My latest episode on Palestine:
Although it was never “hidden” for the ones who are interested in Palestine, Israeli state violence can’t be more obvious now.
On May 11, 2022, Israeli forced killed Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist who has been covering Palestine for decades. On June 1, another journalist, Ghufran Harun Warasneh, who was about to start her assignment in Hebron, was killed by Israeli soldiers.
Israeli forces then attacked both funerals. Who did they attack exactly, you might ask?
The mourners. The pallbearers. The people of different faiths who had gathered to say their goodbyes.
In Shireen’s case, not only did the whole world witness an occupying force target a journalist; it also saw that force brutally attack her funeral, too.
When it comes to Palestine, so much is unreported, so much context erased.
But at this point, if we’re being open and honest, we have to say something very simple:
It’s not a mystery what’s happening in Palestine. It’s not a secret what the Israeli state policy is.
It’s documented, it’s reported on, it’s lived.
The violence and oppression are clear, who’s doing what to whom (the subject and the object of violence) is known, everything is very much in the open, and it happens on a daily basis.
House demolitions, dehumanising treatment of Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints, children being arrested, water being controlled, new settlements built, refugee camps raided, a new expulsion of Palestinians planned at Masafer Yatta, and, yes, journalists killed.
A military occupation demands state-sponsored violence and the impunity that surrounds it all.
So if everything is known, what is left to talk about here?
It’s the choice to talk about it or not to talk about it itself.
In a way, that’s what the video I’d like to recommend to you is about.
It’s a beautiful interview with Gabor Maté, a world-renowned trauma expert whose work I must admit I am a big fan of.
But not just his work on trauma: for me, it resonated deeply with what he has to say about Palestine.
I am sure you will find it interesting and will feel the compassion and humanism shining at you through your screens.
Please watch and share it widely.
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