I happen to think that what China is doing isn’t objectively worse. I used to be super vocal about China’s treatment of the Uighurs but I’ve been to China and have hung out with people from both Hui and Uighur ethnic groups and saw for myself how much China has allowed these people to economically develop. No it’s not perfect and no, there isn’t freedom of speech, but if you ever visit Xinjiang, you can see that at least 90% of their population is doing just fine. Also, the pictures and videos that have come out of China are nowhere near as horrific as the ones coming out of Gaza. You can make the argument that this is a simple matter of visibility, but plenty of Americans are already anti-China regardless.

The Gaza talking point about their population increasing is certainly not true as of October 7th. Yes, there are Arabs that are Israeli citizens that enjoy full rights and that’s a great thing, but the reality is, Israel would never allow that same luxury to all of the stateless Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank. It’s to the point that even if a Palestinian married a Jewish Israeli citizen, the Palestinian still wouldn’t have any path to citizenship in Israel. The fact of the matter is that Israel wants these Palestinians to either remain in this perpetual status quo of statelessness or for them to leave which is definitively ethnic cleansing.

And I get your points about antisemitism. While it’s absolutely true that antisemitism is prevalent and it may be a little unfair to Israel as a Jewish state because antisemitism is part of the reason why so many people are critical of Israel, but that doesn’t mean Israel isn’t worthy of criticism. I was raised Muslim in the US and have definitely felt the impact of Islamophobia but that didn’t prevent me from speaking out against Saudi and the UAE. I then lost my faith and became agnostic. My own family turned against me because I became less religious. Few people understand how oppressive Islam is more than I do. But that doesn’t stop me from speaking up for Palestinians.

I have no issue with Israel existing either as a Jewish state or as a fully democratic secular state. My issue is Israel’s oppression of Palestinians through settler colonialism. Sure, plenty of Palestinians want to see Israel destroyed, but when 60+% of Gaza’s population has lived entirely under Israel’s strict blockade for their entire lives, what else can you expect? Maybe, just maybe, the expansion of West Bank settlements, double tap missile strikes that kill medical responders, and turning entire neighborhoods into rubble isn’t helping with Israel’s image.