“One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” -Omar El Akkad
Neighbors, which group makes you angrier: perpetrators of egregiously evil things or the people who reveal and make us face that those things are happening? Your answer to that question is an important one to interrogate.
The Palestinian journalists of Gaza captured all those images in an attempt to make the world see what Israel and most Western governments, but especially the U.S. government, have done to their people. These journalists have risked their lives, literally being hunted by the Israeli government, for the past 660 days, and now, while they also experience starvation, they must endure a final horrific trauma by documenting their children’s slow deaths from hunger to try to move us to speech and action.
After you see images like that, it’s hard to move on. It’s not really possible to get them out of your mind or focus properly. Bearing witness to this level of suffering is fucking painful. I am past “trigger warnings” for images like this, though. It’s an act of community care, and the least we can offer to the suffering. If you need a minute to cry, take some deep breaths, collect yourself, or pray, take it . . .
Unspoken Communication
I work in communications, so at my day job, part of what I’m asked to assess by my leaders and colleagues is what will be communicated, not just in words, but also in the unspoken. Whether intended or not (and I think it’s usually unintended), when a person says, “I just can’t cope with this stuff; I have to protect my mental health,” it communicates one of two unspoken things:
1) “I don’t believe we, the people not directly suffering, should have to witness this egregious evil. It’s unfair to harm the mental health of the rest of us by documenting this and putting it out into the world.”
2) Or, “I don’t believe I should have to witness this egregious evil, but I know that documenting it and putting it out into the world is important. Hopefully, other people will volunteer to have their mental health harmed.”
As Christian Palestinian pastor from Bethlehem, Rev. Munther Isaac, says, “Solidarity is costly.” I’m grateful to everyone who has paid that price with their mental health to be a witness to the towering humanity of Gaza while it was subjected to unspeakable crimes against humanity.
Nearly All Of Them Failed
Speaking of what we communicate without words, as our media begins to cover the atrocities that Israel has committed more openly and marginally more honestly, forcing our politicians into a position where they must feign shock and concern, I hope you’ll pause before celebrating any of them. Almost all our government leadership, especially at the federal level, is directly responsible for this genocide.
Amy Klobuchar, for example, the Democratic senator from Minnesota who ran for president a few years ago, released a statement last Thursday about how unacceptable it is that people are starving in Gaza. The Senator neglects to mention in her statement that she supported the Biden admin when they defunded UNRWA in 2024, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, a UN agency established in 1949 to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA had a highly functioning aid operation in Gaza and could have quickly, efficiently, and humanely responded to this crisis. She also neglected to add that she has repeatedly voted to keep funding Israeli military support. Through her actions, Amy* communicates that it’s fine for Israel to keep receiving weapons, just as long as they use them on people who are fed (but not through UNRWA).
I don’t want to give them more air time, but be sure to note the absolute moral cowardice of others, like Corey Booker or Hilary Clinton, as they tweet out how important it is to “surge lifesaving aid” to Gaza, when just months ago both of them were condemning anti-genocide protesters, especially students, as antisemites who weren’t “well enough informed” about the region.
They have helped defund the needs of the citizens they serve here in favor of billions upon billions for Israel to kill infinitely, and they have treated us like we were too dumb to understand that or too soft-hearted about our fellow human beings. If you can’t bring yourself to disavow both U.S. parties forever, I hope you’ll at least demand they admit they took money in exchange for shared human values and respect for international law.
They all failed (with a few exceptions). They failed analytically. They failed morally. They deserve accountability in equal measure to the injustice and inhumanity they’ve shown Gaza. And, honestly, that they’ve shown all of us.
Moral Positions
In November 2023, I received an email stating that my call for a ceasefire was a clear moral solution, but not a possible one. In fairly overt terms, the person implied that I was somewhat childish in my understanding of the world and that sometimes we have to abandon moral positions because they are too difficult. I think about that email a lot, because it encapsulates everything . . . Gaza, Sudan, Congo, runaway fascism at home, climate collapse . . . But also, I get it. Our systems do make moral positions difficult.
I asked a Palestinian friend, Ramsey Hanhan, late last week, what we could do that was meaningful to him. He said, “Keep speaking out. Even if nothing changes, at least we hear you speak.” Maybe part of me was looking for a way out of continuing to try to speak out, because it’s such a struggle to articulate anything that feels meaningful in the face of it all.
He reminded me that, boiled down, my moral position is that I am my brother’s keeper. I am responsible for the care of my community. For the care of other human beings. Regardless of how difficult it is or how costly it might be or how many times it will force me to re-evaluate my political allegiances or how hard it is to come up with the words. It’s my duty to do what I can for others, regardless of how much my society has attempted to propagandize me into believing that we do not owe each other. If my brother says that what he and his mercilessly oppressed people need is to hear my voice speaking in solidarity, then my job is to keep finding the words.
Dismantling The System
If you are newly ready to speak out for Gaza, I want to be honest that you are late. The tide is turning, and everyone, including those in power who used our money to fund it, has suddenly always been against this. You aren’t too late to help us hold those people accountable, though.
A journalist I respect recently shared a quote by Michael Brooks: “Be ruthless with systems, be kind to people.” I recognize that our systems do make it hard to hold moral positions, and I also need people in my life who help me stay the course despite these systems. We desperately need your voice to help us dismantle a system that allows this to happen to anyone. Shoot me a message, and I’ll do everything I can to connect you to information, resources, and groups that will help you speak. I’ll also be your cheerleader.
Recovering from this grave, grave wound to our collective humanity and creating a livable future depends on you not allowing your moral position to go unspoken.
*I referred to Amy Klobuchar as Amy, because I use the first names of politicians when I want to communicate my DISrespect. Respect is not automatically given based on position or perceived authority. It’s earned.
Neighbors, what do you think about accountability? Can we hold each other accountable? Our leaders? Do you believe our societal rules make accountability too difficult both to deliver and receive, because we place comfort above what is just and right?
Neighbors, if this monthly note is meaningful, but you aren’t into subscriptions, you can show your support with “Buy Me A Coffee.” Click the button!
You have been and continue to speak out about this. Thank you for keeping us to account and promoting our humanity.
The images of emaciated Palestinian children starving to death as orchestrated by Israel and the US are a shameful indictment of what it takes to activate human compassion today. For those among us who have no tolerance for state sponsored atrocity, it is bittersweet to witness the growing disdain for sugar coated Hasbara cookies.
It requires enormous emotional resolve, courage and soul-searching to engage the process of selecting and projecting the painful images of Israel's "strange fruit." It's an honor, Angie, to stand with you in defiance of Israeli and American terrorism.