Seeing this photo and reading this story made me cry. And this is the very reason why I'm careful what I say about the situation in Gaza/Palestine and Israel. A 12 year old boy was forced to kiss the feet of another boy, or get beaten up by a gang of nine. The twelve year old Jewish boy then went and told his mother, 'You shouldn't love me because I'm a worthless Jew. I'm a Jewish rodent and I'm vermin'. No child should ever have to feel like this or say those words. It's wrong.
I don't care if you're pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, you need to be careful of the words you choose to use. Hate is a dangerous and powerful weapon, and it spreads like wildfire! My stance on the Palestine/Israel situation is, I'm pro-coexistence. For me its the people who build bridges that are the more important ones. Peace can be achieved but not while both sides are attacking the other. The people who are pro-Israel usually do more to help the Palestinian cause than the pro-Palestinians do, and vice versa, and the reason they do more to help the other side is because of the words they use to attack.
There is right and wrong on both sides, and there are good and bad people on both sides. There is no good guys and bad guys. Although saying that I don't agree with land theft and I don't agree with Collective punishment or the people of Palestine being under military law. And I definitely don't agree with any of the wars they've had with Gaza. But these are the policies of the right wing government, so it's the extreme right wing government that I don't agree with. It's not Jewish people, and the right wing Israeli government don't represent all Jewish people. Don't forget that most of the loudest voices that are fighting for peace in Palestine are Jewish.
Today people will say the most offensive things about Jewish people, but they'll replace the word 'Jewish', and say, 'Zionist', and they'll think its fine to do this because all Jewish Zionists are bad. But this is not correct and it shows that most people don't know what a Zionist is. A Jewish Zionist is someone who believes in a Jewish homeland. A place/country where Jewish people can be safe and free. I don't have the right to tell someone that being a Zionist and wanting a homeland / safe place is wrong. We all want a safe haven. There are lots of Zionists who are also supportive of the Palestinian cause. Being a Zionist doesn't mean you're bad, and the more Jewish people who are attacked, the stronger you make Israel. Additionally not all Jewish people are bankers or extremely wealthy. Look how many Arab Muslims who have obscene wealth.
Lots of people will disagree with me and that's fine, but I urge you all to be careful how you say things, because hate is toxic, and its spreading. No child should ever have to feel like this boy, or be forced to kiss someone else's feet. This reminds me of how I was bullied and humiliated every single day. Being born with a rare intersex medical condition means I'm different and I've had to suffer for being different! I've lost count of the amount of times I've had to deal with sexual and physical assaults, and then been ignored when trying to report them, I've even been blamed or made to feel like they were my own fault. I've even become terrified of losing weight because I've been told I'm going to get raped because I'm getting pretty! I've even found out that there's a £100 bet on for who can rape me in my home! And my attackers have told me that I can't do anything to stop them because, firstly no one listens to me, and secondly, if I report them, they'll accuse me of sexually assaulting them years ago, and they'll get their friends to say the same! This is how sick people are today. People today always try to use sex to humiliate you. They'll accuse you of sleeping around and doing all sorts of disgusting sexual things. This is just to discredit you, so they're free to keep humiliating you and no one will stop them.
I know how this boy feels and no child should ever have to feel like this! Hate is wrong in any form, and that is why I'm now careful about what words I use, even with the Palestine / Israel situation.
https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/04/jewish-boy-forced-kiss-muslim-boys-feet-face-beating-10859052/
