what's happening now?
tensions are often high between israel and palestinians living in east jerusalem, gaza, and the west bank.
gaza is ruled by a palestinian militant group called hamas, which has fought israel many times. israel and egypt tightly control gaza's borders to stop weapons getting to hamas.
palestinians in gaza and the west bank say they're suffering because of israeli actions and restrictions. israel says it is only acting to protect itself from palestinain violence.
things have escalated since the start of the holy month of ramadan in mid-april 2021, with nightly clashes between police and palestinians,
the threatened eviction of some palestinian families in east jerusalem has also caused rising anger.
what are the main problems?
there a number of issues which israel and the palestinians cannot agree on.
these include what should happen to palestinian refugees, whether jewish settlements in the occupied west bank should stay or be removed, whether the two sides should share jerusalem, and - perhaps the most tricky of all - whether a palestinian state should be created alongside israel.
what YOU can do to help in any way possible!
i know many of us, including me, feel extremely useless and not helpful in this situation. luckily, we can donate to charities AND sign petitions to help out at least a little. it's the least we can do to help.
i will be putting some links to charities and petitions in the next chapter, i know that not many of us can or are even allowed to donate money so do the next best thing which is sign petitions and spread awareness!
