What is the Palestinian cause Why is it important to Palestinians and Arabs ?
Today, 7 million Palestinians and 7 million Jewish Israelis live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The Israeli government and military have near total control over all 14 million people.
Despite their lives being controlled by Israel, 5 million of these Palestinians do not have citizenship or any say over the government that rules over them with military force. Palestinians have been denied their right to self-determination and the Palestinian Authority (PA) has only extremely limited autonomy over certain parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In essence, we have today a one-state, undemocratic reality.
And for the past 75 years, Israel has oppressed the Palestinian people through unjust policies, including forcing Palestinians off their land, denying refugees their right to return home, brutal military rule, inequality and discrimination, killing civilians, destroying homes, and many other human rights abuses.
- Palestinians deserve freedom from Israel’s 56-year brutal military rule over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, which is also under Israeli siege. Additionally Israel is building illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands to kill a future Palestinian state.
- Palestinians deserve justice for refugees who Israel pushed out or who fled their homes out of fear in 1948. Israel continues to deny Palestinian refugees their right to return home.
- Palestinians deserve equality. Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are 20% of the population. Israel has over 60 discriminatory laws making Palestinians second-class citizens.