In defense of the stone pelters in Palestine & Kashmir (& among Central American refugees on the US southern border):
To honor the lionhearted stone pelters of Palestine & Kashmir is not to glorify violence but to respect self-defense against violence. The oppressed have a right to defend themselves by any means necessary. The stone is the weapon of Intifada & those who condemn it, condemn Intifada against occupation. Stones are not the weapons of terrorists. Terrorists use assault rifles, drones, missiles, & explosives sold to them by Russian, US, European, Chinese, & Israeli weapons companies in a $400 billion a year industry. Terrorists use the same weapons from the same companies as the armies waging wars.
Stones are the weapons of the oppressed, of the unarmed, of the defenseless against those armed with assault rifles, pellet guns, tear gas, canisters, missiles, explosives, & bombers. What should the stone pelters to instead? Let themselves & fellow protesters be shot at, blinded, disabled, killed without defending themselves? Stop opposing occupation? Accept colonialism?
To show the relationship of forces between the stone pelters & the armies of occupation: the photo on top by Abed Omar is a Palestinian stone pelter going up against an armored wheel loader engaged in house demolitions in the West Bank. The photo is from a protest in 2014 near the Zionist settlement of Qadomem. The photo on the bottom by Showkat Nanda is a Kashmiri boy facing off with stones against an Indian army tank in 2009. Nanda described how Indian paramilitary forces were shooting at unarmed protesters in the town of Baramulla. Young boys carried the body of an injured boy shot in the chest away from the scene as he died. As gunfire continued, this small boy came running “as if from nowhere” toward the paramilitaries to stand defiant & fearless against an Indian armored vehicle.
Stand in solidarity with Palestinians & Kashmiris. Demand an end to the occupations.