It did not start on October 7
Seven lies and the Palestinian history they are trying to erase
Before October 7, Palestinian families had already buried children killed by Israeli attacks. Patients had already waited for permission to leave Gaza for treatment. Families expelled from Palestine were still waiting to return. Our history is in those lives. We will not let it be erased to make another generation’s suffering acceptable.
LIE 1 It started on October 7
TRUTH Palestinians were attacked long before
On 6 July 1938, Irgun, a Zionist paramilitary organization, planted bombs in Haifa’s Palestinian market. Irgun’s bombs killed twenty-one people. British parliamentary records record the toll; Irgun veteran Yehuda Lapidot’s history acknowledges the organization’s responsibility.
This happened in British-ruled Palestine, eighty-five (85) years before October 7.
LIE 2 Palestinians left their homes voluntarily
TRUTH The Nakba and Naksa meant mass expulsion
More than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled advancing forces and massacres during the Nakba. On 9 April 1948, Irgun and Lehi carried out the Deir Yassin massacre, killing more than 100 villagers. Historian Matthew Hogan documents Haganah approval of the attack and assistance in the village’s capture.
In July, Israeli forces expelled tens of thousands from al-Lydd and al-Ramla. Khalidi’s research documents 418 depopulated villages: 292 totally destroyed and 90 largely destroyed.
In June 1967, Israel occupied Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Hundreds of thousands more Palestinians were displaced during the Naksa, including people already made refugees in 1948.
Hrant Nakashian / UNRWA Archive. Archive title: Palestine refugees leave the Gaza Strip on fishing boats in the wake of the war in 1948 2. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
UNRWA Archive; photographer unknown. Archive title: Palestine refugees flee across the Allenby Bridge during the second Arab-Israeli hostilities in 1967. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
LIE 3 Everyone - Settlers and Palestinians - has equal rights
TRUTH Apartheid was documented before October 7
In the occupied West Bank outside East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers benefit from Israeli civil law while Palestinians are subject to military law. Human Rights Watch documented unequal rights to land, movement, building and family residency.
B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch documented apartheid in 2021; Amnesty International did so in 2022. Human Rights Watch’s criminal finding focused on the occupied territory. In July 2024, the ICJ declared Israel’s continuing presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful.
LIE 4 Gaza was free before October 7
TRUTH Israel enforced siege and launched repeated bombing campaigns
Israel retained key control over Gaza after withdrawing its settlements in 2005. Its 2007 blockade trapped most residents behind restricted crossings. Leaving through Israel for treatment required Israeli permits.
A 2008 Israeli planning document calculated Gaza’s food needs at an average 2,279 calories per person a day. By 2022, 62% of Gaza’s population needed food assistance.
Seventeen-year-old Ahmed Shbair died in 2017 after repeated unsuccessful applications to leave for heart surgery. In May 2017, 255 children received no permit response by their medical appointments. Hospitals faced depleted medicines and fuel and electricity shortages that WHO warned put thousands of lives at risk.
Israel launched major offensives in 2008–2009 and 2014. Its 9 May 2023 strikes targeting Islamic Jihad commanders killed ten Palestinian civilians, including four-year-old Hajar al-Bahtini. On 19 September, Israeli forces killed Yousef Radwan at a protest east of Khan Younis, eighteen days before October 7.
LIE 5 Forty babies were beheaded at Kfar Aza
TRUTH The false viral story was debunked
Israel’s Government Press Office confirmed to Le Monde in April 2024 that the story of 40 beheaded babies had not happened at Kfar Aza or any other kibbutz. The newspaper traced the false story’s spread and subsequent corrections.
LIE 6 Israel attacked only Hamas military targets
TRUTH Israel attacked schools, hospitals, mosques and universities
UN investigators identified no military objective for Israel’s demolition of two Beit Hanoun schools in November 2023. They found no evidence supporting claims of Hamas military activity at Israa University, demolished in January 2024, and no indication of military activity at Ihya al-Sunna Mosque, struck during evening prayers in November 2023.
A separate UN commission report found no evidence of armed-group military activity at Al-Awda or the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital when they were attacked.
LIE 7 Genocide is only a slogan
TRUTH Israel’s genocide is documented by UN investigators
On 9 October 2023, then defence minister Yoav Gallant announced a complete siege of Gaza: “no electricity, no water, no food, no fuel.”
On 10 October 2023, Major General Ghassan Alian, then head of COGAT, addressed Hamas and Gaza residents: “You will not have electricity or water, just destruction.”
The UN Commission of Inquiry examined official statements and Israeli actions and concluded in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. It reaffirmed that finding in June 2026. Amnesty International and B’Tselem also concluded that Israel was committing genocide.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare.
Palestinians should not have to beg an occupying power for food, medicine or a child’s survival. We refuse permanent siege and exile. From al-Lydd and al-Ramla to Gaza, our people have the same right to freedom. We demand an end to occupation, accountability for these crimes, and return to our land.