The shooting attack on the synagogue of Neve Yaaqob claimed the lives of seven innocent men, my people.
It feels as if the appropriate thing after a terrorist attack is to say nothing. Hold peace.
But I am unable to keep my mouth shut. I am afraid to disgrace the dead and disrespect the grief of the victims’ families.
Yet, I am afraid that more inexcusable bloodshed will follow.
Unless we raise our voices against violence and oppression of the Palestinian people.
The oppression of the Palestinian people is a crime against humanity, and it must be stopped for the sake of both people.
The Palestinians of East Jerusalem suffer many problems due to not being citizens of the state.
They cannot vote in the Israeli elections; most cannot move out of the city without losing their residency status
. There is a high rate of unemployment in East Jerusalem, and in many places not even proper infrastructure.
There are so many schools missing in East Jerusalem- if those kid
s were in classes; they wouldn’t be engaged in violence.
Drop- out of school rates in East Jerusalem rocket high.
Plus- the people of East Jerusalem basically live under martial law,
with soldiers raiding their homes and villages day and night, arresting people and settlers attempting to seize whatever land they could.
I don’t support terrorism and violence by the state or colonized people.
However, people resort to violence as they are being denied their legitimate right to be heard.
The Israeli side has never missed an opportunity to de-legitimize the plight of the Palestinians and vilify them.
An attack like the one of last Friday, the attack on Neve Yaaqoub synagogue, serves to the hands of the Israeli Hasbara.
The perpetrator of the attack is a young man, only 21 years of age.
His crime is indeed hideous, but not all Palestinians support his actions.
Collective punishment will not prevent the next attack on Israeli citizens.
For our safety, we must treat the Palestinians better than we do now.
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