there’s something very scary about the way we argue and entertain discourse on israel or on settler colonialism when, on the ground, israel has totally isolated northern gaza and is currently systemically liquidating jabalia (a refugee camp in northern gaza) just as they have, from the very beginning, said they would do. just as large swathes of israel came to be in 1948, to 1967, to the west bank today. there’s something scary about watching indigenous people undergo a genocide in real-time in 2024 like they’re squatters on some prime property while nobody moves except to argue about semantics. there’s something scary about people being trapped and killed like fish in a barrel while you can text them and follow them on social media and watch their pleas in video as soldiers and tanks come closer. what the hell is this
jabalia in northern gaza has been under siege for over a week. no food aid in. constant bombing. journalists being openly targeted. the bbc describes israel’s plan to use medieval siege tactics to ethnically cleanse and settle the north of gaza as a “controversial plan” while acknowledging that not only does israel not allow people enough time to use the humanitarian corridor to evacuate, they also shoot at people evacuating and are still targeting the south. they have also made it clear that whoever leaves will not be returning.
i don’t really understand how the news can describe the process of genocide in such stark terms and call it a “controversial plan” instead of what it is: a horrifying crime against humanity.