On the Existential Threat of Palestinian Kites to Colonial Power
There is an old colonizer adage that “the old will die and the young will forget.” In fact, Israel built its future wagering that the Palestinians violently displaced and expelled in the Nakba would eventually move on, assimilate, forget the.
The article describes how Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have declared Palestinian kites flown by children as an existential threat, equating them to drones and threatening to kill those launching them. This reaction stems from the symbolic power of kites, which represent Palestinian resilience and hope despite decades of occupation, displacement, and violence. The fear of kites reflects a broader colonial anxiety: the persistence of Palestinian memory and identity, even among children, challenges Israel’s narrative of erasure and assimilation. The article highlights how colonial powers often underestimate the long-term consequences of displacement and violence, assuming that future generations will forget their stolen land. However, Palestinian children like Khaled Al Khateeb, who built a kite from scraps, embody the refusal to forget and the determination to reclaim their future.
The article documents systematic violence against Palestinian children, including killings, injuries, and psychological trauma, as a strategy of control by Israel. During Israel’s assault on Gaza, women and children accounted for nearly 70% of those murdered, a proportion higher than in most genocides of the last century. Specific cases include the killing of seven-month-old Sam Fahd Abu Haikal in the West Bank, the murder of 14-year-old Amer Rabee while picking almonds, and the deaths of two teenagers during a settler raid in the village of al-Mughayyir. The article argues that Israel wages war on Palestinian childhood because it cannot tolerate the idea of Palestinian adulthood or the hope it represents. A Palestinian child at play is seen as trespassing on the future Israel claims for itself, making joy itself a form of rebellion.
The article explains how Palestinians have historically adapted to occupation by creating alternative systems of education, healthcare, and community support. During the First Intifada (1987–1993), when Israel closed schools and universities, lessons were held in homes, mosques, and churches. Popular committees organized food distribution, clinics, and even backyard gardens until Israel outlawed them in 1988. In 2018, during the Great March of Return, Gazans peacefully protested, celebrated marriages, and baked bread, only to face violent repression. These examples illustrate a pattern of Israel suppressing Palestinian joy and normalcy, whether through bombs, checkpoints, or raids, as a means of maintaining control. The article frames these actions as part of a broader strategy to make Palestinian life unbearable and force displacement.
The article highlights Israel’s repeated attacks on Palestinian cultural and social life, including organized sports, weddings, and religious practices. Examples include the killing of a Gaza World Cup organizer in 2026, the bombing of children playing soccer in 2014, and the storming of a wedding hall in Al Eizariya. In 2013, Israeli soldiers stopped a bride traveling from Nazareth to the West Bank at an illegal checkpoint. In Gaza, a couple’s wedding in 2025 was shattered when Israel bombed the school shelter where they planned to live, killing the groom’s eight-year-old nephew. These incidents demonstrate Israel’s effort to control every aspect of Palestinian life, even the most personal and joyful moments, as a way to assert dominance and deny Palestinian agency.
The article describes Israel’s systematic control over Palestinian resources as a tool of oppression, including water, land, and infrastructure. Israel has destroyed desalination plants supplying 10 million liters of water daily, left only 3% of Gaza’s cropland accessible, and diverted a West Bank spring used by Palestinian farmers into a swimming pool for Israeli settlers. These actions are part of what the article calls Israeli apartheid, a system designed to make Palestinian life unbearable until they leave or die. The article rejects the term voluntary emigration, arguing that exile is not a choice when homes are bombed, fields are poisoned, and water is cut off. It frames these policies as attempts to erase Palestinian presence and claim their land as free of Palestinians.
The article distinguishes between resilience, which often romanticizes survival without addressing its causes, and sumud (steadfastness), a term used to describe Palestinian refusal to submit to occupation despite extreme hardship. Palestinians are not naturally gifted at enduring destruction; their steadfastness is an active choice to resist erasure. The article cites examples of Palestinians rebuilding their lives after destruction, such as crushing rubble into roads and community kitchens in Gaza, or salvaging books from a bombed mosque library. Sumud is described as a refusal to let the colonizer define history in Palestinian blood, and a commitment to imagining and fighting for liberation. The article emphasizes that admiration for Palestinian steadfastness should not replace calls for justice, including ending the siege and dismantling occupation.
The article argues that hope is an act of rebellion for Palestinians living under occupation. It describes how Palestinian children, like those who organized a press conference during the genocide in Gaza, refuse to kneel despite overwhelming violence. Mothers find ways to feed their families after Israeli forces killed Palestinians waiting for flour, and fathers rebuild tents after Israel bombed a so-called safe zone. The article highlights how Palestinians reclaim agency by rebuilding infrastructure, universities, and even seed banks for indigenous crops. Hope is framed as a refusal to accept the colonizer’s violence as permanent, and a belief that Palestinian life and freedom will endure. The sky, a recurring symbol in the article, represents the limitless potential of Palestinian aspirations beyond the cages of occupation.
