As the genocide in Gaza passes its 700th day, it’s important to remember that Israel does not only want to kill or displace every Palestinian in Gaza but also erase the Palestinian identity.
The expression “a land without a people for a people without a land,” often used by Zionists to justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, is exemplary of this. Zionists often deny Palestinian identity, claiming that Palestine was never a state and that the Palestinian identity only emerged after the founding of Israel. The state as we know it today is a modern concept, and regardless if Palestine was a state or not, the area Palestinians lived on was known as Palestine for thousands of years. Due to this, the Palestinian identity or nation was also very well established much before Zionism as an ideology even existed.
Israel has bombed primary schools and universities in targeted attacks. For several years, books were banned from entering Gaza. The Zionist entity has assassinated several prominent Palestinian intellectuals and scholars, including the much beloved writer and poet Refaat Alareer in December 2023. Palestinian culture is just as much of a target for Israel as Palestinians themselves.
As Israel continues to target key aspects of the Palestinian identity, their religion is also put under the crosshairs of imperialist repression.
Israel has systematically targeted mosques in this latest genocide, bombing and blaspheming them with impunity. Not even other faiths are safe as evidenced by the bombing of the only Catholic church in Gaza recently as well as the other ones attacked earlier in the genocide.
Yesterday, an Israeli drone carrying explosives was flown into a minaret from a mosque in Deir el-Balah. The Abu Saleem Mosque in Deir el-Balah was also attacked by a suicide drone in late July, which destroyed another minaret.
Watch the video below to see how blatantly and methodically the so-called “Israeli Defense Forces” attack a symbol of Palestinian identity.
Related Links:
Original Video from journalist Hazem Mezyed & Al Jazeera – Instagram
July 30th Mosque Attack Video – Facebook
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