TW: murder, violence, genocide, guns and death of children, disabled people, women
I believe it is important as those of us living in the United States to be intentional with how we connect what we learn in our respective courses to what is happening in the world because there is always a link. And in the case of Palestine you do not have to look far to find it. The current genocide in Palestine by Israel is the most important disability justice, reproductive justice, human rights issue for “unruly bodies” of our current moment.
Disability Justice. With the targeting of hospitals, rehabilitation centers, ambulances, medics and other resources for medical and physical assistance by Israeli military bombs represent just one way that disabled people’s lives are directly harmed by this onslaught of violence. Thousands of Gazans have also been permanently disabled as a result of bombings and gunfire while protesting. In fact during the Great March of Return where from March of 2018 to December of 2019 Palestinians gathered and protested at the fenced off Israel-Gaza border for their right to return to the land stolen from them, visibly disabled protesters were intentionally targeted by the IDF. The United Nation’s 2019 report of the massacre during 2018 revealed that of the over 6,000 protesters shot by Israeli snipers, 122 required limb amputations (20 of which were children), 21 became paralyzed, and 9 permanently loss their eyesight. 940 children were shot, 35 were killed, many of whom left with permanent disabilities. This was just in the 8 months of the protest in 2018. Children and disabled people are both protected under international law during instances of armed conflict but instead they were intentionally targeted by Israeli forces and continue to be.
Reproductive Justice. SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective defines reproductive justice as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” Since Israel’s October 13th evacuation order over 1 million Gazans were forced to leave their homes (over 19,000 being pregnant women) and faced death as borders were guarded by IDF soldiers and because of the very limited time given to leave before bombing would begin. Prior to October 7 and the subsequent massacre by Israeli forces, Palestinian women and mothers already lacked access to sexual and reproductive resources from sanitary products to birthing facilities due to travel restrictions. Many hospitals are located where Palestinians cannot travel to without permits which are typically denied. Like the stress and fear caused by the forced evacuation, extreme poverty and food insecurity have resulted in many women experiencing miscarriages. Since the October 7 attack by Hamas resistance forces, over 11,000 Palestinians have been murdered, over 4,000 were children, over 2,000 were women, and thousands are missing. It is impossible to know how many pregnant women have died in the past month. With hospitals and reproductive centers destroyed as a result of the nonstop bombings, hospitals are unable to provide the necessary care and resources for pregnant Palestinian women leaving them with very few safe options for themselves and their unborn children. Reproductive justice cannot exist under occupation.
https://www.sistersong.net/reproductive-justice
Palestinians and the construction of Unruly Bodies. Like in the British/European colonial histories in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and beyond, Israel’s colonial movement required the depiction of Palestinians as barbaric, ignorant, and in need of civilization and modernization. This racist rhetoric was used since Zionism’s beginning in the 19th century solidified in the 1948 Nakba where over half of the Arab population in Palestine were forcefully displaced from their homes first by Zionist militias and then by Israeli armies. Therefore, any Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation renders Palestinians unruly because their self-determination and autonomy are inherently oppositional to Israel’s colonial project. Labeling such resistance as terrorism justifies Israel’s continued genocide of Palestinian people and such imagery and discourse is used in Israeli and western media to promote the occupation.
To connect it back to class, I believe the social model of disability is an important framework for understanding what is currently happening in Palestine. The Israeli occupation physically, socially, and politically disables Palestinian people daily and denies pregnant women the right to deliver their babies safely and humanely. Also, our conversations about neurodivergence are important to note as neurodivergence can result from traumatic experiences. When discussing people who have become disabled as a result of Israeli violence, mental illnesses are also a part of that. Gazans/Palestinians have lived through decades of trauma meaning the siege is also psychological manifesting as depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder, and more.
Despite this, disabled people are still showing up to protests demanding the right to return to the land of their ancestors. Palestinian women are still giving birth knowing that there is a possibility of their child not being able to grow up. Palestinians continue to yell that Palestine will be free. Regardless of Israel’s attempts to destroy youth-led resistance movements, generations of Palestinians refuse to let the fight for freedom extinguish. It is important that Palestinian modes of survival are acknowledged and that we learn from the resistance movements of Palestinian people and connect them to the liberation struggles of all oppressed people across the world.
Free Palestine!
Unruly Bodies 