Palestine is not complicated, nor is it controversial. Especially not after the past 1.5 years of live-streamed death, destruction, and displacement. No people of any race, religion, or background deserves suffering or oppression. It wasn’t ok during the Holocaust, Iraq War, slavery and it isn’t ok now. Dehumanization of an “othered” people different than us can justify innumerable horrors.

I had the privilege of speaking to Hanna Kawas, Palestinian elder and chairperson of the Canada Palestine Association last year. The audio was unfortunately distorted but after multiple edits, the episode is finally out now. Please adjust your volume accordingly while listening as a result. As well, there is a full written transcript of the episode on the This Stuff Matters podcast RSS.

As discussed in this episode, the tragedy of Palestine is two-fold. Not only are Palestinians undergoing a current genocide, on top of 76 years of historical occupation, they are also then doubly persecuted through censorship and punishment for speaking out about their oppression.

Palestine brings up real questions of white supremacy, settler-colonialism, imperialism, and US hegemonic world and political order. Palestinians are people, not merely pawns in a political game or human sacrifices meant to establish safety for one set of white, settler people.

Palestine belongs to Palestinians- free Palestine.