Why Forbidden Narratives Takes on Palestine
The separation wall, covered with peace-themed graffiti — Bethlehem, Occupied West Bank.
“The truth too often ends up discarded, like scraps on the cutting room floor of an old newsroom.”
Welcome to Forbidden Narratives: Focus Palestine! This introductory blog outlines the mission and scope of the series.While future entries will dive into the heart of our topics, this post sets the stage for what you can expect and why we're here.
In the crowded marketplace of narratives, the truth too often ends up discarded, like scraps on the cutting room floor of an old newsroom. Forbidden Narratives is our effort to salvage and restore it, breathing life into stories that challenge the biases embedded in mainstream discourse.
We begin with Palestine—not because it’s an easy subject, but because it’s essential. This issue lays bare the financial, geopolitical, and ideological forces that shape global perceptions and policies. It reveals the inconsistencies in our commitment to freedom, justice, and morality. forcing us to confront the values we claim to uphold.
Whether your instincts lean toward protecting national interests or championing universal rights, the search for truth and the belief in the sanctity of life remain shared values that unite us. Through this lens, we invite you to move beyond the headlines, discover the other side of the story, and consider the far-reaching impact of this critical moment—not just for Palestine, but for all of us.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
“Before the blood had dried and Israelis had laid their loved ones to rest, the PR machine roared to life.”
On October 7, 2023, the world watched in shock as Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups breached the heavily fortified fences surrounding Gaza and launched a deadly assault against military bases and civilian kibbutzim in southern Israel. The attack resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths, both civilian and military, some caught in Israel’s own crossfire. Hundreds more were injured, and 251 people were taken hostage. Dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, this event may constitute the most significant intelligence failure in Israeli history.
Before the blood had dried and Israelis had laid their loved ones to rest, the PR machine roared to life, fueled by the chaos, pain, and anger of survivors. Horrendous claims spread rapidly: reports of 40 beheaded babies, others burned alive, a pregnant woman’s fetus ripped out, and widespread, systematic rape dominated headlines. Western media, drawn to sensationalism, circulated these claims without adequate scrutiny.
Investigations by Israeli authorities, international organizations, and independent groups later debunked these allegations or found insufficient evidence to support them. But the damage was already done. The images had left an indelible mark, with retractions coming too late to counter their influence. Even a year later, these discredited claims are still invoked by politicians and pundits to justify Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.
October 7, 2023 — The Beginning of History
“76 years of forced displacement, 57 years of military rule, and 17 years of blockade.”
Cornered by corruption charges and facing mass protests against his proposed judicial reforms, Netanyahu seized the moment. He framed the war in Gaza as a clash between barbarism and civilization, invoking rhetoric steeped in colonial imagery and biblical prophecy. “We are the people of light; they are the people of darkness,” he declared, casting the conflict as an existential battle for Israel. Once again, Israel—the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East—was portrayed as David facing down a powerful Goliath. Major Western leaders quickly embraced this narrative, extending Israel unwavering financial, military, and diplomatic support.
Few paused to consider the broader context: 76 years of forced displacement, 57 years of military rule, 17 years of inhumane blockade, and the countless civilian casualties Palestinians endured over the decades. Since its so-called withdrawal in 2005, Israel controlled everything that crossed Gaza’s borders, flew through its skies, or entered its waters, including essential items such as food, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid. Water and electricity were rationed to just a few hours each day. Gaza’s airport was destroyed, cutting off any opportunity for Gazans to leave this confined strip of land. Even fishermen were restricted to a mere few-mile stretch in the Mediterranean.
In the U.S., no one mentioned Gaza’s natural gas reserves, the oil fields in the West Bank, or the fact that Israel denies Palestinians access to their own energy resources while seeking to exploit them.
No one bothered to mention that the Gaza Strip, home to 2.2 million people, is one of the most densely populated areas in the world—roughly the size of Philadelphia. Most of the population are refugees or their descendants, forcibly displaced by Israel from their homes in 1948 and 1967. Approximately half of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents are children aged 18 or younger. These youth have spent their entire lives confined by concrete walls, guarded watchtowers, and miles of electrified fencing. Every few years, Israeli airstrikes rained down on this crowded enclave in operations to pacify it, cynically termed “mowing the lawn.” Thousands of civilians were killed during these assaults. Long before October 7, 2023, Gaza was often described as the world’s largest open-air prison, its residents guilty only of being the original sons and daughters of Palestine.
No one spoke about the so-called breakthrough Abraham Accords, brokered by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, real estate mogul Jared Kushner. These agreements didn’t just circumvent Palestinian aspirations for a state on just 22% of their original land; they also laid bare the realities of 30 years of a so-called peace process. Led by the United States, these negotiations provided Israel with cover to expand settlements and tighten its occupation. It was a farce, like two people deciding how to split a pizza while one eats slice after slice until nothing is left.
No one addressed that, just two weeks before October 7, Prime Minister Netanyahu presented a map at the United Nations of a "New Middle East" that conspicuously omitted Gaza and the West Bank, effectively erasing the existence of 5.5 million Palestinians. Nor did anyone acknowledge the fact that between January 1 and October 6, 2023, at least 208 Palestinians, including 42 children, had already been killed in the occupied territories. Escalating tensions further, far-right Israeli ministers, accompanied by settler groups, led provocative actions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque—Islam’s third holiest site.
Operation Swords of Iron
“Deliberate violence against civilians is wrong. Period.”
One thing must be crystal clear: deliberate violence against civilians is wrong. Period. It doesn’t matter who commits the act—militant group or state. Targeting, terrorizing, and killing civilians is an indefensible violation of human rights and international law, one that goes against every moral code. The attacks carried out by Hamas and other militant groups on civilians on October 7, 2023, were horrific, causing immense suffering and loss of innocent life. Yet, by refusing to contextualize the events that led up to that tragic day, mainstream media and politicians presented history as if it began on October 7, 2023. This omission perpetuated decades of dehumanization and created consent for the launch of Operation Swords of Iron—an apocalyptic assault on millions of civilians with no means of escape.
Motivated by revenge and long-standing ambitions to finalize the ethnic cleansing of the occupied territories, Israel launched an unprecedented assault on a largely defenseless population. Its Air Force carried out airstrikes using American-made F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, dropping nearly six hundred 2,000-pound U.S. bombs in the first month alone—ordnance so destructive that its use was largely restricted in populated areas during the Iraq War. Dumb bombs, cluster munitions, and white phosphorus, banned under international law in civilian areas, also rained down on residential neighborhoods.
Apache helicopters circled low, providing close air support with precision-guided munitions. Quadcopter drones, equipped with surveillance and strike capabilities, patrolled the skies, reportedly mimicking the cries of children and women to lure adults into the open—only to target them. On the ground, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) advanced with tanks. From the sea, the Israeli Navy launched strikes along Gaza’s western coastline.
For years, the occupied territories have served as a testing ground for the IDF's new weaponry and surveillance technologies, enabling Israel to market its arms and spyware as “battle-tested.” A breakthrough investigation by +972 and Local Call, Hebrew/English independent media platforms, revealed that Lavender, an AI system, reportedly identified tens of thousands of targets for assassination, with personnel approving strikes in just 20 seconds despite acknowledged computational errors. Another AI tool, chillingly named Where’s Daddy?, tracked targets at home, often striking at night when families were present, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, primarily women and children. In the conflict’s first weeks, the Israeli military reportedly accepted over 100 collateral casualties per senior official targeted. One officer candidly admitted, “Proportionality did not exist.”
In just the first six months, over 70,000 tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza—an onslaught exceeding the combined bombing of Dresden, Hamburg, and London during World War II. For reference, a Hiroshima-sized atomic bomb has a TNT yield of approximately 15,000 tons. While these figures provide a sense of scale, conventional explosives and nuclear weapons differ significantly in their destructive effects. Nevertheless, Gaza’s extraordinary population density and limited escape routes have amplified the humanitarian toll far beyond the tonnage alone.
Gaza in Ashes
“This is a moral atrocity that will haunt humanity forever.”
After 13 months of relentless assault, Gaza has been flattened. Essential civilian infrastructure—including water treatment facilities, power stations, sewage systems, and hospitals—lies in ruins. This destruction is no accident; the lack of clean water and deaths from untreated injuries and preventable diseases have become deliberate weapons of war.
Gazans take tremendous pride in their history and education. For thousands of years, Gaza served as a vibrant hub of culture and trade, connecting Egypt to Mesopotamia. Merchants from across the Mediterranean, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula filled its markets, while poets, scholars, mathematicians, and philosophers contributed to a rich legacy in medicine, philosophy, and the arts. Despite a 17-year blockade, Gaza has maintained one of the highest literacy rates in the world.
Today, that rich legacy is being systematically erased. Over 200 archaeological sites and culturally significant buildings in the Gaza Strip have been reduced to rubble, such as the Al-Omari Mosque, originally built in the 7th century. Libraries, museums, and centuries-old manuscripts have also been destroyed, severing the fragile threads that connect a people to their history and heritage.
The voices of Palestinian poets, writers, artists, and scholars have been silenced, leaving countless stories untold. In 1944, Polish-Jewish lawyer Ralph Lemkin coined the term cultural genocide to describe the deliberate erasure of a community’s heritage, and by extension, its identity. Today, we are witnessing the very tragedy he warned against.
All 12 universities and 95 percent of schools have been bombed, devastating the education system—a fact celebrated by some IDF soldiers and Maccabi football Club fans. In October 2024 alone, nearly two school attacks were recorded daily in the Gaza Strip, culminating in at least 64 strikes in just one month. Thousands of students, teachers, and academics have been killed, with countless more injured. Over 650,000 students have been denied access to education, a loss that will reverberate for generations. Experts have termed this systematic destruction of Palestine’s educational institutions scholasticide—a calculated attack on the region’s future under the guise of military operations.
On a human level, the suffering defies comprehension. Bodies shredded by shells or crushed under collapsed buildings. Children struck down by sniper fire. Patients burned alive. Emaciated toddlers silenced by mass starvation while hundreds of humanitarian trucks are denied access just miles away. Mass graves filled with nameless dead. Families clawing through debris, gathering fragments of loved ones in zip-lock bags.
According to The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, the true death toll for the first six months alone is estimated to be at least 186,000 when accounting for famine, disease, and collapsed infrastructure—most of them women and children. This represents nearly 10% of Gaza’s population—the equivalent of 930,000 Israelis or 33 million Americans. Over the past 13 months, the toll may have already reached 335,000—the equivalent of 1.8 million Israelis or 66 million Americans.
Honoring tradition, Palestinians sacrifice a sheep for Eid al-Adha, sharing the meat with neighbors and family, amid the rubble of their home destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on June 16, 2024.
A Lost Generation
“The first 14 pages of Gaza’s death toll list consist of infants under one year old—children born and killed in the same war.”
Perhaps the most heartbreaking reality is the fate of the children. Dr. Mark Perlmutter, a Jewish-American surgeon with decades of experience in conflict zones, described the devastation in Gaza as unlike anything he’s ever witnessed. “All of the disasters I’ve seen, combined—40 mission trips, 30 years, Ground Zero, earthquakes—none of it equals the carnage I saw in my first week in Gaza. I’ve seen more incinerated children than I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve seen more shredded children being crushed by buildings. The majority are victims of bomb explosions. And then there’s sniper bullets. I had children shot twice. No toddler gets shot twice by mistake by the world’s best sniper—and they’re dead center shots.”
Those who survive are left utterly alone. A new acronym, WCNSF—Wounded Child, No Surviving Family—has been coined to capture the reality of tens of thousands of orphans now left in Gaza, a place also known for having the largest population of child amputees in the world. These children live in fear, depression, and PTSD, trapped in a generational cycle of trauma with no end in sight.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has published the names, ages, and genders of every identified dead. The first 14 pages of this nearly 649-page document consist of infants under one year old—14 pages of children born and killed in the same war. Can you imagine? A graveyard for children. What if these were our little boys and girls? How would the so-called civilized world respond? This isn’t just a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, or any humanitarian law—it’s a war on children, a moral atrocity that will haunt humanity forever.
The Erasure of a People in the Name of Self-Defense
“This has been a campaign to block life-saving supplies, leave the wounded to die, and bury these stories with the dead.”
All of this is done in the name of self-defense—a claim that defies reason. Under international law, the right to self-defense is intended to protect a nation’s recognized borders from foreign aggression. But in Israel’s case, where are its borders? They remain undefined and continually expanding, with settlements pushing deeper into Palestinian territory daily. Beyond the West Bank and Gaza, Israel’s ambitions extend into Lebanon and the Golan Heights.
And who is the so-called foreign aggressor? An occupied Palestinian population, stripped of rights, struggling for survival, land, and dignity? Self-defense, under international law, does not grant an occupying power the right to use force against the people it occupies. On the contrary, it requires the protection of civilians under occupation and prohibits acts of aggression that violate their rights. Yet, Israel’s ongoing occupation, territorial annexations, and use of disproportionate force against a largely defenseless population distort and exploit the term “self-defense,” turning it into a pretext for unchecked violence and territorial expansion.
The official goal of "Operation Swords of Iron" was to eliminate Hamas as a political and military power in Gaza, rescue the hostages, and ensure that such an attack could never happen again. However, overwhelming facts on the ground and statements by Israeli leaders and U.S. officials reveal intentions of a much different magnitude.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared, “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel; everything is closed.” Minister of Education Yoav Kisch said on Channel 14, “Those are animals, they have no right to exist. I am not debating the way it will happen, but they need to be exterminated.” Former Israeli general Giora Eiland wrote in Yediot Ahronot, “Severe epidemics in the south of the Gaza Strip will bring victory closer and reduce casualties among IDF soldiers.” In the United States, Representative Max Miller stated, "We’re going to turn [Gaza] into a parking lot," while Michelle Salzman, when asked how many Palestinians should die, replied, "All of them.”
In one year, more journalists, doctors, aid workers, women, and children have been killed in Gaza than in any modern conflict. These populations are protected under international humanitarian law and the rules of war. This has been a campaign to block life-saving supplies, leave the wounded to die, and bury these stories with the dead.
The Cost of Silence
“Looking away is never neutral; it is a deliberate stance, an act of complicity, and a moral failure.”
Every story left untold represents a choice. Our apathy quietly endorses the suffering endured by millions, and our silence empowers those who bury lives with our tax dollars. These stories press on the edges of our conscience, reminding us that looking away is never neutral. It is a deliberate stance, an act of complicity, and a moral failure that corrodes our humanity, costing us more than we may ever truly know.
In the early years of World War II, international silence enabled Hitler’s atrocities to spread unchecked. Isolationism held the United States back; appeasement kept Europe stagnant. Skepticism clouded reports of Nazi brutality. By the time nations responded, unimaginable suffering had been inflicted. History is punctuated by such tragic failures.
In a world filled with tragedies—from Sudan’s displacement crisis to Yemen’s humanitarian disaster—the Palestinian struggle for dignity and self-determination challenges us to confront our commitment—or failure—to uphold moral principles and address historical injustices. This struggle is not merely about land; it is a demand for truth, justice, and dignity for all—a fight for the core principles of democracy itself. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” One of the darkest chapters in modern history may unfold thousands of miles away, but that does not mean it will not stain our collective conscience.
The brutal attacks of October 7, the subsequent annihilation of Gaza, escalating regional tensions, and the looming threat of superpower involvement underscore a critical truth: the world’s longest military occupation must end for there to be any hope of peace and security for Palestinians, Israelis, the region, and the world. Achieving a just and lasting resolution demands more than a ceasefire; it requires Israel and Western governments to acknowledge the ethnic cleansing and systemic oppression of Palestinians, provide reparations, restore Palestinian rights and sovereignty, allow the rightful owners of the land to return, and ensure equal rights for all in the Holy Land. In other words, “a durable peace must be based on human rights and justice.”
Despite widespread global calls to end the war and achieve justice and peace—including for Palestinians—politicians driven by ideology, profit, and geopolitics remain determined to uphold the status quo. This failure calls on us, as a society, to interrogate the motives of those in power, critically examine the narratives shaping public perception, and collectively reject the normalization of suffering.
Reclaiming the way stories are told
“An informed society is a powerful society. A powerful society can change the world.”
Forbidden Narratives: Focus Palestine addresses the disinformation that obscures the conflict's realities, highlights the challenges faced by Palestinians, and examines the broader implications of Israeli policies. We explore the laws that have criminalized Palestinian resistance and identity, and analyze the inconsistencies and double standards in how the international community addresses these issues.
To understand the scale of these challenges, consider the actions of the United States over the past year. The U.S. has provided $23 billion in taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel during its operations in Gaza, while disaster relief for Americans has often gone underfunded. More than 600 shipments of American-made weapons have been used in the conflict, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. These shipments have enriched military contractors and raised questions about compliance with both U.S. and international laws.
At the United Nations, the U.S. has consistently blocked resolutions calling for ceasefires and vetoed Palestinian membership bids, despite widespread international support. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.S. responded by condemning the court’s actions against the Israeli leadership as “unlawful” and threatening sanctions not only against the ICC itself but also against individual judges involved in the case. Similarly, in July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories unequivocally unlawful under international law and found Israel guilty of apartheid. While the U.S. publicly justified its dismissal of the opinion as support for a two-state solution, no such solution exists—Israel’s Knesset explicitly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state in July 2024, and U.S. actions have long enabled Israel to annex Palestinian territories with impunity.
The U.S. government has falsely attributed failed negotiations to Hamas, effectively shielding Israel from accountability and contributing to decades of impunity. This unwavering support has emboldened Israel to wage open war on the United Nations in an effort to evade scrutiny and silence demands for accountability. In doing so, it threatens the very institutions and laws established by the United States after World War II to protect civilians during times of war, leaving the world more vulnerable to unchecked violence.
Beyond these issues, Forbidden Narratives explores the rich, millennia-long heritage of the Palestinian people. We uncover often-overlooked stories of harmonious relationships between Jews and Arabs, the historical roots of Christian and Jewish Zionism, and the complex interests of Arab countries. We examine rejected Palestinian peace offers and the resilience of the indigenous people’s resistance. Additionally, we analyze how a century of European settler colonialism and Western imperialism has profoundly impacted Palestinians and the broader Arab world.
We also highlight the growing influence of new media and independent journalism in challenging narratives perpetuated by corporate outlets. These emerging voices offer a counterbalance to the sanitized reporting that has shaped public discourse for decades
But above all, Forbidden Narratives is a human story. At its heart are the voices of Palestinians—often silenced or reduced to stereotypes. Through their raw and compelling stories, we invite listeners to connect on a deeper level, fostering understanding for a people known for their resilience, generosity, and profound connection to family, land, and faith.
As George Orwell wrote in 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” This podcast goes beyond challenging the status quo—it seeks to reclaim the narrative. An informed society is an empowered society, and an empowered society can change the world. We are living through one of the darkest, if not the darkest, chapters of our generation. Standing up for freedom, justice, and human rights for all is not a radical act—it is what will define us for generations to come