What’s So Different About This Palestinian Uprising?

Article

May 20

Rep. Rashida Tlaib speaking with President Joe Biden on May 18, 2021. [Reuters / Leah Millis]

Amid days of horrific Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that have killed hundreds, there’s been a small but noticeable shift in U.S. public opinion toward support for Palestinian rights, and more open criticism of Israel’s apartheid system.

From the inclusion of some Palestinian perspectives in mainstream coverage, to late night TV hosts delivering scathing critiques of Israel, and Democrats – even beyond the “The Squad” – saying they are “no longer willing to give [Israel] a pass,” the conversation feels like it’s changing ever so slightly.

How can we account for this?

One factor is the decades of work that activists have dedicated to organizing for Palestinian rights, dignity and equality, and exposing the violence in Israel’s settler colonialist system. Another may be the influx of progressive and diverse voices in the U.S. government speaking out more and empowering others to do the same.

Finally, some have connected the shift to the Black Lives Matter movement, saying that last summer’s uprisings helped lay the groundwork. Black-Palestinian solidarity stretches back decades, writes Marya Hannun for Slate, and “many of the activists who gained prominence over the past year have stated unequivocally that silence about Palestine is akin to silence over racial injustice in the United States.” Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has also linked the liberation of Palestine to the fight for Black lives, writing on Twitter that “we oppose our money going to fund militarized policing, occupation, and systems of violent oppression and trauma. We are anti-war. We are anti-occupation. And we are anti-apartheid. Period.”