Image Source: Amnesty International
World – Dr Maung Zarni, a well-known Burmese genocide scholar and Human Rights Activist, recently returned from occupied Palestine, where he joined a group of 34 individuals from different religious, professional, and national backgrounds. Their shared mission was to witness the ongoing struggles of the Palestinian people.
The group, made up of rabbis, pastors, and activists, spent nine days travelling across the West Bank, meeting with local communities and seeing firsthand the impact of Israeli occupation.
During their time there, the interfaith delegation witnessed multiple atrocities committed against the Palestinians. They’ve visited various Palestinian homes and properties that had been illegally marked for demolition by Israeli forces, seeing the harsh realities many Palestinians face daily.
“We were marching in solidarity or support of this farm community and the family outside of Bethlehem. We had a direct encounter with about two dozen security forces. Then one of the delegates, a Jewish delegate who speaks and understands Hebrew, picked up on the fact that the security forces had been given the green light to start firing tear gas and use stun grenades.”
“So, about 30 of us, including the local activists who were opposed to the home demolitions by the IDF, decided to deescalate and vacate the place. Otherwise, they would have started firing,” Dr Zarni told Salaamedia.
However, Dr Zarni recalled one especially troubling incident involving a Hindu activist from the UK, who was part of the delegation, being deported after hours of interrogation. He explained that Israeli authorities discovered the activist had participated in Free Palestine protests and had openly criticised the Indian government’s ties to Israel, which ultimately led to his removal from the country.
“Rajiv is with the Hindus for Human Rights, and these are people that are fighting against all forms of racism and racial persecution by any state anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, Rajiv was deported … after five hours of interrogation because they found on his phone his criticism of the Indian government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide. They also found on his phone protest images from when he joined Free Palestine and genocide protest rallies in London and other places.”
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The Severity of the Israeli Genocide and Illegal Occupation of the Palestinians
Despite having travelled to many conflict zones and war-torn regions in Burma, Dr Zarni admitted that his time in the occupied Palestinian territories left him feeling more unsettled than ever. The constant surveillance by Israeli Occupation Forces and the relentless oppression of the Palestinian people struck him deeply.
He described the overwhelming fear and tension that filled the atmosphere as profoundly disturbing, making him realise just how extensive the control and systemic violence that Palestinians face every day.
“In eastern Burma, which was my birth country, I’ve never felt the level of invasive fear that I personally felt. I can’t speak for the rest of the group. Still, for nine days, day and night, I was feeling quite jittery, especially when approaching border control at the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge or going through the checkpoints wherever you travel across the occupied West Bank.”
Reflecting on his experience, Dr Zarni compared the conditions in occupied Palestine to other instances of global oppression and genocides he has studied throughout his career, including the Rohingya and Cambodian genocides. He described the Israeli treatment of Palestinians as a deeply ingrained, institutionalised system of oppression specifically designed to target and marginalise an unwanted population.
“To make the long story short, Israel, over the last half a century or even longer, has succeeded in establishing what I call the ecosystem of different genocidal methods.”
