We're a group of activists in a Western country where most have been brought up with either "Israel = good, Hamas = bad" or "It's a sad, but unsolvable conflict between two equal sides". The media heavily skewed to the Israeli perspective, and our politicians want to condemn protests in support of Palestinians. Therefore, unless you purposefully seek out information on what's going on in Palestine, you won't really encounter information about the occupation, the apartheid or the human rights violations. There are a lot of gaps in people's information and understanding of the situation.
Atm there's a lot of dehumanization, a lot of "Well, what can you do? Hamas keeps attacking Israel, what are they supposed to do?". I think the Israel=Good is deep-rooted in a lot of westerners. I know it was in me.
We've asked ourselves and each other what finally broke through our previous perception, so we could see the inequality and realize that what's happening is not right
One mentioned seeing a journalist in the back of an ambulance being handed a one-year-old that had passed
One mentioned seeing a video of a caring father saying goodbye to his little girl, kissing her eyes before she was wrapped in the materiale they wrap their dead. The father clearly in denial, smiling and wishing for her to wake up.
A big one for me was being told that it's not an equal fight. It's not two equally strong countries. It's one country with a huge military, and another with barely any. Another was hearing about the human rights violations that's been going on for decades - the fabricated water shortage, the children in Israeli jails.
I believe these are the moments we need to collect and present to those who are still wary on where they stand.
What broke through to you?
Hamas's goal is not to make you think they're the good guys, their goal is to eradicate Israel and the Jewish people, and/or to die trying. They've been turning sentiment in their favor.