Imagine this scenario…

What if Palestinians weren’t an oppressed, impoverished people? What if they had a powerful military funded by a world superpower? What if they decided to invade Tel Aviv; demolish homes, hospitals, and schools; kill thousands of women and children; and drive people out of their homes? What if Palestinian soldiers filmed themselves doing these things proudly and posted the videos on TikTok?

Imagine in this case that those Israelis remaining in Tel Aviv -- a city renamed by the Palestinians to Ahuzat Bayit -- would now have to live under Palestinian military occupation. They could no longer travel freely throughout the city. Rather, they’d have to pass through checkpoints and be subject to beatings and humiliation. Need to get to a dialysis appointment at the hospital? Well, you’ll have to wait even longer at the checkpoint. Why? Just because. Might makes right, after all.

Israelis would be randomly prevented from entering their places of worship. They’d have to drive on separate roads and have separate license plates on their vehicles to make them easily identifiable. The Palestinian authorities could turn off Israelis’ water and electricity at any time.

There would be cameras everywhere, keeping an eye on the occupied Israelis. Any infraction could lead to their home being demolished by a bulldozer, even if four out of five people living there had nothing to do with the alleged infraction. A side effect of being drunk with power, the Palestinian Defense Forces (PDF) would also reserve the right to randomly beat and arrest young Israeli men and boys, just for the heck of it. They would be held indefinitely and without charge under what we’ll call “administrative detention”. Besides, they are terrorists! How dare they resist the Palestinian occupation?!

All this while Palestinians from surrounding cities move to Ahuzat Bayit into nicely built enclaves, subsidized by the Palestinian government. Not only that, these new residents would receive Palestinian military protection from the pesky Israelis complaining about their land being stolen and homes being razed. International authorities might make a fuss about all of this, but to Hell with international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Palestinians have a right to defend themselves, and if you say otherwise you’re anti-Arab and Islamophobic.

It’s okay. Take a deep breath. This is all hypothetical. But…what if the tables were turned? Would it matter whether the victims were light-skinned Europeans or brown-skinned Arabs? Would the world be okay with it?

Originally posted on https://maximumintifada.wordpress.com/