babylonian Empire. Solomon’s
temple reconstructed. Torah written.
165 BC: Hasmonean Empire established (Jewish empire)
132-135: 580,000 Jews perished in battle. Jews in Galilee flourish as they are barred from
Jerusalem. The Romans gave the name “Palestine” to the then Kingdom of Judah to erase traces of
Jewish identity
6 Century: Islam founded.
th

17th Century: Almost half of the Jewish population settled in the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth
1897: First Zionist Congress
Post WW1: Arab-Jew conflicts escalate due to increasing presence of Jews
WW2: 6 million Jews lost due to the Holocaust
UN Partition Plan: Separated into Palestine, Israel and the City of Jerusalem
Palestine/Israel had long been home
to Jews and Arabs alike. The root of
the modern conflict is due to the
establishment of Israel and the
occupation of Palestinian territories
 02
The Recent Escalation
On the 7th of October 2023, Hamas coordinated a surprise attack on
Israel. At least 3000 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip
(which is controlled by Hamas). As a result, at least 1400 people
were killed, including around 300 at a concert in Re’im, the
deadliest concert attack in history.
 WHO IS HAMAS?
Hamas, officially the Islamic Resistance Movement, is a Sunni Islamist political and
military organization governing the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories. While it is
headquartered in Gaza City, it also has a presence in the West Bank, in which its secular
rival Fatah exercises control.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist group by the following countries: The USA, The UK,
Australia, Paraguay, Canada, the EU and Japan
 Israel’s response

1) Cutting off fuel, food and water to the Gaza Strip

2) Air strikes which have killed at least 2750 as of 15 October
2023
3) Telling 1.1 Million Gaza Strip residents to relocate and
evacuate

All in the name of self defense.

 Who is the
03
terrorist?
 What is a terrorist?
Definition:
criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death
or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a
state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular
persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international
organization to do or to abstain from doing any act
IS HAMAS A TERRORIST GROUP?
Hamas has committed criminal acts against civilians:
1) Shooting up the homes of innocent Jewish people, not even sparring children
2) Taking hostages (around 200) including foreign nationals and Israelis

YET, THIS CANNOT JUSTIFY THE

ISRAELI GOVERNMENT’S
ACTIONS
 In the six days since the Hamas attack, Israel has dropped 6000
bombs on Gaza. Gaza is half the size of New York City. The bombs
have killed >2750 Palestinians, including more than 500 children.
Another 1000 Palestinians are reported missing. In preparation of
the land invasion, Israel has ordered 1.1 million Palestinians to
evacuate and leave Gaza. But leave to where? Egypt to the north
are not keen on opening the border for Palestinian refugees, and
Gaza is surrounded by Israel in the East and South, and surrounded
by the Caspian Sea in the west. Israel designated a “safe route” for
Gazans to escape, but later bombed it, killing 70 Palestinians.
 04

THE HYPOCRISY
 When russia invaded ukraine because it
did not like the “aggressive” decisions of
the democratically elected ukrainian
government, seeing it as a threat to
russian sovereignty, the west united for
ukraine. Russia invaded in the name of
self defense.
The invasion was condemned as
unjustified as it rightly should be.
However, when Israel publicly says that it wants to
launch an invasion of the gaza strip, the west rallied
behind the support of Israel. The enemy is Hamas, not
Palestinians, yet the west openly supporting and funding
israel’s soon to come invasion and occupation of the
gaza strip.

The Gazans are innocent. The Israeli government

claims that Hamas is out there to destroy israel, hence
they claim it justifies the invasion of Gaza and the
genocide of the Palestinian people, with the west
supporting it. But when Russia invaded Ukraine, the
west condemned it, claiming invasions are never
justified. Why the double standard?
THE USSR STARVED UKRAINE BY STEALING THE CROPS
OF UKRAINIAN FARMERS AND EXPORTING GRAIN WHILE
THE UKRAINIANS WERE STARVING TO DEATH.

THE WORLD IGNORED, BUT NOW IT IS BEING RECOGNISED

ALMOST 30 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE USSR.

NOW, ISRAEL IS CUTTING OFF FOOD, ELECTRICITY AND

WATER TO GAZANS, WHICH IS A HUMAN RIGHT. GAZANS
ARE DYING OF CONTAMINATED FOOD AND DRINKS, OR
JUST AN OUTRIGHT LACK OF ANY FOOD AND WATER. THIS
IS NEARLY 2 MILLION PEOPLE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT.

WILL THE WORLD ONLY ACT 30 YEARS LATER?

Terrorism is wrong. Invasions
are wrong.
Both cannot be justified.
 defending the human rights of Palestinians does not mean you are
pro-Hamas

“You either stand with Israel or stand with terrorism” is the same
reused narrative used to defend and guilt Americans into supporting
the invasion of Iraq, which killed 200,000 Iraqi civilians.

Supporting Palestinian freedom is not antisemitic. Killing innocent

people isn’t a Jewish value.
 War is young men dying and old men talking.

Conflict brings suffering to both sides. No one benefits from it.

As you are reading this, there’s surely thousands of Israelis attending

a funeral of a dead father, brother or friend killed by the Hamas
attacks.

As you are also reading this, there’s surely a Palestinian child losing
a father, mother, brother or sister due to the bombings of gaza and the
shortages of food and water imposed by the Israeli government.
PRAY FOR PEACE