 Israel's horrific attack on Gaza right now can be described as nothing short of a genocide. But do you know the greater context this brutalization is a part of? What we've witnessed for almost three weeks now is not just about Gaza. Rather, it's part of Israel's greater settler colonial project that has been ongoing since 1948. Yes, the people of Gaza need our attention and support right now, and part of that is getting educated on the greater context of this violence that they're being subjected to, because it's nothing new. If you live in the United States or other Western countries, this is especially important in order to help you sift through the barrage of misinformation that's been plaguing our media right now. I recommend you take some time to check out these resources to understand Israel's inception and its history, but don't worry, I'll give you a TLDR right now. 75 years ago, Israel violently stole Palestine from its indigenous owners with the help of the British, and they've been continuing their violent ethnic cleansing project ever since. When I say that this isn't just about Gaza, it's not to take attention away from Gaza, but to emphasize that all of Palestine is under occupation, and all Palestinians face ethnic cleansing, whether it's in the West Bank, whether it's in Occupy 48 territory, whether it's in Jerusalem, or whether it's in Gaza. And just because we're witnessing now an intensification of massacres over the last two and a half weeks, it doesn't mean that this hasn't been happening at a maybe slower but equally violent rate across Palestine. The last 75 years, Israel has continuously pushed Palestinians off of their indigenous homeland one way or another. They understand that they can't completely massacre and exile every Palestinian out of Palestine in the public eye because they'll get the little bit of backlash that they're getting right now. So they've adapted and pushed Palestinians out in more creative ways, a lot of times indirectly murdering them by providing them with a horrible quality of life. There are over 700 checkpoints across Palestine restricting Palestinians' movement in their own country. At these checkpoints, Palestinians are subjected to searches, violent treatment, they could be turned away for no reason, they could be turned away because there's too many people there that day and they can't get through, and all these things stop Palestinians from doing the important things that they need to do every day, like going to medical appointments, like going to social gatherings that are important for mental health, for having just a healthy balanced lifestyle in general, and all of these things will eventually impact the health and well-being of Palestinians and if it doesn't kill them, which it often times does, this is not an exaggeration, it will drive Palestinians out because they don't want to live under such oppressive conditions. In the West Bank where there is no Hamas, Israel has detained over 5,000 Palestinians since the beginning of the current bombardment on Gaza. This brings the number of Palestinian political prisoners to over 10,000, which is double the number it was when the siege first began. Before the siege on Gaza even began, over 5,000 political prisoners were being held by Israel and over 1,000 of these political prisoners were being held in administrative detention, which means these people were taken, likely from their homes in the middle of the night, kidnapped, not told what their charges still have not been told what their charges, their lawyer has not been told what their charges, and they're being held for an indefinite amount of time. This is illegal under international law. Before the siege on Gaza even began, we heard news daily of Israel detaining and murdering Palestinians in cold blood in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem, and their only crime is being Palestinian. The big takeaway from this is to investigate the media that's being presented to you because it's likely erasing the entire Israeli occupation of Palestine, which is very important context for this moment. Keep educating yourself and continue to support the cause for Palestinian liberation. Please do not only care about Palestine when residents are being massacred by the thousands. Understand that all these oppressive conditions come from the same root and it is across Palestine that people are being ethnically cleansed. If you want to do more than just educate yourself, you can join us on November 4th for the National March for Palestine in Washington DC. You can RSVP on our website and join our Code Pink contingent and march with us. If you can't make it there, sign our petition calling for a ceasefire and to end the occupation in Palestine. Palestinians need a break. They are being massacred by the thousands.