When are we going to say enough?
On cycles of violence, genocide and complicity
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I’m seeing lots of hot takes and palatable perspectives taking the middle road and inviting a “both sides” and all lives matter approach that misses the very essential point that “both sides” are not created equal and therefore are impacted by the violence in very different and disproportionate ways. The idea that we are debating which side is “right” when only Palestinians are under military occupation, only Palestinians are facing apartheid laws, only Palestinians are being displaced and dispossessed, only Palestinians are being denied clean water, live saving medical care, international aid, electricity, etc and only Palestinians are facing the full brunt of a western (US) funded military force (Israel dropped 6000 bombs on Palestine in the first week alone) is absurd. The justification for oppression has always been the idea that some people are more human than others. Which makes me wonder…
Who is allowed to be violent?
Who is allowed to be protected?
Who is allowed to feel safe?
Who is allowed to grow up?
Who is allowed to dream?
Who is allowed to live?
This is not a moment for feel good solutions and both/and neutrality. This is a moment to be uncomfortable, to ask hard questions, to hold complexity and nuance, and to speak truth even when your voice shakes (mine certainly is even as I write this).
Representative Rashida Tlaib, Palestinian American and a women of Muslim faith gave one of the most moving speeches ever heard on the Washington Mall this week and asked “when are we going to say enough?”. She adds:
If we don’t get back to our shared humanity i don’t think we are ever going to come back from this.
What we do in this moment will determine who we are and what is possible. Not because it is popular, but because it is human.
Kerri (she/her)
Art: @ProjectLets
NTK (need to know)
“When our empathies have boundaries — when they stop at borders, races, ethnicities — when one group is freely granted them while another is wholly deprived, then our empathies are false. They have been weaponized. They are instruments in an argument”. The evolving moral high ground in the Israel-Gaza war.
“The most profound ethical obligation in these times is to act to end complicity.” Omar Barghouti on why the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement against Israel’s regime of oppression has never been more important.
Gaza is not a state at war with Israel. It is effectively the world’s largest refugee camp — and Israel’s unconscionable bombardment, now set to escalate with US backing, has already killed nearly 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including hundreds of children. The horrific cost of collective punishment.
The Biden administration should be calling for a ceasefire and working towards minimizing the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life, not silencing staffers who care about the people in Gaza.
A good and brief explainer of the modern Israeli state origins and apartheid.
Solidarity
Language matters. What is happening in Israel-Palestine is not war, it’s colonialism. The displacement of an entire peoples is not eviction, it’s ethnic cleansing. The historical and ongoing violence is not conflict, it’s occupation. Genocide is not complicated, it’s intentional (check out the 5 elements of genocide according to the UN Office of Genocide Prevention). Public solidarity is essential because the US has already made us complicit in the attempted systemic destruction of the Palestinian people. Whether we like it or not, we are already implicated by our financial allegiance.
Call congress. Tell congress to stop fueling the Gaza genocide. And support the House resolution by @RepRashida @RepAndreCarson @RepSummerLee @RepDeliaRamirez calling for the immediate deescalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine by calling your reps and asking them to sign on.
A ceasefire is not enough. While a cease fire may reduce harm in the near term, it does not address the root cause of settler colonialism and only enables a return to the “absurdly normalized status quo”. Check out this post by @WokeScientist on why we need to be demanding an end to the settler colonial occupation of Palestine.
Hit the streets. Thousands of Jews and allies flooded the Capitol this week to demand an end to the occupation claiming “not in our name”. Mass protests and direct actions are popping up around the world in solidarity with #FreePalestine. Find a protest near you.
Join a BDS Movement. A Palestinian led movement that calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights. Here’s how to get involved.
How to “be an ally with the Palestinians”. Paliroots put together this essential resource to educate allies on how to show up, correct terminology, media literacy, strategic actions and more.
Support Gaza emergency appeal. Medical Aid Palestine is on the ground responding to the emergency situation amid rapidly escalating violence and are working to ensure hospitals and emergency responders have what they need. Please support their work and give what you can.
Follow the people who know the way. @landpalestine @ifnotnow @letstalkpalestine @eye.on.palestine @theIMEU @mondowweiss @jenanmatari @mohammeddelkurd @gazangirl, @anat.international @amalthepoet @eid_yara @devotedlyyours
Digging Deeper
Too many of us have the privilege of looking away, using not being educated on the subject as an excuse to not talk about it, or remaining neutral by playing both/and. But you don’t need to be Jewish or Palestinian to have a stake in this crisis. All Americans are implicated in this genocide as long as our tax dollars continue to arm the state of Israel in the assault against an entire peoples. Since its inception, Israel has been the largest recipient of US foreign aid in 75 years.
So Why is the US so committed to Israel’s occupation of Palestine? What’s in it for the US? Here’s a breakdown.
The US needs a foothold in the region to maintain its access to oil. Historically, Israel (with the military backing of US/UK) has squashed peoples liberation movements against European colonization in the Middle East, which not only enabled Israels expansion and occupation, but protected US oil interests.
Corporate war profiteering. The occupation is a lucrative industry. Giants like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin make billions of dollars manufacturing weapons to arm the ongoing violence in the Middle East. Israel’s occupation has also been ground zero for pioneering the development of surveillance technologies that not only threaten people’s privacy but line the pockets of companies in Silicon Valley.
Arming repression around the world. For the last 50+ years the US has used Israel as a henchman to repress peoples movements around the world and arm reactionary regimes and counter insurgency operations.
White supremacy and settler colonialism. The US was founded through settler colonialism and genocide of Indigenous peoples and the enslavement of Black people and has exported that ideology around the world. Recognizing Israel as a settler colonial project would require the US reckon with its own violent history.
Art @voicesof_theoppressed Source @WeAreDissenters
We-ness
“Every day of your lives is practice in becoming the person you want to be. No instantaneous miracle is suddenly going to occur and make you brave and courageous and true. And every day that you sit back silent, refusing to use your power, terrible things are being done in our name. . . “ Audre Lorde
Art by @mollycrabapple
Thanks for subscribing to WELLREAD. For the last six years we’ve been providing folks with the need to know (NTK) news, calls to actions and resources for how to stay engaged and resourced along the way. But now, we’ve added an option to “upgrade to paid” to help sustain our work. While we will never put our content behind a pay wall, we depend on the support of our community to keep us going. 💛
The lack of nuance and contextual depth you have shown in this particular email is deeply upsetting and unlike any of the others you have sent on any other issue (and I support Palestinian rights and have been an advocate on this issue). And yet you ask us to hold complexity and nuance. It’s just weird.
I love you. To address colonialism and genocide in Gaza, the US would have to address its history of...colonialism and genocide. That's what makes this "difficult" because hypocrisy is just that.