MON 30 OCT

Struggling to breath. Images of people trapped under rubble. Faces ashen. Hearts failing.

Words are hard to find. Lost in a world where peaceful protest is labelled ‘hate’, where calling out genocide is called anti-Semitism. Brutal. Obscene. The unrelenting atrocities happening in plain sight, the genocidal intentions laid out clearly in advance and still our media and politicians turn the world and words upside down.

Rishi Sunak sacks ministerial aid Paul Bristow.

Kier Starmer suspends senior Labour MP Andy McDonald.

Art Forum magazine editor David Velasco fired.

Authors and academics cancelled.

Many more sacks and silenced.

For calling for a cease fire!

A call joined by every international NGO from Save the Children to Oxfam, Amnesty To Doctors Without Borders. Joined by the UN general assembly voting overwhelmingly for an immediate ceasefire, by principled leaders from Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf to Irish MEP Clare Daley. 

CEASE FIRE NOW!

But in this parallel world of doublespeak calling for a stop to genocide is either hate or naivety.

I feel utterly sick. Uttering into a void. Numbly scrolling news, signing petitions, writing to MPs, giving to aid organisations, joining marches, writing. Feeling helpless. Though to even utter a word is something – to stand against the vile utterances of those who sit in positions of power and complicity using ‘it’s complex’ as an excuse for moral cowardice.

Looking for newspapers to fill sodden trainers I come across a pile of broadsheets and tabloids Dan had collected obsessively at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. How different those headlines were. How historic imperialist claims then were called out for what they were – the musings of a power crazed psychopath.  And now we hear scriptures quoted as justification for obliterating people and still those who march against this are the ‘extremists.’   The language - ‘Children of light versus Children of Darkness’. ‘We shall realise the prophecy of Isaiah’ biblical calls for the annihilation of the ‘Amalek.’The action - cutting off all communications then broadcasting messages no one can hear, depriving entire population of access to clean water, food and electricity, forcing people to move to ‘safe zones’ only to bomb them there.  These are not ‘unintended civilian casualties.’ They are not even pretending not to target hospitals now. Acting with impunity given immunity by US and UK governments whilst the EU fret over whether they should use the phrase humanitarian ‘window’ or ‘pause’ as bombs continue to fall.   

Frankie Boyle tweets “Britain is blessed with a particularly grim commentator class, raised on tales of Empire, who know better than to admit that as a result they find war and death quite thrilling.”  I look at them all. The obvious  - Piers Morgan recently blown out of the water by satirist Bassam Youssef, Richard Madeley’s appalling questioning of British Palestinian Lib Dem MP Layla Moran.. the inhumane framing of most BBC interview questions answered with the deepest most mournful of sighs by Palestinian Ambassador Husam Zoblot.

And then there are the self-declared ‘moderates’, the paternalistic liberal intelligentsia - Jonathan Freedland, Polly Toynbee, Simon Schama…. . Speaking of artificial intelligence -  on Talk TV James Schneider of Progressive International gets a laugh when he states artificial intelligence is neither artificial nor intelligent. For example if you put in to chatGPT “do Palestinians deserve to be free?” it says “The question of whether Palestinians deserve to be free is a complex and sensitive topic. It involves historical and political and ethical considerations. People have differing opinions on the matter and the answer depends on individual perspectives and beliefs.” What does it say when you put in “Do Israelis deserve to be free?” It says “Yes, like any group of people Israeli’s also deserve to live in freedom and security. The right to freedom is a fundamental human right and it applies to all individuals and communities.”

These commentators spew the ingrained and racist lies of colonial oppression.  Truly despicable in their instrumentalization of the historic persecution of Jewish people to justify the unjustifiable.

How dare they! Not in my name. Not in our name. Not in the name of Jewish people taking over New York’s Central Station. (https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/10/30/wire-grand-central-action/) Of many of the grieving family of those murdered or taken hostage (Do not write my father’s name on a military shell’ Yotam Kipnis (https://www.972mag.com/israeli-survivors-hamas-massacre-revenge/) Of Israeli’s bravely protesting the government that does not speak for them or have their best interests or safety at heart in any of this. (https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-hostages-protest-tel-aviv-banjamin-netanyahu-resign-gaza-2023-10?r=US&IR=T)

Of people of all religion and race and age marching together across the world. Marches for peace not hate.

As Owen Jones tweets ‘everyone who has cheered on this moral obscenity and human catastrophe should be held to account for it every single day for the rest of their lives.’ There is no excuse for silence. There is no excuse for muttering it’s complicated. Criticising and condemning the Netanyahu led Israeli state’s actions is not anti-Semitic. It is unforgiveable to use the Holocaust as an excuse to commit genocide. Never again means never again. For anyone.

A hospital waiting room has given me the time to write. I look around this place of care filled with people of all faiths and origins and imagine it reduced to rubble. I think of doctors refusing to leave their patients. Paramedics breaking into tears holding orphaned babies. As I walk out of the hospital grounds I am drawn to St Bartholomew the Less. The ‘less’ as opposed to Bartholomew the ‘great’ nearby. Apparently, you pray to St Bartholomew for protection. Entering this chapel of ease my mind is not eased as it visualises ancient churches offering the hope of such protection bombed, centuries of history and culture destroyed along with the people inside. Who makes these arbitrary value judgements about who and what is less?  - less deserving of freedom. Of life.

The plan was always erasure.

And the erasure will not just be of Palestine. This has made Israel more vulnerable. It has made the world more fragile. It has made an excuse for those already filled with anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate.  The erasure is of truth and justice. Of humanity.

I message a friend I haven’t seen for too long. She shares that she too is shaking. She is about to teach and sends the book they are reading -  ‘Voices of the Nakba: A Living History of Palestine.’

Who will be left to tell the stories of this Nakba?

To voice and bear witness. To never forget.

And in this age of social media we too can add our voices - to do everything in our power to intervene and ensure those who facilitate this are held to account. To utter into the moral vacuum if only to hold onto our shared humanity. To counter lies. To educate ourselves. Knowing that this is not enough. That this is a cataclysmic failure.

I keep busy. Draught proofing the house. Attempting to make a space of warmth and care amid catastrophe.

SOME READING

Haider Eid. Decolonising the Palestinian Mind.

Recommended by writer N S Ahmed on twitter/X:

Adania Shibli. Minor details.

Isabella Hamad. The Parisian

Edward Said. The question of Palestine.

Hala Alyan. Salt Houses.

Sahar Khalifeh. My first and only love.

Huzama Habayeb. Velvet.

Mourid Barghouti. I saw Ramallah.

Khalud Khamis. Haifa Fragments.

Mahmoud Dharwish. The Butterflies Burden  & to our land.

Fadwa Tuqan. Longing inspired by the law of Gravity.

And then others suggesting more on his twitter/x thread:

Mosab Abu Toha. Things you may find hidden in my ear.

Susan Abulhawa. Against the Loveless World. And Mornings in Jenin.

Zaina Arafat. You Exist too much.

Kanafani

Leila Khalid.

George Habash

Elias Khoury. Gate of the Sun

Ibrahim Nasrallah. Gaza Wedding.

Rashid Khalidi. The 100 year war on Palestine.

Randa Jarrar. Love is an ex country.

Salma Abelnour. Jasmine and Fire.

Nate Schulz. Coffee and Orange blossom.

Susan Muaddi Darraj. A curious land. Stories from home.

Radwa Ashour. The woman from Tantoura. A novel.

Mohammed Al Kurd. Rifqa.

Anacle and Dephine Hermans. Green almonds. Letters from Palestine.

Raja Shehadeh. Palestinian walks.

Suheir Hammad. Born Palestian. Born black. + gaza suite,.

Scott Long, Senior Fellow, Human Rights Program, Harvard Law School at Harvard University has uploaded an entire library to https://tinyurl.com/32aj9364

Pluto Press. Free Palestine: A Reading List

https://www.plutobooks.com/free-palestine-reading-list/

Haymarket Books. Free Palestine: A Reading List

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/71-free-palestine-a-reading-list

Verso Books. Free Palestine: A Verso Reading List.

https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/5078-palestinian-solidarity-reading-list