The “you don’t have to be Muslim to stand with Palestine” phrase has always made me uncomfortable because for one, even though I am a Palestinian Muslim and I am happy to see so many people in the ummah supporting Palestine, it ultimately reads as supporting one *kind* of Palestinian.
Islamophobia is a huge factor in demonizing Palestinians, yes, and a lot of Palestinians are indeed Muslim and have used Islam as a form of resistance against the occupation, but (and I have said this before) it’s islamophobia rooted in hatred of Palestinians as indigenous people. All Palestinians, Muslim or not, even Arab or not, are considered to be a threat and are treated as such. It’s not *just* islamophobia, addressing it as just islamophobia is neglecting the other factors of Palestinian oppression.
Palestinian Christians in Gaza are under extreme threat as they compose a small population and many were killed in the recent Israeli bombing of Saint Porphyrius church, additionally, Israeli settlers have been trying steal land belonging to the Armenian Palestinian community in the Armenian quarter of the old city of Jerusalem.
Something I will make note of is that I want to see more Muslims not only learning to include Palestinians of other faiths or backgrounds in their language, but also using the same breath they speak about Palestine to also speak about Sudan, Tigray, Syria, Armenia, Western Sahara, West Papua, Congo, etc. many of our struggles are connected and we cannot be free until we are all free.
