almost 8 months of constant bombardment and 76 years since the nakba. when do you decide to grow a spine?
on complicity in genocide and power in numbers
a few weeks into the current war on gaza, i wrote about how the history of palestine isn’t at all complicated, because that’s israel’s main talking point every time they attack palestinians. they go for “this goes back thousands of years” or “you’ve never lived here, what do you know?” and all the rest.
then in december, three months into the siege and a week after refaat alareer was asssassinated, i lamented about how i simply can’t find the words to properly express the grief i feel watching a genocide unfold, and feeling powerless and hopeless.
and in march, almost five months in and a week after aaron bushnell self-immolated outside the israeli embassy in washington, DC, i wrote about how americans can’t seem to grasp martyrdom and the racist view americans have toward the concept.
now, almost eight months in, a supposed safe area in rafah, full of civilians living in tents, was attacked by israeli airstrikes, first justified by the IDF as an attack on a hamas compound, and this morning described by benjamin netanyahu as a “tragic mistake.” videos and photos circulated of dead civilians, many children, including a child beheaded by the attack. according to al jazeera, people were being burned alive in their tents, tents and bodies both melting. day after day, week after week, month after month, and massacre after massacre, the brutality faced by gazans is like nothing i’ve ever seen in my life, and it’s hard to feel anything but extreme anger at all the people allowing this to happen, from the government officials we know could stop this within hours to the people cheering on israel from the sidelines, spreading propaganda justifying the wholesale slaughter of palestinians and advocating for more mass death. and here i am, writing another substack newsletter about it, and at this rate, likely not the last.
it’s hard not to feel hopeless. we’re constantly shown photo and video evidence of crimes against humanity that evoke the same awful, lurching feeling in my stomach and heart that stories from other genocides like the holocaust and srebrenica evoke. on may 20, ICC prosecutor karim khan said he would be seeking an arrest warrant for netanyahu and yoav gallant for war crimes, which was denounced by israeli officials. israeli war cabinet minister benny gantz said it was a “crime of historic proportion” and just a month earlier, netanyahu said “no decision, neither in The Hague nor anywhere else, will harm our determination to achieve all the goals of the war.”
so eight months in, i’m here to beg you that if you’ve been silent about any of the horrific violence israel has inflicted on palestinians in the last eight months, to please, for the love of god, speak up. at this point, it really doesn’t matter if your employment is on the line (and i should note that i’ve had no problems being vocal about palestine, even as a journalist with a public profile!) the global majority stands with palestinians, and those of us in the west living in countries that enable this genocide have a duty to at the very fucking least be loud about our opposition to it. you don’t have to be an expert on any of this to know that what’s going on is a genocide. you just have to have eyes, you just need the awareness.
go to protests, support local pro-palestine encampments, repost things on social media, none of it is useless like the zionists will tell you. showing the world that more and more people won’t stand for the genocide of palestinians, showing we have power in numbers, showing elected officials that they will lose office if they don’t change course, and even convincing misguided people on the fence of the right position to take will make a difference. seriously, these things can work when you have more people alongside you working for it.
there’s not much for me to say that hasn’t already been said about this. it’s just objectively true that a genocide is occuring in gaza and that israel has no plans of stopping as long as they’re continually aided by other major world powers. it’s easy to feel completely hopeless, i do all the time, but it’s always worth it to keep fighting for the right things, to be on the right side of history. palestinians see the people supporting them worldwide, so at least do it to give hope to the people under constant attack and threat of attack, and to honour the memory of those martyred.
if you have any questions about palestine, israel, which sources to follow or anything else, feel free to shoot me a message and i’ll gladly help you. we all have a duty to fight for the freedom of palestinians, and you’re part of that.