THE GOOD LIFE: When perception meets reality, the Palestinian plight

Having made a Palestinian friend in Malta, Gemma's eyes were opened to the freedom citizens of countries such as Ireland take for granted...

Although I returned from my Erasmus on Saturday morning, I know I will speak about my experiences studying in Malta for the rest of my life. And so, it begins.

One of my flatmates was from Palestine, this person had the kindest soul - always cooking and chatting, he was interested to learn about other cultures and share his own. He loves his city, speaking about it often and showing me pictures, which I always viewed with awe.

Upon moving to Malta, I had never met anyone from Palestine before and I was intrigued. This person spoke of places like the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. For me, they had only been mentioned in religion classes, but here was a person who had visited each of them. He sent me reels and posts of beautiful landscapes, streets, cultural practices, and the injustice experienced by the people living there.

You may remember Sinn Féin TD Chris Andrews wearing a Palestinian jersey in Dáil Éireann during Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland. While the country applauded and cheered at Biden’s appearance, others used the opportunity to highlight prominent issues, which they believe the United States has the power to change. The wearing of the jersey highlighted the plight of the Palestinian people in their struggle to have Palestine recognised as an independent state from Israel. He said the people have been subject to “Israeli terror” by “an apartheid state” which America is funding.

I fully supported his wearing of the Palestinian jersey. The plight of the people in Palestine needs to be highlighted, their daily struggles should not and cannot continue. Unfortunately, many of us don’t hear about what is going on in Palestine, I certainly knew little before moving abroad and meeting my Palestinian friend.

Firstly, what is Israeli terror? This is terrorism committed by the state of Israel on Palestinian people. Secondly, what is an apartheid state? Apartheid is a system of keeping groups of people separate and treating them differently, usually resulting in disadvantage for one group.

The history of surveying Palestinians goes back over 100 years to the days of British rule, in 1917 when Britain first occupied Palestine, commencing their colonisation in 1920. The Colonial project was dependent on intensive surveillance and intelligence gathering of Palestinian people. This took place in the form of handbooks that contained information on Palestinians, which were designed to give officials insight. Along with their personal data, everyone was categorised under the titles of intelligent, pro-British or easily susceptible to foreign influence.

In 1947, Britain handed over Palestine to the United Nations, leaving their tanks, weaponry, and military training to Zionist groups. Zionism is a nationalist view that sees the establishment of the Jewish population in Palestine at the expense of other populations. This extremist movement led to the Nakba, which occurred in 1948 seeing villages infiltrated and destroyed, expelling 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. Today the Nakba is commemorated on May 15 each year representing the near destruction of Palestinian society.

Although I have portrayed this as a history of Palestine, the apartheid experienced by these people continues to this day.

Palestine is divided into two areas, Gaza along the east coast of the Mediterranean and bordering Egypt and the West Bank bordering Jordan. Between the two areas is the State of Israel, which not only separates the two areas geographically but also physically, hindering people from travelling to see family, to study, receive healthcare, and proceed with their daily lives without a permit. Not only are Palestinians restricted from moving between Gaza and the West Bank, they are also restricted within each of these areas by heavy surveillance, check points, and Israeli terrorism.

Today, with the help of AI, surveillance has become even more extreme. Taking the Palestinian city of Hebron located in the West Bank as an example, people living here are among the most controlled people in the world. Daily life consists of passing through checkpoints, CCTV cameras at every angle operated by Israeli police and settlers, facial recognition, and systems illegally obtaining Palestinian data has made living in this area like a prison, from which they can't escape. They live with cameras pointing in their bedrooms, Israeli police entering their homes, destroying their cities, and killing their families. Smart shooters; autonomous weapons powered by AI have meant Israeli police can attack without human intervention.

While the European Union actively condemns Israeli terrorism on Palestinian people, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) has found that the EU has contributed to it. Although not a member of the EU, the signing of the EU-Israel Association Agreement has meant that, since 1995, Israeli applicants have had the same access to EU research grants as other member states. One such funding body being Horizon Europe. On their website, the EECP state “through Horizon Europe funding, the EU is complicit with Israel’s violations of International and Human Rights Law.” This funding has gone towards companies contributing to the apartheid Israeli military and other entities contributing to Israeli colonisation.

My flatmate was always in the kitchen standing over the stove, listening to music or chatting. Until he spoke, you would never know the struggles he encountered at home, that he feared for his family's life, his city and home country. I can only imagine what went on inside his head.

The Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign asks people to sign this pledge to call upon the Irish government to recognise the apartheid system in Palestine and act against it - https://www.ipsc.ie/action-item/sign-the-end-israel-apartheid-pledge

You might consider signing it, I did.

* Gemma Good is from Killeshandra and a third year journalism student in University of Limerick

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