1. “I’m not an expert” is an explanation that so many of us have used at one point in our lives—myself included—but really, it’s an excuse that dismisses the fact that the very things happening before our eyes involve, and are influenced by, normal people like you and I. Of course we can all stand to learn more, but finding sources you can trust is critical. Now more than ever, we must question the people we traditionally looked up to or assumed to be the experts or leaders. Misinformation is rampant and propaganda is nearly impossible to avoid in traditional media and education. Undo Western rhetoric: there will always be more below the surface. Palestinians have a right to peace.
2. Never again is now. Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom are not opposing causes.
3. To be explicitly clear: I stand with Jewish people, always and forever. (I spent years obsessively reading, watching, and researching the Holocaust after the first time I heard the word because I was convinced that doing so would help me—this little fourth or fifth grader—spot the signs early enough to stop history from repeating itself. I was naive then.) I feel for the Israeli civilians who have become casualties caught in the crossfires of government greed. I believe in Palestinian freedom, and that fighting for the freedom of people who were dispossessed does not equate to the destruction of another. (Though propaganda will lead you to believe otherwise.) And emphatically: there is no space for antisemitism in the pursuit of liberation and fighting against occupation. Hatred is not advocacy.
4. Imperialism is the common enemy. Do not let propagandists continue to weaponize fear to make people complicit in this ethnic cleansing.
5. Language is more important than ever: Doctor Darien and Ashley Hamilton found the words I wish I had.
. . .
xx
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