Hello. This is an expansion of the note I posted yesterday, but I wanted to make sure it reached subscribers.
Last month, I saw Mehdi Hasan and Naomi Klein in conversation, in Toronto, in partnership with the IDRF, where much of the evening's focus was on Israel's genocide against Palestinians. They invited Dr. Yasser Khan to discuss his experience during his two humanitarian missions in Gaza since it began. I do not want to misquote him, but he talked about how, after operating on and trying to save innocent, wounded civilians—the majority of them children—returning to Canada felt as though a veil had been lifted. He talked about how much he wanted to go back to Gaza, to its community, its heart, and to help. It was deeply moving and profoundly upsetting. As an audience, we sat together, in that grief. During the Q&A, many attendees could not reconcile the level of helplessness they felt with the enormity of what was required of all of us in this moment, and how much we have continually failed to meet it.
Two powerful takeaways from that talk, for me, were:
“There are more of us than them.” (Hasan.)
This mentality is always worth acting upon and reinforcing, no matter how futile it might feel. For example: call your reps, even if they don't answer. Write your reps, even if they don't reply. Tag local politicians in relevant posts. They bank on your silence. Make noise they can't, at any point, deny, even if they don't engage with it. Do not be a pawn in their justification not to act. They have chosen not to. Speak up, add your voice, however you can, to those demanding Israel end their genocide and allow the flow of humanitarian aid back into Gaza.
“They want you exhausted. Fight exhausted.” (Klein.)
After the results of last year's election, I sought anchors for what was to come. Here are a few that I feel apply to this moment, and while some of these things might be obvious to you, I'm of the mind no revelation is too small or unimportant if it keeps you engaged, empathetic, and committed to the paths of the least amount of harm and toward our collective liberation.
In Hope in the Dark, and many of her writings since, Rebecca Solnit reminds us that feeling despair and giving in to it are two very different things. How can we not feel despair over the images and videos coming out of Palestine? We should be devastated. But to give in to despair assumes a perspective that has already settled on defeat as the ultimate outcome. This is grossly privileged and grossly irresponsible when anything can and will change. How, we don’t know. But we can contribute to the possibility of better. Continue to act in accordance for the future you want. Refuse to accept the atrocities of the present or be complicit in them, and what they will pave the way for tomorrow. As Mehdi Hasan also reminded his audience that night, “It can always get worse.”
This is an era of unprecedented exposure to misinformation campaigns and paid-for propagandist narratives with longstanding, deeply historical roots and financial ties. Always remember that what you don't know, you can still learn, and what you thought you knew, you can unlearn.
Finally: perfect is the enemy of good. You will not always get it right and at times, the impact of your efforts may negate their well-meant intent. You will feel deeply unqualified for the moment. Do not use these as excuses to look away. As I mentioned, many audience members at The Bold & Unfiltered tour expressed how deeply inadequate their actions felt in the face of horrors of this scale. Each time Mehdi, Naomi, and Yasser assured them that whatever they can do is needed—so continue to do it.
Whatever you can do, do it.
I wish I could remember where I read this, but the inability to immediately or wholly extricate ourselves from and opt out of capitalistic and fascist infrastructures does not mean we have no other choices. Opt in to community. Opt in to mutual aid. Opt in to kindness. Opt in to empathy. Nurture those parts of yourself until your first instinct is to act on them, rather than debate the efficacy of human decency.
I have found many opportunities on a local level to be present in and vocalize my opposition of public, government, and educational institutions that are trying to silence the Pro-Palestine movement and I have worked to make it easier for the people in my life to do the same by doing things like sharing that information, and inviting them to action by drafting up templates for them to send so it is that much simpler for them to participate. I live in a village that has a population of less than 2,000 people in it. At one time, I would ask what difference it could possibly make. Now I know: whatever I can contribute matters because it becomes part of a ripple that makes the waves that will eventually reach the shore.
Earlier this year, I read Oliver Burkeman's Meditations for Mortals and two things struck me: to follow a kind or generous impulse without question or hesitation, and to understand there is no avoiding a consequence. Too often, we fail to commit to a decision, action, or position because we do not want to accept its consequence and we are holding out for a (usually non-existent) solution that will cause the least amount of friction in our lives. Activism takes many forms, and occurs in many places. I try to extend good faith to others as I commit to the work of my own, but none of this changes that whatever you choose to do or not do in your life, at its particular moment in history, at this particular moment in history, is bound to a consequence that you will have to live with.
Feed Gaza. Free Gaza. Let Gaza Live.
Free Palestine.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but I hope it can offer you at least one action you can incorporate in your day:
Learn:
Watch Vox media’s video about the Nakba. Explore Haymarket Books’s library on Palestine. (Haymarket is also home to Let This Radicalize You, which is a very complementary, supportive and educational text as you approach, shape, or refine your own activism in this moment, and future moments.) I also recommend subscribing to Haymarket’s YouTube channel. Naomi Klein has made two chapters of her book, Doppelganger, providing historical context for “how the Nazis were influenced by European colonial and racial segregation in the Americas—and how a failure to reckon with those connections shaped and misshaped Israeli history, and contributed to exiling Palestinians into an unbearable purgatory” available to read online for free.
Stay informed:
I regularly check in on Bisan and so.informed on IG, and the organizations I have donated to for first-hand accounts and a better understanding of what is happening and what is being kept out or spun by mainstream media. Zeteo frequently covers news on the genocide and platforms Palestinian voices and allies. As a Canadian, Rachel Gilmore’s coverage of the Canadian government and the national media’s handling of the genocide has helped me figure out who to put pressure on, and where to direct my own responses and attention to. She is part of Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine.
Donate and support:
Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, UNRWA, Doctors without Borders, World Central Kitchen, IDRF, may be organizations that are familiar to you, and they are worth supporting. But don’t forget to contribute directly to or to those who are contributing assistance to mutual aid efforts led by Palestinians: Water is Life Gaza, Hot Meals for Starved Palestinian Kids in north Gaza, and Funds for Gaza. See slide three of this carousel for more. Consider where you are spending your money, and look for opportunities to support Palestinians at a local level. Invest in Palestinian culture and artists through initiatives like We Are Not Numbers, streamers like Watermelon Pictures, and doing the work necessary to expand your reading.
Take action:
Find out what initiatives are taking place in your local community or the community closest to you. Send a letter. Sign a petition. I have encountered so much resistance and attitudes of futility when it comes to commiting to ‘smaller’ actions like this and I want to remind you that these appeals are there for a reason. They have been deemed necessary by people who are doing the work and they are telling you they need your help. Make your presence known rather than your absence felt, in whatever ways are accessible to you. Whether you can participate in person or online, here are some starting points: USCPR Action, The BDS Movement, Artists4Ceasefire, Writers Against the War on Gaza, Amnesty International, Jewish Voices for Peace.
