Commentary: How is everyday life in Gaza?

What’s been happening to the Palestinians these past weeks is nothing new. Palestinians have endured more than 75 years of oppression and ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Israeli occupation. The people of Gaza live in an open-air prison with very limited resources. Power, water, imports, and exports are controlled by Israel and they aren’t allowed to leave. With the recent escalations in the conflict, the people of Gaza are essentially boxed into the most densely populated area in the world as missiles and bombs rain on them, regardless of age, as almost 4,000 children have been murdered at the hands of the Israeli government and whole bloodlines wiped out.

Why do you consider what’s going on as “ethnic cleansing?”

What is happening today stems from the Zionist movement in the late 19th and late 20th centuries. The Jewish people were in search of a homeland and, with the help of Britain and diplomatic support from other countries, they began taking over the homes of people that have inhabited the land for centuries in Palestine. Since then, Israel has been pushing its way further and further into Palestinian territories while attempting to wipe out its people as well as their history. After October 7, Israel used it as an opportunity to start “mowing the grass” while not even considering a ceasefire, something very characteristic of Israel. After three weeks, they murdered nearly 9,000 Palestinians, 4,000 of them being under the age of 18, with these numbers increasing by the thousands weekly.