Gaza Herald – In Gaza, you don’t need to carry a gun to be considered a “threat.” It’s enough to carry a stone. Or a balloon. Or a paper kite. Or even a burning tire.
From the Nakba in 1948 until today, Israel has turned every tool of Palestinian steadfastness into a “security threat.” And it has fought us with everything. Gun for gun, stone for stone, toy for toy.
This is not a war between armies. This is a war by a nuclear state against an unarmed people who decided they will not die in silence.
The Weapon of Stones: The First Intifada 1987
It started with a child throwing a stone at a tank.
The First Intifada was called the “Intifada of Stones” because that was all we had.
Israel’s response?
Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin ordered the “breaking of bones.” Soldiers were filmed smashing children’s arms and legs with clubs.
Legally, Israel defined stone-throwing as “terrorism” with a 20-year prison sentence.
The message was clear: even anger is forbidden.
The Weapon of Burning Tires: The Smoke of Resistance*
During the Great March of Return in 2018 on Gaza’s border, we didn’t have missiles. We had old car tires.
We set them on fire to create smoke screens to block Israeli snipers from shooting peaceful protesters.
Israel’s response?
Live bullets. More than 200 protesters were killed. And “burning tires” was declared a “hostile act.”
Even the smoke that protected us became a crime.
The Weapon of Paper Kites and Incendiary Balloons
Also in 2018, young men in Gaza flew paper kites with a small flame attached. Their goal was to burn military fields around the Strip.
No rockets. No explosives. Just paper, string, and a candle.
Israel’s response?
Bombing the kite flyers. Arresting children. And announcing that “aerial terrorism” was a strategic threat.
And importing drones worth billions of dollars to “counter paper kites.”
The Weapon of Words and Color: Even the Flag Is Banned
In the West Bank, Israel arrested girls for raising the Palestinian flag.
Arrested poets for writing poems.
Arrested journalists for documenting a crime.
Even a “T-shirt” with a map of Palestine was confiscated at the airport as “incitement.”
The Weapon of Boycott and Farming: Uprooting Trees
The Palestinians planted olive trees. So Israel uprooted 3 million olive trees since 1967.
The Palestinians boycotted settlement products. So Israel defined the BDS movement as “economic terrorism” and criminalized it.
Even farming your own land became a “demographic threat.”
The Weapon of the Body: Hunger Strikes
Hundreds of prisoners went on hunger strike against administrative detention. Their only weapon was their bodies.
Israel’s response? Force-feeding, solitary confinement, and banning family visits.
Even hunger was criminalized.
The Weapon of the Phone and Camera: Documenting the Crime
Today, filming a soldier killing a child is considered “incitement.”
Israel pressures Facebook and TikTok to delete any video from Gaza.
And arrests Palestinians on charges of “publishing terrorist content” just for posting a photo of a martyr.
They Are Fighting Existence Itself
From the stone in 1987, to the paper kite in 2018, to an Instagram post in 2026.
Israel isn’t fighting weapons. Israel is fighting the idea that Palestinians have any right to resist in any form.
Because they know:
As long as the stone remains, the will remains.
As long as a paper kite flies, the dream remains.
As long as a tire burns, the anger remains.
That’s why they fight the stone. They fight the paper. They fight the fire.
Because they fear a people who turned helplessness into creativity and weakness into steadfastness.
