It feels useless, almost silly, to be sending out a light-hearted newsletter in times like these, so today I won’t. I do, however, need to get something off my chest.
After years of supporting my Palestinian friends in their sorrow and grief, we have now reached the peak of the disaster. Full families are being annihilated, hospitals and places of worship are bombed…nothing is sacred anymore.
The last escalation wasn’t even that long ago. Maybe two years? But it wasn't enough to galvanize the world and open our eyes in front of a tragedy that’s been a long time coming.
I am sure this piece of writing will vex many people. I will be told I am being all types of cruel, and venomous. But if the writer has one duty in life, it is to use their talent for words to decry atrocities in times like these.
The most disheartening part is the fact that denouncing murderous behavior is labeled as anti-semitic. The Western media, institutions, and rich yuppies are going as far as doxing my colleagues, threatening their livelihoods, and claiming they support terrorist groups, simply for pointing out that what’s happening is not equal on both sides.
I understand the hurt and trauma Jewish people carry. I am sure it’s hard to let go of the thousands of years of persecution and destruction, but why is the same terror justified then?
For as far as I can remember, I have been bombarded with images of mutilated kids covered in dust and blood, sitting on top of rubble. These kids, just like the kids of Gaza today, have never had the chance to live a normal life. A life where they could freely run around and play football if they wanted because at any time they could be stopped by the police and brutalized—their free time bounded by tall metal mesh, their juvenile naivety stripped by the sound of bombs and machine guns.
It feels almost unfair to be sitting with my legs up in the comfort of my safe home as I write this. I am saddened by the lack of empathy for Arab children, women, and men constantly defined as barbaric animals thirsty for the blood of Christians and Jews.
My time in the Middle East, as difficult as it was for my mental health, opened me to a whole new perspective on Islam and its disciples. During the holy time of Ramadan, I discovered an unmatched level of compassion and benevolence. The Advent cannot even remotely compare.
I am grateful for the experience and I will forever hold the friends I made during that period in my heart. Many of them, the majority of them, are Palestinian people who have had to strip their identity away. They had to forego the idea of ever visiting the land of their forebearers. They had to adopt new passports—Lebanese, Jordanian, Bahraini, Kuwaiti, Egyptian—to live a dignified life. Could you imagine that?
I don’t think any person in their right mind would condemn support for the Palestinian people as support for a terrorist group or the hate of Jewish people. I think that’s an emotional trauma response, and it would be fine if the consequences of trying to silence this side of history weren’t dire.
I will leave today with a beautiful poem by Fadwa Tuqan, a radiant Palestinian mind and poet.
Enough for Me
Enough for Me
Enough for me to die on her earth
be buried in her
to melt and vanish into her soil
then sprout forth as a flower
played with by a child from my country.
Enough for me to remain
in my country’s embrace
to be in her close as a handful of dust
a sprig of grass
a flower.
My heart goes out to all the innocent victims of this brutal occupation that’s displaced approximately 6 million people since its inception and has brainwashed a population into giving up their lives to serve a state that has no problem jeopardizing
their well-being.
This---“has brainwashed a population into giving up their lives to serve a state that has no problem jeopardizing
their well-being.” 100%. as a jew, I hate that judaism has been conflated with zionsim, its caused way too much harm. The unlearning and relearning has taken me many years. Thank you for every word you shared!