This post is directed at the “but what about hamas violence” crowd. If you’re not from that demographic then you can disregard this post.

Read this article for a left-wing Israeli perspective.

And then read this one too.

The feeling of dread and terror that Israelis are feeling since yesterday is not even a hundredth of what Palestinians have been feeling every single day for the past 75+ years of Zionist colonialism.

When rockets are launched, Israelis have to suffer the inconvenience of being woken up by a siren and running to their shelter until their Iron Dome intercepts the rockets.

Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank don’t have this privilege. None of it. None at all. When the IDF decides to bomb an apartment building or hospital, Palestinians don’t have an early warning system to alert them, or fancy high tech defense systems to counter the attack, or shelters to protect them. They just die, and all Israel has to do to evade accountability is say the magic words “There were Hamas militants in there, probably” and that’s the end of that, until the next attack of course.

Are you still concerned for the few anti-zionist/innocent israelis who may get caught in the crossfire? Then direct that concern at the Zionist state and and the various western world powers that fund and support them.

If you believe that Hamas’ actions are unjustified, then you should be aware that, contrary to the zionist narrative, they didn’t just show up out of nowhere and began shooting Jews just for fun. Hamas was founded in 1987. This was 20 years after Israel began the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and about 40 years after the Nakba started.

Fire dies out without oxygen. In order for Palestinian violence to stop, the reason for this violence must cease to exist. That reason is the threat of Zionist colonialism.

If, despite knowing all the context behind this conflict you still feel like Israeli civilian lives are way too valuable to not talk about, then by all means go ahead and talk about it. Just know that you are wasting your breath, you are preaching to the choir. Whenever an Israeli stubs his toe the western media will immediately rush to condemn the table’s aggression and make sure the whole world learns of this grave injustice. Your voice of concern about it amounts to a drop in the ocean.

Reading this, you might think I am justifying terrorism or calling for civilians to be massacred, but that’s not true. Having empathy is what made me an anti-zionist in the first place after all. I also think it’s tragic when innocent Israeli civilians die, which is precisely why I call for the dismantling of Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism. Because that is the ONLY thing that can put an end to this cycle of violence.

To summarize, if you’re horrified to see what Israelis have to live through then imagine how horrifying it must be to be a Palestinian. If you care about Israeli civilians, then point your finger at the Zionist regime. I care, which is why I express solidarity with the Palestinian people and call for an end to their oppression.