Across the United States, “heads are rolling” at the top of some Ivy League universities amid a campus-wide crackdown on students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, shining a spotlight on the question of freedom of expression worldwide, said UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan.
Genuine question. The sign in the thumbnail says, “We want Palestine to be liberated.” What does that mean?
Is it advocating for the dissolution of the state of Israel? Like, “liberated” implies the removal of an occupier, no?
It can’t just mean “stop the murders,” right? Like, if that’s the case it was say to liberate the “Palestinians,” not “Palestine” right?
I just ask because I feel like the messaging on this is a bit all over the place at times, and calls for the abolishment of the state of Israel seem a bit extreme to me, and I’m trying to figure out if that’s the actual stance people are taking.
Then you are basically implying the state of Israel can’t exist without genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
Most of these protesters want a one state solution that doesn’t discriminate between people based on religion or ethnicity.
Or they want a two state solution where a Palestinian army can protect Palestinians against Israel stealing their land, denying them health care and imprisoning their families.
I don’t think that’s what I’m implying though. I’m all for signs that say “end the genocide” or “equality for Palestinians.”
I think my question is, does the sign in the thumbnail imply that the state of Israel can’t exist without genocide?
I think it absolutely can, and that’s why I was questioning the message on the sign, as it seems to oppose what you claim most of the protestors want.
I think there are multiple priorities.
First of all they want the genocide to stop, that one should be obvious.
Secondly they need israel to stop the “slow” genocide, meaning stop taking peoples homes and doing the whole settler thing.
And then third there are probably some people that are capable of realising that the israeli goverment will never be satisfied, unless every palestinian has been driven from their home or killed.
These people come to the conclusion that israel needs to be stripped of any outside support because their repeatedly officially expressed national goal is genocide. They would argue that if you let yourself down to the level of hamas, then you should be treated the same way or at least not supported by western countries.
I agree with everything you said being the goal of the protests, but that wasn’t my question.
My question was, “is this particular protest sign arguing for the abolition of the state of Israel?”
The sign seems to be advocating for things beyond what are listed in your post, which is why I asked the question.
Maybe I’m reading into the verbiage too much, but I have trouble coming up with an interpretation of “liberate Palestine” that is both a coherent and doesn’t involve the dissolution of the state of Israel.
Maybe it’s just going for vibes, and there wasn’t much thought behind the choice of words, but it’s the actual choice of words that threw me off.