This song brings attention to the imperial nature of the US–Israel relationship, the use and abuse of the Jewish identity by Zionists and the State of Israel, the power imbalance between the State of Israel and occupied Read more
This song brings attention to the imperial nature of the US–Israel relationship, the use and abuse of the Jewish identity by Zionists and the State of Israel, the power imbalance between the State of Israel and occupied Palestine and their residents, and the ongoing genocide on—and Israeli occupation of—Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Proceeds from this song will be used to buy e-sims for Gazans here: https://connecting-humanity.org/
October 7, 2023 marked an intense escalation of a 100+ year long socio-political conflict in Palestine, West Asia. Zionism, a Jewish nationalist ideology born across Europe in the late 19th century as a response to unrest, oppression, antisemitism, and later, a genocide (The Holocaust), experienced by Jewish communities, sought to establish its Jewish-majority nation in a land already home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across many ethnicities and religions (including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Druze). Early Zionist settlers in Palestine established small outposts and towns in Palestine in the 1890s, but it wasn't until receiving British support in the form of the 1917 Balfour Declaration that Jewish settlement in Palestine ramped up (Shlaim, 2010). This declaration, brought on in part by Britain's victory over the Ottoman Empire in World War I and a desire for a sphere of influence in a highly disputed, resource rich and strategic region for international trade, declared Britain's support for a Jewish nation in Palestine (Shlaim, 2010). From 1917 through to the present, a colonization process ensued that formally established a Jewish majority state in 1948 and maintains this state through a violent military occupation (Shlaim, 2010). This occupation first relied on the support of the British empire, and now, the US empire (Shlaim, 2010). With President Joe Biden as political figurehead, the USA has provided at least $22.7 billion USD in military support to Israel since October 7, 2023, and more than $300 billion USD since the Zionist insurgency began in 1944 (CFR 2025).
It is important to note that this conflict has brought out deep, misguided hatred in the form of Islamophobia and antisemitism around the world. I believe much of this hatred stems from powerful state propaganda, and the fact that few people have learned about the long history behind this conflict. For example, rarely do I hear anyone mention the persecution and mass exodus of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews across formerly Ottoman territories both before and in response to Israel’s establishment. Lasting legacies of inequality remain within the State of Israel and its occupied territories (Elia-Shalev, 2022). Inside Israel's 1967 borders, Ashkenazim (white-passing Jews of Central and Eastern European ancestry) attain higher level of formal education, occupations of higher status and earnings, own homes of higher values and enjoy a higher standard of living (Semyonov et al. 1996; Semyonov and Lewin-Epstein 2011) than Sephardim/Mizrahim (brown Jews of Northern African and Western Asian ancestry), and both Jewish groups attain higher levels of the aforementioned than Arab Muslims, Christians, and Druze (Semyonov and Lewin-Epstein 2011). In the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, Israel controls the flow of the majority of goods and services into and out from the territory (Stamatopoulou-Robbins, 2019). Palestinians in these regions must acquire Israeli state permission (i.e., a visa) to enter 1967 border territory. Much of Israel's waste is dumped into the West Bank region (Stamatopoulou-Robbins, 2019). The list of injustices goes on and on. I implore people that have the capacity to read, listen to, or watch any/all of the following resources:
Understanding the Conflict in Occupied Palestine by Guerilla History: https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/understanding-the-conflict-in-occupied-palestine-history-geopolitics-w-rabab-abdulhadi-ariel-salzmann
Israelism, directed by Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen: https://youtu.be/Iq6J7Q6L0yw?si=EEzgg3qia9GoVMu7
References
Shlaim, Avi (2009). Israel and Palestine: reappraisals, revisions, refutations. London ; Brooklyn, NY: Verso. https://search.worldcat.org/title/1350939179
Masters, Jonathan, & Merrow, Will (2025). U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts,. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/articles/us-aid-israel-four-charts.
Elia-Shalev, Asaf (2022). Inequality between Israel’s Mizrahi, Ashkenazi Jews to be measured in new statistics. Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/inequality-between-mizrahi-ashkenazi-jews-to-be-measured-with-new-statistics/.
Semyonov, Moshe, & Lewin-Epstein, Noah (2011). Wealth Inequality: Ethnic Disparities in Israeli Society. Social Forces, 89(3), 935–959.
Stamatopoulou-Robbins, Sophia (2020). Waste siege: the life of infrastructure in Palestine. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
October 7, 2023 marked an intense escalation of a 100+ year long socio-political conflict in Palestine, West Asia. Zionism, a Jewish nationalist ideology born across Europe in the late 19th century as a response to unrest, oppression, antisemitism, and later, a genocide (The Holocaust), experienced by Jewish communities, sought to establish its Jewish-majority nation in a land already home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across many ethnicities and religions (including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Druze). Early Zionist settlers in Palestine established small outposts and towns in Palestine in the 1890s, but it wasn't until receiving British support in the form of the 1917 Balfour Declaration that Jewish settlement in Palestine ramped up (Shlaim, 2010). This declaration, brought on in part by Britain's victory over the Ottoman Empire in World War I and a desire for a sphere of influence in a highly disputed, resource rich and strategic region for international trade, declared Britain's support for a Jewish nation in Palestine (Shlaim, 2010). From 1917 through to the present, a colonization process ensued that formally established a Jewish majority state in 1948 and maintains this state through a violent military occupation (Shlaim, 2010). This occupation first relied on the support of the British empire, and now, the US empire (Shlaim, 2010). With President Joe Biden as political figurehead, the USA has provided at least $22.7 billion USD in military support to Israel since October 7, 2023, and more than $300 billion USD since the Zionist insurgency began in 1944 (CFR 2025).
It is important to note that this conflict has brought out deep, misguided hatred in the form of Islamophobia and antisemitism around the world. I believe much of this hatred stems from powerful state propaganda, and the fact that few people have learned about the long history behind this conflict. For example, rarely do I hear anyone mention the persecution and mass exodus of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews across formerly Ottoman territories both before and in response to Israel’s establishment. Lasting legacies of inequality remain within the State of Israel and its occupied territories (Elia-Shalev, 2022). Inside Israel's 1967 borders, Ashkenazim (white-passing Jews of Central and Eastern European ancestry) attain higher level of formal education, occupations of higher status and earnings, own homes of higher values and enjoy a higher standard of living (Semyonov et al. 1996; Semyonov and Lewin-Epstein 2011) than Sephardim/Mizrahim (brown Jews of Northern African and Western Asian ancestry), and both Jewish groups attain higher levels of the aforementioned than Arab Muslims, Christians, and Druze (Semyonov and Lewin-Epstein 2011). In the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, Israel controls the flow of the majority of goods and services into and out from the territory (Stamatopoulou-Robbins, 2019). Palestinians in these regions must acquire Israeli state permission (i.e., a visa) to enter 1967 border territory. Much of Israel's waste is dumped into the West Bank region (Stamatopoulou-Robbins, 2019). The list of injustices goes on and on. I implore people that have the capacity to read, listen to, or watch any/all of the following resources:
Understanding the Conflict in Occupied Palestine by Guerilla History: https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/understanding-the-conflict-in-occupied-palestine-history-geopolitics-w-rabab-abdulhadi-ariel-salzmann
Israelism, directed by Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen: https://youtu.be/Iq6J7Q6L0yw?si=EEzgg3qia9GoVMu7
References
Shlaim, Avi (2009). Israel and Palestine: reappraisals, revisions, refutations. London ; Brooklyn, NY: Verso. https://search.worldcat.org/title/1350939179
Masters, Jonathan, & Merrow, Will (2025). U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts,. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/articles/us-aid-israel-four-charts.
Elia-Shalev, Asaf (2022). Inequality between Israel’s Mizrahi, Ashkenazi Jews to be measured in new statistics. Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/inequality-between-mizrahi-ashkenazi-jews-to-be-measured-with-new-statistics/.
Semyonov, Moshe, & Lewin-Epstein, Noah (2011). Wealth Inequality: Ethnic Disparities in Israeli Society. Social Forces, 89(3), 935–959.
Stamatopoulou-Robbins, Sophia (2020). Waste siege: the life of infrastructure in Palestine. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.