5 minute read
Are You Tired yet?
A quick reminder: This needs a lot of patience; keep the morale high!
Norman Finkelstein, a political activist whose primary focus has been on the long-going Palestinian ethnic cleansing, especially the one in Gaza, and the politics of the holocaust, said in a recent interview that the “question of Gaza was disappearing from the public stage” adding that he himself has given up hope. Now it’s not a question of Gaza anymore, it’s a moral stand about Palestine as a whole.
At the time of writing this article, it has been 62 days since the beginning of this massacre. We all watched as the atrocities unfolded live in front of our eyes. people lost their homes, their most valuable possessions, their loved ones, and their lives. That feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that I am sure some of us might be feeling is nothing compared to the 75+ years of terror that the Palestinians had to and still are enduring. The scenes we have seen this past month have been beyond horrific.
Why isn’t anyone doing anything?? How many more lives does this “war” have to claim till they deem it enough?? Those are questions I am sure a lot of us have asked ourselves. That sadness turned into anger. That feeling that you want to do something, anything, but all you can do is watch. Watch from the comfort of your own house, having the privilege to close your phone and go about your day. But how? How can we smile and move on and live life like nothing is happening? Those feelings turn into a kind of helplessness that leads to abandon, but I am here to urge you to speak. That’s all they ever asked of us.
Speak even if your voice is hoarse.
Speak even if you cried so hard that there are no tears left and there is an empty void in place of that sadness.
Speak so that the voices of those who are martyred can still be heard amongst the echo of our anger and pain.
Speak for the humanity that the world has lost.
Don't let their stories die. We owe them that.
The world has finally woken up, don’t close your eyes to go to sleep now. Let that sadness fuel your need to speak. Become the speakers in which their voices are amplified. Raise your fists up in anger and remember those who left and those who are left behind. We can’t be silent now. They were never able to take away the Palestinian resistance and resilience. If they can wake up despite all that has been happening and still show us what they are going through and witnessing, the least we can do is listen, share, speak and watch. Palestinians taught the world what humanity really meant, do not let that die. The “question of Gaza” has been revived and it is our job, our duty to breathe life into it until there is no need for that question to even exist, until there is liberation!
we understand that the scenes we are exposed to might be too much for us to handle. It is okay to feel helpless, it is okay to feel like you need to look away for a while. It is okay to feel tired. But don’t let that stop you from speaking up. Liberation is always lengthy and needs patience. Our job is to do all we can to amplify the voices of Palestinians at the moment. Our job is to “fight” in any way we can. Share the posts you see even if you don’t fully watch all of it to push Palestinian content to the forefront. This is a critical time, and we cannot let this die down. Remember this isn’t a trend, these are people’s lives. Watch Palestinian content even if it is only for 5 or 10 seconds, enough to make the algorithm push it. Repost all Palestine related content and share it. They are currently trying all they can to suppress the voices of Palestinians or anything proPalestine.
They are hoping that we will forget or that we will lose hope so that they can continue committing atrocities unchecked. They need us to move on, so don’t give them that. It is okay to feel helpless, but we need to keep pushing, keep speaking, keep fighting so that we can finally see a day where Palestine is free. Right now, we are fighting together as one, as humans. Let our anger fan the flames of liberation. Remember you are not the only one watching, sharing, or speaking. Power comes with unity, which is why they want us to get tired and give up so badly. We work as a collective. You are not alone. You are not alone in your anger. You are not alone in your frustration. You are not alone in your sadness. We are all fighting together to stand with humanity and against a tyrannical oppressive inhuman regime.
And we would like to end this article with a quote from the beloved late Shireen Abu Akleh.
"بدها طول نفس... خلي المعنويات عالية"
