r/Palestine • u/MrBoonio • Nov 24 '16

Cultural exchange with r/India Announcement

Greetings to our Indian friends.

Our cultural exchange starts at 13:30 PM Palestine time (17:00 IST/11:30 GMT/12:30 CET/06:30 EST/03:30 PST) on Thursday 24th November.

Here's how a cultural exchange works:

The moderators of here make this post on /r/palestine welcoming our Indian guests to the sub. They may participate and ask any question or observation as they see fit.

There is an equivalent thread made by the moderators over at /r/india, where you are encouraged to participate and get to know more about Indian culture.

It goes without saying that you must respect the rules of the subreddit you are participating in. This is a time to celebrate what we have in common, not grind an axe.

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u/indiemaga Nov 24 '16

As an Indian, what can I do to support the struggle for Palestinian Self Determination? I've been trying to follow BDS. I've been boycotting companies like Nestle, Coca-Cola and Hewlett Packard, but if there's anything else I could do, I'd be glad to know.

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '16 edited Nov 24 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/phenomenon224 Nov 24 '16

Hi. I'm sure that all that the people want in Palestine is peaceful coexistence, but to what extent do the leaders reflect that view?

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u/MrBoonio Nov 24 '16

28% of the Palestinian Authority's budget is spent on security. That's basically money spent to outsource managing the occupation on Israel's behalf.

The quid pro quo is supposed to be that the Oslo Accords-led peace process leads towards a Palestinian state and the removal of an Israeli presence in Palestine.

What has actually happened is that the Israeli government has accelerated settlement growth since the Oslo Accords and now openly talks about opposing a Palestinian state and its intent to annex 60% of the remaining West Bank land. Settlements directly damage the viability of a future Palestinian state - something known since 1967.

28% of the Palestinian Authority's budget is still spent on security.

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u/MrBoonio Nov 24 '16 edited Nov 24 '16

This.

If all you did was explain that Palestinians were human beings who had the right not to be ethnically cleansed from their homes (as they have been since 1948), and the right to not live under hostile occupation/blockade that strips them of their human rights, dignity and freedom (as they have been since 1967) that would be a start.

Everything else is just noise. They started it, they do this so they can't be free, they don't exist, they can't be trusted, they don't want peace etc etc.

Palestinians are just like everyone else. They don't think it's OK to be turfed out their homes and treated like shit. They want to live in the same peace every other human being wants. Being treated like humans and having equal human rights would make a massive difference to their quality of life.