One Simple Thing That Palestine Has Shown Us — And From Where There Is No Way Back

As the genocide in Gaza is entering its third year, the story must always remain Palestine: not even the historic flotilla or the despicable silence of our governments when nationals of over 40 countries are kidnapped by Israel.

Yet there is a comment I’ve been wanting to make (potentially, for our sanity).

During the weeks of this genocide that felt extra insane, extra unbearable, and when my nervous system was functioning…I still have no idea how, one phrase would come to my mind.

It’s rather simple. And, yes, it’s very dramatic. I would chase it with a “Well, clearly this can only lead to a spiral of self-pity, making the story about you and not what it should be about.”

But I want to share it with you.

Not because it is dramatic, but because just now, literally yesterday, in a moment of stillness, another phrase that sounds like a response to the one I am about to share with you came to my head.

So my dramatic phrase was this:

“I just don’t know how to exist in this world anymore.”

“I just don’t know how to exist in this world anymore.”

I never knew how I’d show up when a place so dear to my heart was being annihilated. I never knew how to bear witness to that annihilation for two years straight.

I never knew what I would do when my government showed only cowardice, denial, and complicity, bowing down to a fascist regime.

I never knew how to deal with the silence of friends, living a life marked by constant heartbreak, and a feeling that nothing I do is enough, even when contributing to something I know is meaningful.

I just don’t know how to exist in this world anymore. I don’t know how to keep on going.

And yesterday, a new thought came:

It is precisely because of Palestine that I am learning how I actually want to show up.

It is precisely because of Palestine that I am being shown how I want to exist in this world.

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Maybe you’ve been feeling the same, even if you didn’t use the same language. Maybe it’s something that resonates and serves as a push to continue — even when everything feels extremely heavy.

But just like we cannot unsee our Palestinian brothers and sisters as people, just like we cannot unsee this eight-decade-long injustice, we cannot go back.

Because we have been shown how to exist in this world.

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Over 250 murdered Palestinian journalists knew they had targets on their backs and still chose to keep on reporting. The ones who bravely continue know the targets are still there.

WE don’t have those targets on our backs. Let’s remember that when we have any doubts about amplifying the work which people are literally murdered for.

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Talking about that amplification, I want to apologise for not having posted in English as often as I would have liked to. That’s because of the same reason why I started recording my commentary on Palestine in Lithuanian two years ago: because the genocide has been hidden, sterilised, reported on through the lens of the occupier, and treated in so many shameful ways that there is nothing left to expect from my national broadcaster. Even if you don’t speak Lithuanian, here’s a video to literally illustrate how bad it has been – and that’s only visually; I have two years’ worth of videos deconstructing the language of that coverage itself.

The language of my video is simple and only has two sentences in Lithuanian:

The genocide won’t be shown to you — it will be presented as smoke in the distance.

The genocide won’t be shown to you — as long as our government shakes hands with its executioners.

@the_exploding_head

[For some, this genocide will have never existed. It will be sterile, like images of some smoke on the horizon. And it will be so as long as our governments shake hands with its executioners]. Kažkam šio genocido niekada nebus buvę. Nei ant vargiai befunkcionuojančios ligoninės grindų mirštančių vaikų, nei jau turbūt dešimčių tūkstančių iš po pastatų neištrauktų vaikų kūnų, nei masinių kapaviečių prie ligoninių, į kurias okupantas sumeta kūnus po egzekucijų, nei paramedikų žudynių — nebus nieko. Genocidas, jei ir bus buvęs, bus toks sterilus. Jokie vaizdai neįstrigs atminty iki gyvenimo pabaigos. Nebus ir begalinės begalinės begalinės gėdos jausmo, kad prieš mūsų visų akis, visiems žinant kas vyksta, leidom būti nužudytiems virš 20,000 vaikų. Nes tai bus buvę tik dūmai kažkur tolimoj. Ir gal dar antraštės, ką teigia okupantas. #Gaza #gazosgenocidas #LaisvaPalestina #lietuva #lithuania

♬ sonido original – The Exploding Head (Justina) – The Exploding Head (Justina)

As always: stay strong, check on others, and keep your heart open.

❤️💔❤️

Justina

PS. Thank you to all who have contributed to and spread the word about my direct fundraiser for families in Gaza. We have quickly collected 966 EUR (updated and closed on: September 29, 2025) that I have now passed to my friend’s family to distribute to those most in need.

If you’d still like to contribute, please consider donating to my other friend’s fundraiser here.

See more art by Ona, an awesome lady who I happen to know personally and who kindly volunteered her artwork to be the featured picture of this blog post, here: sakai_sakais.

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