This week Israel escalated its aggression against Palestinians in Jerusalem and across occupied Palestine, injuring 57 Palestinians on April 23 alone during another raid on Al-Aqsa mosque.
In response to continued attacks on the al-Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan, three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into the southern region of Israel, causing no injuries and very little damage. Israel’s response was to impose collective punishment, closing the Erez Crossing which Gazan workers and merchants use to cross into Israel. Israel also twice bombed Gaza, reminiscent of last year’s airstrikes also during the month of Ramadan.
As of April 18, 15 Palestinians have been killed and 945 injured during holy month of Ramadan, and the numbers continue to rise.
On April 24 and 25 the Zionist state attempted to limit Christian pilgrims visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s old city, a few minutes walk from al-Aqsa mosque, causing confrontations and an outcry from Palestinians.
Also this week, Israeli special forces raided the al-Aqsa mosque compound several times, prevented Muslims from entering, and at one point locked worshippers inside the al-Qibli mosque. They fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets through destroyed windows, desecrating the ancient mosque and assaulting worshippers inside while hundreds of far-right Israelis roamed the compound under police protection.
Double standards in the media
The mainstream media in the U.S. deliberately obscures the reality on the ground—that Palestinians are the oppressed and the Zionist settler colonial state the oppressor, armed with overwhelming force. Clear police aggression against unarmed Palestinians is categorized as “clashes” by establishment media here, completely obscuring the fact that Palestinian resistance is a response to Israeli police storming the al-Aqsa compound.
The corporate press even implies that Palestinians are responsible. For example, National Public Radio chose to focus on Palestinians who had “stockpiled stones and set up barriers” saying clashes erupted when “Palestinians hurled stones” after which “police entered in force and clashed with dozens of Palestinians.”
Media coverage of Palestinian resistance stands in stark contrast to what mainstream media are sharing regarding Ukraine, where civilians are applauded for fighting back, and the U.S. is using tax dollars to arm Ukraine with over $3 billion in weapons since the start of the conflict there.
Indiscriminate attacks aim to injure, maim, kill
There are no condemnations from Washington or the corporate media when Israeli police indiscriminately target women, children, journalists, and paramedics and using drones to drop tear gas on worshipers. Palestinians are met with tear gas, snipers, rubber coated steel bullets, batons, and the brutalization of civilians as they defend their rights to worship freely in one of the holiest sites for both Muslims and Christians.
Both the U.S. government and corporate media place Palestinian youth throwing stones on the same level as heavily armed and armored military police. Palestinian resistance with rocks and fireworks is portrayed as terrorism while heavily armed Nazis in Ukraine, funded by the U.S. and its allies, including Israel, are applauded as heroes.
Israeli weapons used by Ukrainian Nazis
In fact, while falsely accusing supporters of Palestinian self-determination of anti-Semitism, the Israeli government is arming actual Nazis. The Jerusalem Post reports that an Israeli anti-armor weapon was recently seen being used by the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in Ukraine. Human rights activist area demanding that Israel cease arms exports to Ukraine, but the Israeli government has not responded.
Despite the blatant hypocrisy and double standard in reporting and the increased intensity of attacks, Palestinians continue to resist. They are defying their oppressor and putting their lives and bodies on the line to demand freedom and their right of return to their homes and villages in Palestine.
