Solidarity is Mandatory

November 12, 2015 | Meta Peace Team, Phoenix | Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine

Brother, of murdered Palestinian being illegally arrested 

The idea that police would not shoot someone without reason is an idea many people would like to hold onto.  After all, police are put in place to protect and serve, and if they are killing us, who will then protect?  I met two young women (one from Germany and the other from Australia), outside of the Damascus Gates, after a Palestinian man was murdered by Settler Security and his brother illegally arrested by the Israeli police yesterday.  The women made their way over to us, because they noticed us speaking English, and were curious to know what was going on.  The women shared that they heard the gunshots, but did not remember how many shots were fired.  Immediately after hearing the shots and collecting themselves, they looked up on their phones to see if they could find out what happened.  They found in the news that the Palestinian man had been shot because he stabbed an Israeli.  We tried to explain to the German woman that what she read was not true and asked her if she had seen a knife or an Israeli being stabbed.  She replied “No,” but that is what they read.  She believed that the police would never shoot someone without reason.  In assuming good intentions, a lie had become her truth and a Palestinian voice had been muted.  Palestinians are being murdered every day, their homes are being illegally demolished, their land is being stolen and their country is under occupation.  

Assuming good intention in the media is encouraging injustice.  

Our liberation is bound together, and your solidarity is mandatory.