Written by Dyani Maasai

The treatment of Palestinians in Gaza by israeli forces can be described as nothing other than apartheid and genocide. Forced to live within the open-air prison established by israel, Palestinians residing in Gaza have been systematically denied access to medical care, water, food, and electricity. Similarly, amerikkka engages in the genocidal destruction of New Afrikan (Black) communities such as West Oakland by poisoning residents with toxic industrial waste, while simultaneously denying us access to food and medical care. There are undeniable differences in the conditions of Black people within the u.s. compared to those living in Gaza, however, at the root of our struggle is a common enemy: western capitalist imperialism. Both the united states and israel have historically engaged in the racist practice of concentrating industrialization in areas already starved of resources, making it almost impossible for oppressed communities to survive. I encourage my fellow New Afrikans to view public health disparities and a lack of access to resources within our communities, not as an isolated battle, but part of a collective struggle of oppressed nations surviving under the complex web of western-capitalist imperialism. It’s important that we draw these connections between the genocide of New Afrikans and Palestinians, to create a joint struggle against a common enemy! 

What is genocide?

When people hear the word “genocide” they imagine a bombing or mass execution, an overtly violent act that kills many people at once. Although these acts are indeed genocidal, what is often overlooked are the more subtle and protracted forms, e.g. the poisoning of drinking water, polluting the air, and contaminating soil. You pair this with a lack of access to medical care and thousands of colonized and oppressed people die a quiet, slow and painful death. According to the United Nations (UN), genocide is a crime committed with the intention to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group (in whole or in part) using any of the following acts: (1) killing (2) inflicting serious bodily harm or injury (3) conditions meant to bring about physical or psychological destruction (4) prevention of birth or reproduction (5) the removal of children from their culture and community. Those found in violation of the international law against genocide are subject to punishment in the form of required fines and in some cases, imprisonment. According to the UN “persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.” Armed with the definition of genocide provided by the UN, we can critically understand the conditions faced by Palestinians in Gaza as nothing other than genocide. 

The Palestinian Liberation Struggle was not Created in a Vacuum 

Recent acts taken for the sake of Palestinian liberation since the October 7th Al Aqsa Flood Operation have been in rebellion against the conditions zionism imposes on Palestinian livelihood. zionism is a racist and fascist political objective and belief that eastern european Jews have a right to establish a nation in the territory previously occupied by Palestinans. The genocide of Palestinians has not wavered since the first israeli settler-colony was established in 1882. Today, the israeli war on Palestine rages on as the temporary truce comes to an end, and the death toll of 28,000 Palestinians (as of February 12, 2024), continues its unrelenting climb. The reported death toll of Palestinians killed since October 7th (the number increases as I write this), does not include those dying from water borne disease or starvation, nor those killed by offensive military acts prior to October 7th. The ongoing attack on Palestine’s children and the generational impact that this will have is immeasurable, considering the amount of children maimed, injured, and left for dead by the israeli military. For example, when soldiers evacuated the al-Nasr Pediatric Hospital in Gaza in November they left five premature newborns to die in their beds. Preventing the survival of the next generation of Palestinians is how israel commits the fourth and fifth acts of genocide: thwarting a nations ability to reproduce and raise their own children. 

Those residing in Gaza face high rates of water-borne diseases due to sabotaged infrastructure. The water and food crisis in Gaza has been created by the destruction of water treatment plants by the israeli military. There are 90% of Palestinian homes using untreated water, 180 communities have no running water at all, and 90% of the Gaza aquifer is undrinkable. One fourth of the diseases plaguing Palestinian communities are preventable, caused by poor water quality and access. 

Due to the water crisis and lack of access to land, food insecurity in Gaza is extensive. As much as 65% of the population is food insecure, and 82% of the population is unable to refrigerate their food due to power cuts. In addition to preventing Palestinians from building the necessary infrastructure to meet their people’s needs, israel almost exclusively permits hazard-inducing infrastructure to be built in Gaza. Industrialization within Palestinian communities further contaminates their water sources and air quality, expediting the devastating spread of disease. 

Since October 7th (2023), 26 out of 35 hospitals (as of December 2023)  in Gaza have been bombed or destroyed by the israeli military. Restrictions on traffic in and out of Gaza (imposed by israel) had already prevented Palestinians from building much-needed hospitals, severely reducing their access to medicine and supplies. The compounding effect of conditions that facilitate widespread disease, while depriving communities of functioning hospitals, is genocide in action.

The Genocidal Conditions in West Oakland Today

Not unlike those residing in Gaza, West Oakland residents have been subjected to decades of exposure to industrial toxins while deprived of access to the resources necessary to meet their most basic needs. Differences in the rate of employment, homeownership, access to medical care, and disease diagnoses across racial lines in Oakland are the result of racist city zoning practices used in the 1930’s (i.e. redlining) and a continuation of a long legacy of genocide in amerikkka. For example, there are three major freeways that form borders around West Oakland–the 580, 880, and 980 interstates– segregating it from the rest of the city and endangering resident health. The 880 has no restrictions on diesel truck passage and the emissions from trucks alone increase residents’ likelihood to develop cancer as there are 1,200 excess cases of cancer per million in West Oakland (CA Air Resources Board Study). According to a report conducted by the Alameda County Public Health Department the rate for emergency room visits and hospitalization due to asthma in West Oakland are 76% and 85% higher than the rest of the county. Additionally, death from heart disease in West Oakland is 35% higher, while the life expectancy is 6.6 years shorter than the county average. In terms of racial disparities in breast cancer mortality rates, Oakland ranks as the eighteenth city in the nation with the largest black:white racial disparity due to lack of access to early screening and prevention methods. Devastating effects due to decades-long exposure to industrial waste and lack of access to health care in West Oakland necessitate revolutionary change to end environmental racism and public health disparities. 

West Oakland is widely acknowledged as a food desert, or an area where access to safe and healthy food is restricted. According to an article published by The Oakside, approximately 35-60% of West Oakland is food insecure. This is due to the fact that there are no major supermarkets in West Oakland, but an overabundance of liquor stores and fast food chains. Residents denial of safe and healthy foods expedites the spread of life-threatening disease and compromises their overall health and wellness. This phenomenon is otherwise known as “food apartheid,” or the racist practice of utilizing city planning and infrastructure to deprive some neighborhoods of access to safe and healthy food–the same neighborhoods that face higher rates of other forms of environmental racism. Although food insecurity in Oakland is not due to strictly enforced military embargo’s like that experienced by those in Gaza, the use of city zoning in this area has the same impact on oppressed peoples: thousands of families are denied access to the food they desperately need to survive. 

So-called experts redirect blame from government officials and development companies for the impact of industrialization on the health of New Afrikans, claiming outlying health outcomes of entire communities are an issue of personal responsibility. Some argue that if folks accessed healthcare, they would not contract these diseases. However, there are no general hospitals located within the borders of West Oakland. The West Oakland Planned Parenthood center has been recently closed. Residents primarily rely on the West Oakland Health Center, which does not have an emergency or oncology department. City planning in Oakland restricts New Afrikans’ immediate access to the level of care needed to address high rates of illness and disease. This example of medical apartheid (the oppression and exclusion of marginalized communities from the healthcare system) is not unique to West Oakland, but threatens the survival of millions of New Afrikans across the country!

Drawing the Connections 

At first glance amerikkkan or israeli governments providing access and resources to manufacturing companies functioning in areas occupied by oppressed people, does not appear to be intentionally insidious. However, the encouragement of industrial centers that devastate the natural landscape and exponentially increase the rate of disease within poor communities who already don’t have access to the resources needed to thrive, is an example of how the state prioritizes corporate interests over human life and the planet. When imperialist powers cut off essential life-saving resources, eliminating any possibility for recovery and survival, they create conditions meant to bring about the physical destruction of oppressed people. We must recognize these practices for what they are: acts of genocide! 

Capitalist-imperialism is an adaptive, sometimes silent, highly-effective killer, able to fly under the radar by using inadvertent weapons to enact a slow and painful death on its victims.  As the conditions discussed here show us, both the israeli and united states government weaponize the environment, threatening our ability to survive, while simultaneously denying us access to food security and medical care. Although most don’t recognize these experiences as genocide, the conditions created in New Afrikan and Palestinian communities alike ensure the death of millions and commit several violations of the international laws against genocide as it is defined by the UN. Following the example set by Palestinian liberation forces, New Afrikans must exert agency over our lives and dedicate our efforts to building a nation that meets the needs of the People, defending ourselves against the cause of our misfortune: amerikkkan capitalist imperialism!

For these reasons, the coalition “In the Spirit of Mandela” spearheaded the 2021 “We Still Charge Genocide” International Tribunal, charging the united states with the genocide of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. The trial outlined how police killings, environmental racism, the prison industrial complex, holding of political prisoners and prisoners of war, and the exacerbation of public health inequities facilitate the destruction of oppressed communities. The united states was found GUILTY on all counts of genocide.

In conclusion

 I pose the question: do the same folks who condemn amerikkkan colonies’ mass murder of indigenous peoples or the horrors of South African apartheid, stand with us against the genocide of Palestinian people? It’s easier to be on the right side of history looking backward, but how do we fight against genocide today? Answering these questions is not only a moral issue, but one concerning international law. Colonial powers have enacted violence against us for generations, what is to stop them from continuing to kill us for decades to come? Revolutionary armed struggle is one of the many ways a people can begin to defend themselves against mass destruction of their land and livelihood, a necessary piece of the fight for independence and sovereignty. As Palestinians struggle against their western oppressors, what do we do here in our own backyards to advance their fight and defend the rights of our own communities? Both New Afrikans and Palestinians have the international right not just to take up arms against colonial forces, but to establish our own nations as we see fit (as outlined in article 15 of the UN's Declaration of Human Rights). Palestinians are exercising this right as they take up arms against the oppressive [united states backed] israeli military. 

As this monumental act on behalf of humanity unfolds, how are New Afrikans going to step up to the call to defend our people? Before a successful armed struggle becomes possible, New Afrikans must first recognize ourselves as a captive nation within a nation. To take the first steps towards independence, we have to establish the unity and infrastructure necessary to meet our material needs. People’s Programs is working to meet the needs of The People, for free, through our decolonization and political education programs. An evolution of the Black Panther Party’s survival programs (pending revolution) decolonization programs are community-run initiatives that meet The People’s needs, lessening our reliance on the state and increasing our ability to govern our own lives. These programs lay the foundation for what a free nation of New Afrika can be, and seek to provide material stability to the masses. By increasing our communities’ autonomy, while simultaneously dedicating ourselves to continuous political education rooted in the principles of revolutionary nationalism, we can decolonize both our bodies and our minds. It is my hope that armed with the knowledge and clarity provided by this piece, folks can more accurately understand the conditions of the Palestinian and New Afrikan struggle. We must be in solidarity and support of Palestinian and New Afrikan movements toward national independence. We can best do this by fighting against the oppressive forces that prevent our ability to not just survive, but live.

Free the People! Free the Land!