The Playbook of Oppression: How Israel Evades Accountability

From drone strikes that kill children on their way to school to a system that dehumanizes an entire people, justice will never come unless we dismantle the machinery enabling these atrocities.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported yesterday on the tragic killing of two Palestinian cousins, boys aged 8 and 10, by an Israeli drone as they prepared for school in the yard of their family’s home in the West Bank.

The Israeli army claimed they were targeting militants suspected of laying explosives. According to Haaretz, what followed was a harrowing chain of events: soldiers stormed the family’s home, ransacked it, beat a paramedic attempting to save the children, and forced one of the grieving mothers back into the house at gunpoint as she tried to hold her dying son. Finally, the soldiers seized the boys' bodies, only returning them to the families many hours later.

Reda Ali Ahmad Bsharat, 8, Hamza Ammar Ahmad Bsharat, 10 were killed along with Suleiman Mustafa Suleiman Qutaishat, 17 who was also killed in a separate drone strike in Tammoun in the northern occupied West Bank.

These devastating incidents are not isolated cases. For decades, Palestinian families have endured violence and loss, their stories often buried beneath the weight of silence in Western media. When Palestinian anger and resistance emerge in response to these injustices, they are routinely framed as irrational hatred or terrorism—stripped of context and humanity.

The mechanisms of Israeli propaganda that make such erasure possible are endless, and worse, continue to be parroted by much of the mainstream media. Only by confronting these distortions can we hope to dismantle them and work toward a more truthful understanding of the Palestinian struggle.

The horrific images from Gaza, and relentless violence faced by Palestinians being ethnically cleansed from their homeland have left many of us grappling with a profound sense of helplessness. As the world witnesses Israel continue to enjoy full impunity in its ongoing US-backed genocide, we must confront both the atrocities themselves, and more importantly the mechanisms that enable them.

Without understanding these tactics and embracing disruptive direct action, accountability will not come, and we will find ourselves complicit in this harrowing injustice born from a system that dehumanizes the many for the benefit of the few, putting profit above people.

How Israel Evades Accountability

The playbook is clear. Ruth Wisse, a staunch Zionist and Professor Emerita at Harvard University who is critical of the women’s liberation movement having described it as a form of neo-Marxism, doesn’t even try to sugarcoat it.

Listen to how she hides behind rhetorical gymnastics in the video above to disguise the very thing she’s plainly admitting: That Zionism, apartheid and colonialism are indefensible, and therefore the only viable strategy is to weaponize victimhood.

It’s a masterclass in deflection, designed to silence anyone daring to call oppression by its name.

Wisse has said many incredibly racist things about Palestinians. During a 2019 event at Bard College, she was quoted as saying, "Palestinian Arabs are people who breed and bleed and advertise their misery."

The Playbook

1. Weaponizing Victimhood: By invoking the Holocaust and historical persecution, Israel is perpetually framed as a victim, even while occupying and annexing more Palestinian land, mass murdering Palestinian children, and controlling their lives through apartheid policies of segregation.

2. Equating Criticism with Antisemitism: Legitimate critiques of Israeli apartheid and occupation are silenced by conflating them with hatred toward Jews. This has been institutionalized through mechanisms like the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which has been used to target scholars, activists, journalists and worst of all the Jewish dissenters who speak out against the horrors of Zionism, which hijacks the Jewish religion, and endangers Jews across the world.

3. Deflection and Whataboutism: Conversations about Palestinian suffering are always redirected to condemnations of Hamas or to human rights abuses in other nations, as if one injustice nullifies another. As if crimes against humanity elsewhere justify Israel’s obscene occupation and perverse policies of supremacy and collective punishment.

This strategy isn’t just rhetorical—it’s a weaponized narrative funded by billions of dollars designed to silence dissent, delegitimize resistance, and shield those responsible for war crimes. Recognizing these tactics is the first step toward dismantling them.

Examples of Accountability and Resistance

Despite these obstacles, historical examples as well as today’s actions remind us that collective action designed to disrupt can shift power dynamics:

In the UK, Palestine Action activists successfully shut down Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer repeatedly. Through sustained protests, occupations, and pressure campaigns, these individuals demonstrated that grassroots movements can directly challenge the military-industrial complex profiting from Palestinian bloodshed.

In Brazil, justice took another small, but bold step forward. In just five months, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has united global lawyers and activists to hold Israeli soldiers accountable for alleged war crimes, using social media evidence soldiers shared themselves.

Israeli reservist Yuval Vagdani was among the first accused, after posting a video of himself blowing up homes in Gaza. HRF’s efforts forced him to cut short his trip to Brazil, though Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped him evade prosecution by smuggling him through Argentina and the U.S.

HRF has compiled damning footage of soldiers forcing Palestinian men to parade in their underwear, abusing captives, looting, and vandalizing homes. The foundation is proving that even acts shared to intimidate can become tools for justice, challenging impunity with collective accountability.

By leveraging international law and mobilizing local support, they proved that even in the face of global complicity, accountability is possible.

These small victories are a testament to what can be achieved when ordinary people like you and me come together and refuse to accept the status quo, reminding us the power of the oppressed lies in solidarity and resilience, sacrifice and action.

History is made by those who dare to act. Here are some ways you can contribute:

Educate Yourself and Others

Read works like The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé or follow and read the writing of people like Mohammed El-Kurd. Knowledge is a powerful antidote to propaganda.

Support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)

Boycott companies complicit in the occupation. Advocate for divestment in your community. The economic pressure of BDS has already sent shockwaves through Israeli and global industries.

Join Activist Networks

Groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) or Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) provide resources and a community to bring us closer to intersectional justice and certainly help you amplify your voice.

Pressure Leaders for Policy Change

The billions in U.S. military aid to Israel enable apartheid and occupation. Americans should remember that it is not enough to tweet and post online. Contact your representatives, support bills like HR 2590, and demand accountability for how your taxpayer dollars are spent.

Organize Protests and Events

Public demonstrations are a powerful way to show solidarity. Creative actions, like those by the brave activists who shut down Elbit Systems, can disrupt systems of oppression and inspire others.

Build Solidarity Across Movements

Connect the Palestinian struggle to broader fights for racial justice, Indigenous rights, and climate action. Together, these movements can form an unbreakable coalition against oppression.

A Final Call for Justice

Despair is a tool of the oppressor. It’s meant to paralyze us, to convince us that resistance is futile. That the system will win in the end no matter what we do. This is not true. Despair may be demoralizing — it is also a call to action.

The fight for Palestine is not just a Palestinian fight—it’s a fight for all of us who believe in justice, equality, and human dignity. We must refuse to be complicit in silence. We must challenge the narratives that uphold apartheid. And we must act, again and again, until justice is not a dream but a reality.

Justice isn’t inevitable—and it isn’t gifted or given. History teaches us that it must be demanded. Justice is built by those who refuse to give up; it is built by people like you, and me.