It is essential that you do not tell your children to go into school or the public and speak about Palestine UNTIL YOU HAVE EQUIPPED THEM WITH THE CORRECT FACTS AND APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE.
Please don't undermine the legitimate Palestinian struggle by confusing the conversation with Hamas' activities. Have a focused conversation about the situation of Palestine regardless of the Hamas rhetoric being pushed.
You are doing a disservice to the legal Palestine cause. PLEASE STOP.
Here are 10 points that you should read with your children and discuss. If you don't find time to read it, here are the main points paraphrased in 10 bullet points:
1). Hamas and Hezbollah are known terrorist organizations by US Law under the Terrorism Act 2000. Do not say you support Hamas. This is a legal offense, and your children could get into trouble for it.
2). Your children can say that they support Palestine's right to resist occupation. Their right to self-determination is guaranteed by international humanitarian law, so your children saying this would be covered by Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
3). It is not okay to teach your Muslim children to hate jews.
Many Jews around the world, including in the USA, are opposed to Israel’s policies. When your argument for Palestine is antisemitic, it loses its legitimate value.
4). The occupation of the Palestinian West Bank is recognized by international law as an illegal occupation. This can include criticism of its separation wall and the Jewish only settlements, which are built on stolen Palestinian land and are recognized as illegal under international law.
We have a right to protest against this. Allow your kids to attend protests.
5). You can criticize the military control Israel has over Gaza for over a decade. It controls its land borders, air space, maritime zones, imports and exports, population registry, sewage systems, and electricity grids.
6). It is not anti-Semitic to refer to Israel as an apartheid state; Palestinians are under Israeli military law, while Israeli settlers maintain their own civilian courts, this means two different court systems apply to them which is unfair.
7). Bring evidence for what you say, a random WhatsApp/TikTok video is NOT evidence: for example, proof for Israel being an apartheid state is this:
In 2021, Human Rights Watch became the first major human rights organization to accuse Israel of the crime of apartheid. Amnesty International and a UN expert followed with this charge in 2022.
Israeli rights groups, such as B’Tselem had previously made the same accusation, so some Jewish people also recognize this.
Even a former head of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad recently admitted that Israel “is an apartheid state”.
8). Wake up for Tahajjud as a family for Palestine. Fast this Thursday with the intention to make dua for Palestine. The message this will send to your kids is that power is sought with Allah, it will remove their anger and helplessness - the youth are really struggling with their emotions, help them.
9). Stop forwarding WhatsApp messages and TikTok videos that are not fact-checked. You are undermining the reality of what our brothers and sisters are suffering in Palestine.
10). Ask yourself the question of why you are putting pressure on your children to speak out, try to remember being young and how difficult it was to say the RIGHT THING AT THE RIGHT TIME, this is a skill learned with age, is your child equipped with this skill?
Forwarded as received
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