Every time I try to write something about Palestine, I get stuck. Not because I don’t have anything to say, but because I don’t even know where to start.
Since this conflict began, I’ve considered writing about:
- My belief that the Israeli government has essentially guaranteed an endless onslaught of self-induced terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians for decades to come as a result of its actions.
- The Israeli government deliberately propping up Hamas for years with the intent of further destabilizing Palestine.
- The ubiquitous acronym now used in Palestine by medical workers: WCNSF (Wounded Child, No Surviving Family).
- The fact that President Biden may very well have handed over the upcoming election to Trump by virtue of blindly standing behind Netanyahu.
- The endless parallels between the United States’ egregious response after 9/11, as well as what our government did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki after Pearl Harbor.
- How disappointed and horrified I am by the number of people in the United States who initially condoned what Hamas did, comparing them to freedom fighters without having any grasp of how ruthless and oppressive they have been to the Palestinian people.
- How angry I am that my federal taxes are helping to fund the massacre of thousands of innocent children.
- How disturbed I am by the countless Evangelical Christians who continue to justify the Israeli government’s actions as part of God’s plan in a “Holy War” in the Middle East.
- How my heart aches for the millions of Israelis who have been trying to get Netanyahu and his oppressive regime ousted for years without success.
- The fact that many people in the Middle East are literally now afraid of blue-sky days because that is when drone strikes are most prevalent.
- My fear that this may spiral into a third World War, and the role that nuclear arms might play in that conflict.
- The false narratives that were fed to me about how my Jewish roots and history are inseparable from Israel and Zionism.
- The horror and anguish many of my Jewish ancestors would feel to know that a Jewish nationalist wanna-be dictator is currently eradicating an entire population that he feels needs to be eliminated for “safety reasons” with full U.S. support.
- How each time I look at my daughter, I am reminded of the countless Palestinian and Israeli parents who will forever be longing to hear their child’s laughter just one more time.
For anyone like me who is feeling stuck – start somewhere. Not knowing what to say is not an excuse for remaining silent.
