NEW EPISODE: The Games Industry Must Not Stay Silent on Palestine
Added 2023-11-06 20:37:45 +0000 UTCHey everyone,
Today's video is not a normal one for us. In fact, we had something else lined up for this week which we can't wait to show you. It's silly and fun and an exploration of an entirely different kind of games community. We cannot wait to share it with you.
However, after the events of the last month, we couldn't ignore what's happening in Palestine right now. And so we've asked Tamoor Hussain (who you may know from GameSpot and Giant Bomb) to put together a video, with our help, to raise awareness within the games industry about the plight of the Palestinian people. Some of you may have seen a video he published a couple of years ago, in which he highlighted the silence on this tragedy within the games community. Two years on, things are even worse.
In the video, you'll also see Tamoor speak with Rami Ismail, one of the games industry's most prominent Arab voices, as well as Rasheed Abueideh, a game developer who actually lives in the West Bank himself. We're also going to be running a fundraiser for the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund alongside the video (it's almost on $20,000 as I write this post!!), as well as donating Tamoor's fee and the ad revenue from the video to the same cause.
I suspect the video may receive some criticism for focusing so exclusively on the Palestinian perspective, given the events of October 7th. This is something you'll see both myself and Tamoor address at the start of the video, but to be absolutely clear where we stand: the attack by Hamas against innocent Israeli citizens was utterly abhorrent and something that should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. The Israeli people have been irreparably scarred by this moment and I can’t possibly imagine how it feels right now to be Israeli, or Jewish, and to see your community go through this sort of horror.
This disgusting attack by Hamas is now being used, however, to collectively punish the more than 2 million people living in Gaza, equating all Palestinian lives with those of terrorists.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has now announced the deaths of 10,000 Palestinians since the bombings began, with 4000 of them being children. This indiscriminate slaughter is not justice, it’s genocide. And yet most Western governments, including my own, continue to support what’s taking place, describing this immense loss of life as “self defence”. For that reason, it feels vital that we speak up and demand a real, just peace for both Israeli and Palestinian people.
We feel, for this to happen, it’s vital that Palestinian voices are heard and also, that the context of this moment is fully understood by the rest of the world. What’s happening is not a war, or a conflict, between two nations of equal power. Israel is a nuclear power with the full backing of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and many other Western states behind it. And Palestine… well Palestine doesn’t even have control of its own electricity or water supplies, because Israel controls them. This is not a story of two military equals, it’s an occupation and a siege and it’s been that way for a very, very long time.
We’ve decided it would be totally irresponsible to include perspectives in this video which disagree with the idea that Palestine has been oppressed for decades. Some of you may feel that’s a mistake, or a failing of our journalistic responsibilities, but at this moment, as Gaza is being reduced to dust and rubble, we think it would be a dangerous and immoral thing to present that oppression as something which is in any way up for debate. The Palestinian people are not free and the actions of the Israeli government have been described as genocidal and that of an apartheid state by the likes of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
I know this is going to be a topic that many of you will have extremely strong feelings about. However, I'd like to ask for people to be very careful with the language that’s used in any discussions here. This community will never be a place which tolerates hate speech of any kind whatsoever and we will absolutely have a zero tolerance when it comes to antisemitism or islamophobia. And finally, please remember that the trauma of the last month has touched so many lives in Israel, Palestine and the rest of the world, likely including some within the PMG community.
Thanks. And we'll be back with our usual content in the weeks to come.
Chris
(If you're wondering why the video above isn't the YouTube video itself, it's because that video has been flagged as only appropriate for people aged 18 and above. This means I can't embed it normally, which is frustrating. Here's a link to the YouTube video, if you would rather view it there and contribute to the fundraiser!!)
Comments
A couple of months late but I just wanna say that I'm very glad y'all made this video. The stuff Israel has been doing to Palestine is insane and it's crazy to know they've been at it for decades. I donated to the organization and I can only hope this madness stops soon.
Sunny Haven
2024-03-16 07:20:36 +0000 UTCApparently it's "extremely irresponsible" to talk about Apartheid
Farzyab Gohar
2024-01-25 14:23:27 +0000 UTCI understood Tamoor's statement "It is disgusting" to refer to "these actions" of October 7th. Do you think he meant more broadly Hamas is disgusting? That's not so difficult to say, but I didn't hear it anywhere in the video. October 7th is in line with Hamas's ideology and stated goals. Hamas's leaders have promised - publicly, repeatedly - to do more of the same. Given that context, when people call for ceasefire and have not a word to spare regarding a future without Hamas, I hear a call for surrender. Existing next to (or under) Hamas is not peace.
Felipe Chor
2023-12-01 18:17:52 +0000 UTCHi Felipe, To include the full quote from Tamoor that you're referencing: "On October 7th, the military arm of Hamas attacked and killed 1400 innocent Israeli citizens. These actions deserve the most fervent condemnation. The killing of civilians is abhorrent and repugnant. Along with the taking of lives of these innocents, these actions by Hamas have irreparably changed the lives of their friends, family and their communities by putting upon them a trauma that can take a lifetime to address, if at all. It is disgusting." Tamoor is very clearly speaking out against Hamas here and I think it's extremely unfair to say otherwise. I'd also like to point out that just a few hours after you wrote this comment, the ceasefire was lifted and Israel has now continued its bombardment of Gaza. So far, it's thought that more than 14,800 Palestinian people have been killed over the last two months, including something like 6,000 children. There is no possible justification for this. Given that horrific context, this video is a call to action for the games industry to demand peace and recognise both Israeli and Palestinian lives as equally worthy of our compassion.
People Make Games
2023-12-01 09:38:26 +0000 UTCThis is a deeply distressing presentation. "This is a moment for collective introspection. It’s time to confront the darker corners of our ideological heritage, and question the ideas and beliefs we may have uncritically absorbed. Only by doing so can we hope to contribute to a more constructive and humane world for ourselves." - Right? Only, this is an Arab addressing himself to Arabs. "All I ask is for you to be authentically courageous, to admit that the murder we all witnessed [on October 7] is an accurate representation and logical consequence of a catastrophic moral system, the one we all know intimately." - https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/savage-nihilism-free-palestine I see no introspection anywhere in this video. I see a cursory condemnation of "the military arm of Hamas", in what is otherwise nothing but a long litany of complaints about Israel. I don't expect someone living in the West Bank to voice any comment on Hamas here - he should rightly be terrified to speak up. I cannot understand Arabs living in the West failing to speak up against Hamas, for Arab leadership.
Felipe Chor
2023-12-01 00:19:47 +0000 UTCAdd me to the list of those who oppose the war done in my name. I'm doing what I can to protest it. One of the worst aspects is that the Israeli war cabinet has no exit plan, no diplomatic strategy for the day after the war ends, and even the end criteria are vague. What counts as an eradication of Hamas? I hate all war, but at least when the USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan it had a clear result in mind, and indeed that result was achieved—at enormous cost. (Sorry, I just recently watched Oppenheimer!) But also add me to the list of those who oppose the dehumanization of Israelis and the co-option of antisemitism into the pro-Palestine movement. I'm confident you're with me on this issue, but I think you have yet to appreciate the complete and very alarming picture. I hope you get to talk more with Israelis and Jews and listen to their very serious concerns. I'm watching the news of the rise of antisemitism in the UK with a demoralizing sense of déjà vu... I've never felt less hope for Palestine and Israel. There is no leadership there or anywhere else in the world capable of tackling the enormous complex of factors that work against peace. I expect things to get much worse before they ever get better.
Tal Liron
2023-11-13 21:33:11 +0000 UTCI certainly don't think all Israeli people support what's being done in their name! In fact, I know that's not the case, because so many of them have spoken out against it, which has often required a huge amount of bravery! In fact, Jewish people around the world have been absolutely incredible when it comes to showing solidarity and calling for peace. Whether that's the thousands of Jews who joined the most recent London march I attended, or the Jewish Voice for Peace group who've staged protests across parts of the US, including at the Statue of Liberty last week. To focus on what we do agree on here: we both believe a ceasefire needs to happen. And of course, that absolutely has to involve the release of all Israeli hostages. I can't imagine the trauma they and their families must be experiencing right now, it's beyond words. As a British person, I feel a deep responsibility to lend my voice to this call, as our government is yet to press for a ceasefire itself, despite more than 10,000 Palestinians having been killed and 4000+ of them being children. I can't accept that, it's so totally inhumane. And a large majority of the British public agrees, looking at the most recent polling, which makes it that much more infuriating that our voices haven't been heard up to this point. I think there's a lot that you and I don't agree on here and I'm very sorry that's the case, but the need for a ceasefire is so clearly the most pressing issue. If we can both agree on that, hopefully those in positions of power may also be able to do the same.
People Make Games
2023-11-13 20:36:06 +0000 UTCI didn't mean to imply that you should "stay in your lane", just that if you are presenting a topic I expect it to be researched and presented critically, fairly, and humbly. It's your strength and why I admire your work. You have done so many times in the past, and with great sensitivity, when presenting interviews with former employees of gaming companies, former owners, or really anyone making statements about anybody else without giving them an opportunity to respond or by corroborating statements with evidence. And even then you've couched the evidence humbly when you didn't have all the facts. You've done so with ZA/UM, Valve, Roblox, and others. But here you've just dropped the ball, thrown journalistic responsibility to the wind, and even in this last response resort to quoting the stated opinions of organizations and states that happen to fit the narrative you like without doing the work of corroborating them. And with real damage, as I've pointed out, contributing to a terrifying rise in anti-Semitism. The issue is that these narratives are all so woefully devoid of context in the service of presenting Israel as a (unfortunately familiar and recurring for centuries) caricature: an "evil empire of Jews" who have always wanted to greedily take from others and control humanity to suit their nefarious purposes. This is not about "semantics" of definitions, but about a deliberate and pointed representation which abuses these definitions. And it's a frought, deeply misleading, and sometimes plain false presentation. All the points mentioned by Tamoor, Rami, Rasheed, and you are devoid of context—easily available on Wikipedia—which is brushed aside as inconvenient truths that don't fit your story. All of Israel's actions can be framed as self-defense reactions. The Nakba of 1948 happened after Israel happily agreed and celebrated a UN resolution to establish two states. The borders of that Israel were much, much smaller than they ever have been. The Arab states would not accept even that, and so responded with war: Egypt, Jordan, and Syria attacked. It is them who refused a Palestinian state, not Israel. The new borders were the result of the aftermath of that war. Yes, it was and is an "occupation", but a reluctant one. Israel did not ask for more land and definitely not for war. Similarly in 1967, the same three states attacked Israel again. An overwhelming Israeli victory this time resulted in much more territory occupied by Israel. But the vast majority of this territory, the Sinai Peninsula, was returned to Egypt as part of the 1979 peace agreement, and Israel withdrew from Gaza (unilaterally) in 2005. Hardly the actions of a greedy, evil, colonizing empire. Syria, too, has a chance to regain the occupied Golan Heights should it want peace with Israel. These are not small details, because they establish the intent of Israel. The intent of a real people, who have suffered greatly throughout history and continue to suffer now. Please stop adding to their suffering in the name of calling out the suffering of others. There's obviously much more complexity to this story: cynical opportunism on both sides to use war to further nationalist agendas. It's worth getting into the details, because Tamoor and others portray it as a "simple story" (Tamoor's words) with no complexity. They blame Israel for 100% of their woes, an easy target—as Jews have always been. But Tamoor doesn't devote any analysis to the many Palestinian home-grown terrorist organizations who have again and again destroyed any prospect for peace through vile murder of civilians, from big media terrorism like the Munich Olympics massacre (1972) to the demoralizing, continuous "small" terrorism of quotidian murder. He doesn't blame Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. No mention of Iran, funding Hamas and Hezbollah's murderous terror, sowing chaos and division, and actively rejecting the right of Israel to exist. It's in their constitution. Only Israel is to blame in his version of history and only Israel must be stopped. What is Tamoor's plan to curtail Hamas and Hezbollah? To curtail Iran? Why do Palestinians live in a fragmented pseudo-state under an Israeli blockade? Not because Israel wants to "colonize" the entire Holy Land. Every poll in Israel shows that most Israelis would happily give up all that land for peace, including dividing Jerusalem in some way between two states (it's already divided in practice). Of course it's extremely frustrating to see far-right Israeli groups actively pushing this future farther away. Their murder of prime minister Rabin was their most awful accomplishment, as he was working for peace in defiance of the rise in Palestinian terrorism. But these groups are far from the majority and far from the consensus in Israel. Understanding their disproportionate sway would require a deep dive into Israeli politics of the last couple of decades. It's worthwhile to call for a ceasefire, I agree with you strongly on that. It should include the immediate release of the 239 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. I'd like to believe that your admirable compassion and sensitivity extends to them, too. I want to suggest a way for you to move beyond your failure here: Do another video about Israeli game developers. How does one make games living in fear of terrorism? When loved ones have been lost to abominable, brutal murder? When one is injured or disabled by them? When one has to constantly run in and out of bomb shelters while rockets rain in from Gaza and Lebanon? Israelis live in insecurity and fear, too. The situation as a whole is definitely not as bad as in Gaza—and we have Iron Dome to thank for that—but more suffering does not invalidate less suffering. A dead child is a dead child.
Tal Liron
2023-11-13 19:17:22 +0000 UTCThanks for your comment Tal, I appreciate the opportunity to reply to some of your issues with the video, although I suspect we may ultimately see what's happening here from very different perspectives. Firstly, when it comes to the word "occupation", you're talking only about Gaza itself. While we could go back and forth on the semantics of whether or not an 18-year blockade should be classified as an occupation, I would instead point to the West Bank, which has been under military occupation since 1967. In 2020, the United Nations released a report in which they described Israel's occupation of the West Bank as "unlawful under international law due to its permanence". As for "apartheid", as we mentioned twice in the video, this is how both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch describes what's taking place in Palestine. Amnesty points to four main ways in which apartheid is being maintained: 1. Fragmenting the Palestinian people between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while ensuring both territories have different governmental administration and legal systems. 2. The dispossession of land and property over decades. This is something Rasheed and Rami talked about, at length, in the video, but refers to people being forced out of their homes, both by settlers and the state itself, as well as those homes then being repossessed by the settlers or demolished, ensuring those people never return. 3. A system of laws and policies that keep Palestinians restricted to enclaves, subject to several measures that control their lives, and segregated from Jewish Israelis. 4. The deliberate impoverishment of Palestinians keeping them at great disadvantage in comparison to Israelis. This happens differently in the two territories, but the 18-year blockade of Gaza, for example, is a clear example of this, leading to a massive disparity between Palestinian and Israeli citizens when it comes to economic status and life expectancy, even before the horrors of the last month. Finally, the word "genocide". Again, as we mention in the video, this language has been used by representatives of the United Nations, as well as many governments around the world, including Brazil, Colombia and South Africa. You mentioned the South African apartheid before as a comparison. It's worth noting here that South Africa recalled its ambassador and all its diplomats from Israel in protest of what's taking place. I can appreciate that you feel PMG should stay in its lane here and leave any commentary on Israel & Palestine to the journalists who are on the ground in Gaza. Again, I'd disagree on that point, but even if that weren't the case, I'd also like to point out that, on average, one journalist has died in Gaza every single day of this conflict. Before long, there may not be any journalists left to bear witness to what's happening. And so, if we can help spread awareness here, and encourage our viewers to pressure their governments into backing a ceasefire and preventing the slaughter of thousands more Palestinian lives, many of whom are children, I think that's a worthwhile stance for us to take.
People Make Games
2023-11-13 10:33:12 +0000 UTCChris, I will continue supporting you on Patreon, but this video is extremely irresponsible. You did not have to offer "counter views" (whatever that even means in this context; a voice from Hammas?), but you should have at least consulted with Israelis and Jews. I've come to expect top-notch journalism from you, but here you didn't even bother to fact check. The result is a video full of vicious misinformation that is fuel to the fire of a rising tide of anti-Semitism engulfing the world. Tamoor Hussain's statements, which you echo in the post, contain propaganda. I'll focus on three repeated words: "Occupation". Israel has not occupied Gaza since 2005. The next year, Hamas won the democratic elections in Gaza and after murderous infighting with the Fatah party finally gained control in 2007. These facts are crucial to understand what happened on Oct 7 and its aftermath. It is true is that Gaza has been under an Israeli blockade since 2005, but here's why: continuous, brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas (democratically elected, remember) and other parties from Gaza: suicide bombers exploding in crowded civilian buses and nightclubs, stabbings, running people over with cars, and hails of hundreds of rockets launched indiscriminately at crowded cities (if not for Iron Dome, deaths would have been extremely high and this war would have been started years ago). So, yes, Israel has an extremely high-security border with Gaza, a blockade, for reasons that can be understood as justified. But it's absolutely not an "occupation". "Apartheid". It's true that there is discrimination in Israel, as it is in every state in the world, even in beautiful Australia. But the word "apartheid" means something very specific, which does not in any way apply to Israel. Apartheid means a regime of deliberately racist segregation policies. In South Africa it was implemented by criminalizing "mixed-race" sex and marriage, voting disenfranchisement, and laws about where to enter, live, work, and earn money. None of this is true for Israel, where marriage has no "racial" restrictions and indeed mixed marriages are not uncommon, Arabs and Muslims have the right to vote and indeed have political parties and elected members of parliament, and renting and buying property cannot legally consider "race". Again, discrimination exists and should be criticized, but there's nothing even close to apartheid. Of course, I understand exactly why this word is used: it's an indirect way to claim that Israel is a state founded on racism. Which leads us to final and worst word: "Genocide". Oh, what ironic symmetry one finds in the Jews! Genocide was attempted on them, and now they are attempting it on others. Nazis tried to eradicate them, and now they have become Nazis. And killing Nazis is OK, right? So killing Jews is the right thing to do, ... right? Maybe the German Nazis were right about them from the start! I'm being bitterly sarcastic here to point out that "Israel does genocide" is a smear planted deliberately in anti-Semitic soil. But like "apartheid", the word "genocide" has a specific meaning: an effort to eradicate a people. It doesn't mean just "killing a lot of people", otherwise we would accuse the USA of genocide when it dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. But the USA wasn't trying to eradicate Japan, it was trying to end a war, in an unfathomably brutal way. Indeed, after the war USA invested heavily in rebuilding a USA-friendly Japan. The difference is critical here. Israel is not and has never desired or stated a desire to eradicate any people. It's unclear even how to designate the target people for such a proposed "genocide". Arabs are pluralistic: there are Muslims, Christians, and, yes, even Jewish Arabs ("Mizrahis"), which constitute about half of the Jews in Israel. Contemporary Israelis are extremely mixed, and the trend is increasing. Quick note on the term "ethnic cleansing", which means moving a people out of a territory, *not* eradicating them. The far-right parties in Israel do propose various such plans, but none of them have ever been accepted by any Israeli government so far. Which is not to say that instances of "ethnic cleansing" have not occurred, most notably during the War of Independence, which Palestinians call the Nakba ("catastrophe"). Israel needs to be held accountable for this past as part of any peace agreement, which must involve the return of or compensation for specific stolen land. Meanwhile, the charter of Hamas's Gaza explicitly calls for ethnic cleansing and encourages genocide and terror as methods. It's from this charter that the term "from the river to the sea" comes from, and why it cannot be thrown around without invoking its context: the eradication of Israel through murder and terror. Indeed, there's a *legitimate* criticism of Israel that must happen right now. We all agree that using the cover of war to purposefully kill or otherwise punish civilians is abominable, and Israel should be pressed to prove its claims that it's doing its best to avoid civilian casualties. This requires in-depth, committed journalism on the ground in Israel and Gaza, not something that "People Make Games" is expected to do, and not something that Tamoor Hussain seems to care about. His propaganda makes his actual intent crystal clear. It's a shame that you gave him an uncritical soapbox to spout it.
Tal Liron
2023-11-12 22:36:01 +0000 UTCI am so proud of you for having the courage to put out this video. I hope you don't take too much slack because of this, and if you do, please know you are doing the right thing. I, for one, am increasing the pledge. I call on everyone reading this to participate in peaceful protests, republish/retweet/re-x publications from the UN, Jewish organisations for peace, BDS movement, etc... Only through international pressure, we can make sure this 70+ year old massacre is over once and for all!
Eduardo Balsa
2023-11-10 20:25:00 +0000 UTCNo apology is necessary! I can't comprehend what you must be going through right now and I'm genuinely sorry to have added to those frustrations and insecurities, even if unintentionally.
People Make Games
2023-11-08 11:18:02 +0000 UTCAgain, I want it to be clear, one of the reasons I support and follow your work is exactly because you take steps like you have done here giving your platform to another voice. I may not agree with every last detail in the video, but I appreciate how putting this up lines up with your goals and your mission, which I continue to support. Valantar may be right about me reading something into this that isn't there. I am probably projecting my own frustrations and insecurities here about an overall conversation that has eschewed any idea of nuance or complexity, while living in this situation makes my experience nuanced and complex by definition, because it is a human experience. (And again, nuance and complexity doesn't mean I believe the Palestinians deserve oppression, death, what's happening to them, or justifying the actions of a government that empowers fascists and Jewish-Supremecists) I don't actually think that the "overall conversation" is your responsibility though, so I am sorry if this is more venting than feedback, it's becoming increasingly hard to tell the difference on my end.
TJ Michael
2023-11-08 11:08:13 +0000 UTCThank you for publishing this. As a Jew and a as gamer, I'm glad you're spreading the very important word. I'm deeply disturbed by the news I hear from Gaza, but I'm also not surprised, since it fits so well with the past decades (soon a century) of Israeli oppression against palestinians. I'm also very happy you ackowledged the role of colonialism/imperialism in this. I don't want to excuse any war crimes or oppression, but still I doubt the situation of today had been possible if not for the role Britain played in the Palestinian Mandate and its dissolution, and the role of American economic and military interests in the region. (I also saw a Pakistani in the comments expressing something similar and I really think there are similarities in the situations.)
laxsill
2023-11-07 22:57:16 +0000 UTCNow, I haven't watched the video yet, but I can't say I see how the post above makes the claim you seem to be responding to here? Yes, it does say "We’ve decided it would be totally irresponsible to include perspectives in this video which disagree with the idea that Palestine has been oppressed for decades", but nowhere does it say that this means that "any Israeli person's perspective would automatically [amount to this]". This is not even remotely implied from anything I can see. It is indeed vitally important for the overall cause to highlight how there is a significant Israeli minority of dedicated peace activists, antifascists and anti-zionists, but simply choosing to focus on one perspective that doesn't include these people is not the same as making the claim you are claiming they do. Yes, what these people do is important. No, that does not automatically warrant their inclusion in every piece of coverage that is aligned with their views.
Valantar
2023-11-07 13:39:48 +0000 UTCPowerful stuff, glad our industry is joining the call for peace
Nikola Šobajić
2023-11-07 13:37:54 +0000 UTCThanks to you all, this is excellent and you've done a good thing by publishing it
Alex Timpo
2023-11-07 11:33:39 +0000 UTCHey TJ, thanks so much for your comment on this. To be totally clear, when we talked about not including voices which disagreed with the idea that Palestine was being oppressed, that was in no way meant to be us describing all Israeli perspectives on what's happening. I think some of the most important, most powerful, most beautiful voices in this moment have been those of the Israeli people and the Jewish community who've spoken out against the actions of the Israeli government. Whether that's the families of hostages who've pleaded for negotiations to take place, or even last night, as we watched an amazing group of American Jewish activists protesting at the Statue of Liberty. At the marches I've attended in London, I've been so proud to walk alongside Israeli citizens and Jewish groups, who've stood in solidarity with those asking for an end to the bombing and for a peaceful solution to be reached. This video, unlike most of our work, has been about giving over our platform to somebody else to speak for those who are suffering. Tamoor asked if he could include the voices of Rami and Rasheed in the video and we thought that was a brilliant way for us to better represent some of the views of the Arab games community, including an actual Palestinian citizen. Again, the point at the beginning of the video was to explain why we hadn't also included voices which disputed the idea that the bombing of Gaza and the ongoing subjugation of Palestinians was totally unjustified. This certainly wasn't us saying that Israeli voices don't matter to us and that there aren't many, many Israelis who want nothing more than peace and equality for both Israel and Palestine. Perhaps that is something we could have made clear in our intro and I'm very sorry it's left you feeling excluded from the conversation. That's the worst possible outcome!
People Make Games
2023-11-07 10:30:33 +0000 UTCBefore anything else, regardless of what I say below, I want to commend y'all for giving your platform and reach to people who don't have it, especially in this media environment, I may have some issues with the content of the video, but I think it's worthy and important to raise voices in this manner. However, I am Israeli, and (perhaps selfishly)... I can't help but feel excluded the conversation. Many Israelis have fought for, dedicated their lives, and died for peace, freedom, and coexistence. The idea that any Israeli person's perspective would automatically be one that "disagree(s) Palestine has been oppressed for decades", feels needlessly reductive.
TJ Michael
2023-11-07 00:51:58 +0000 UTCThank you thank you thank you
Iván León
2023-11-06 23:24:37 +0000 UTCHope ok to add another organisation that is helping on the ground: https://buildpalestine.com/2021/05/15/trusted-organizations-to-donate-to-palestine/
Kraft Dinner
2023-11-06 23:19:18 +0000 UTCAbsolutely heartbreaking.
Kraft Dinner
2023-11-06 23:18:34 +0000 UTCYour voice is important more now that ever.
ChatN
2023-11-06 23:14:28 +0000 UTCNice one for doing this Chris
Dominic Carter
2023-11-06 20:54:50 +0000 UTCAs a Pakistani, I know all too well how colonialism broke populations apart. One day, we might be able to become one people. I hope that happens in my time
Farzyab Gohar
2023-11-06 20:44:14 +0000 UTCThanks so much for doing this. It's an unfortunate situation that supporting a sieged country of Palestine is somehow considered anything from "brave" to "controversial" in this day and age. Proud to be a PMG supporter today.
QubaXR
2023-11-06 20:41:46 +0000 UTCThank you. Thank you so much. We can't stop bringing light to this issue ever.
Farzyab Gohar
2023-11-06 20:41:29 +0000 UTC
