Okay, bullet points, I will try to keep this as concise as possible:
For more information, I would recommend you discuss this with actual Palestinians, such as Omar Barghouti, Ali Abunimah, or Farah Baker, but otherwise, I will try to provide some bullet points:
- 700,000 to 800,000 people expelled from their land (or executed) in 1947-49.
- Hundreds of villages destroyed, razed to the ground
This has been well-documented, in case you doubt it, by Israeli historians, especially Benny Morris, as well as Ilan Pappé, although the former justifies and defends this.
- People kept under occupation, without any rights, without any state for 47 years
- Non-Jewish people (Muslims, Christians, and others) living within Israel given second-class citizenship, as defined by law
- Non-Jewish persons in Israel may not rent or purchase land in about 80 percent of the country
- Any Jewish person, born anywhere in the world, may gain Israeli citizenship and take the land of a Palestinian
- Any non-Jewish person, even if born within the borders of Israel may never return, because they are non-Jewish
This is the history, without discussing more recent events. I could have said this 20 years ago. It has gotten a lot worse since then, but I won't belabour the details. It's not even controversial, not really, for most Israelis. It's just acceptable, or it's not. Some people are human, others, not so much.
As for Gaza, the US is living within a bubble.
- A Conservative British MP resigned over Gaza
- French Foreign Minister described it as a "massacre"
- Gay Irish MP described Israeli discussions as "Nazi Talk"
- Spain has suspended arms exports.
I don't want to talk about the horror in Gaza, because you can see this for yourself, if you watch the news, even the mainstream news. Watch Jon Snow on Channel 4 in the UK if you don't believe me.
