While the capacity for direct action may be limited, there are ways to stay informed from afar.
The most recent spiral in the troubled relationship between Israel and Palestine has seen unrest in and around the Gaza strip. What began with the forced evictions of Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, quickly escalated when Israeli police raided the sacred Al-Aqsa mosque in Old Jerusalem, wounding hundreds of worshippers, inciting protests and civil unrest.
A fatal airstrike on the Gaza strip quickly followed, and this week Jerusalem has been ravaged by protests, violence, and pain. Below are a number of credible sources to consult to learn more about the complex situation that has been decades in the making.
Khaled Beydoun
Author, lawyer, and professor, Khaled Beydoun has dedicated his craft to studying the Arab and Muslim identity, the intersection of national security policy, citizenship, and civil liberties. He is a regular contributor to publications such as Al-Jazeera, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, sharing his insight on his areas of study in relation to the world’s pertinent issues. Beydoun has taken to his social media profiles to act as a source of information regarding the escalating situation in Gaza, offering facts-based information about the protests, the ongoing airstrikes, as well as initiatives such as the Palestine Emergency Appeal.
Al-Jazeera
Al-Jazeera is one of the most well-known international news outlets focused on the Middle East region. While the publication also covers current affairs from across the globe, the homepage is currently dedicated to live updates covering the Gaza crisis and provides live, impartial, facts-based information regarding the situation. Alongside written coverage of the crisis, Al-Jazeera features imagery and photo stories to help convey the extent of the calamity.
Middle East Eye
Middle East Eye is an independent news source offering first-hand coverage on the ground in the Middle East. Similar to Al-Jazeera, MEE offers unbiased reporting into the current goings on in the Middle East from a political and social standpoint. While covering issues such as the airstrikes and the protests at large, Middle East Eye also offers insight into other cultural issues that are feeling the effects of the calamity, such as food and oil prices, cultural events and celebrations such as Eid and Ramadan, and coverage of talks and decisions between major political leaders of both Israeli and Palestinian descent. Taking care to effectively represent the necessary information while considering the citizen and societal point of view, MEE is a firsthand look into the current happenings in that corner of the world.
Image credit: Stacey Franco
