A Letter
I wrote to "Stuff" I doubt they will print it.
I hesitated contributing to your request for our “perspectives and reflections on the conflict in Gaza” as it is not my (Tangata tiriti, pākehā, cis, middle aged, mother) story to tell. For the last 22 months I have spent countless, unpaid hours amplifying Palestinian voices on various social media platforms.
Why? Because Palestinians asked us to.
Having endured 76 years, plus, of illegal occupation, Israeli and Western propaganda, finally through social media we have been given a 24 / 7 portal to unedited voices from the ground.
The veil has been lifted on the endless manufacturing of consent for “Middle East conflicts” for anyone who instead of turning away to keep their privileged peace, has paid attention.
Stuff too could have been sharing Palestinian voices over the last 22 months. Besides ordinary citizens and there are hundreds of amazing dedicated journalists in Gaza, all be it 232 fewer with the relentless and deliberate targeting on their profession by the IDF. Same too with medics, scholars and artists, highly skilled learned humans. We have lost more than we will ever know or understand.
During my time of daily (nightly!) correspondence I have met the most genuine and creative families with an exceptional love of life. Indeed I have learned a lot about what it truly means to live, and what is of upmost importance. How could I not?
Palestinians have learned from an early age to live every day as if it was their last.
I have frequently experienced the psychologically abusive sound of zanana (drones) while on voice calls and exchanging audio messages with my friends in Gaza. I have felt the heart piercing screams as my loved ones (as they are now) run from the shelling of nearby tents, and read their eye witness accounts of headless martyrs laying in the street being eaten by dogs. Burnt pieces of flesh and limbs raining down on their nylon shelters.
I’ve read, seen and heard things I can never unread, unsee, or unhear.
Yet through all these moments, the most profound thing I have learned: Palestinians are more than their suffering. They are more than numbers. They are more than any army of occupation and sadistic cruelty that is drummed into every Zionist from birth. They are more than any enemy will ever be.
Enough of my opinion. If I can only ever move one person to read or listen to Palestinian voices, I feel I will achieved something. I’ll leave you to read an excerpt from a piece written by my friend Yahya AlHamarna in Gaza.
“Despite all this brokenness, belonging to Gaza remains a path to eternal beauty. Here, one hand fights life, while the other extends a helping hand. Neighbors line up as friends, sharing their livelihoods and dreams. Women gather at dawn to prepare breakfast for a segment of their neighborhood, and men gather around the minarets to pray, surrounded by the scent of soil, trees, and pride. But dreams have a price, and these dreams flutter in the sky of helplessness, addressing the mind of every child who sees their future shining like a distant star. Embracing that hope requires courage beyond anything imaginable. The question continues to haunt us: Will we be able to build a brighter tomorrow, or will hope remain an incomplete record in the annals of history?
I feel surrounded by beings of light, each carrying a special dream in their pocket, each dream looking toward a sky without barriers. Here, where crises intertwine with hope, the people of Gaza realize that they are not victims of history, but rather the creators of a bright tomorrow that sways among the rays of a new sun, even if it sometimes lies behind gray clouds.
And so, I continue my journey in this land, drawing lines of hope among the paths of pain. I reassure myself that life, despite its difficulty, is worth living with dignity. Dawn is coming, and I am here with a thousand stories and dreams.”
Epilogue
I asked on Instagram if anyone would be interested in reading what I wrote. Two people responded positively. Haha. I believe, I trust it is the result of being seriously shadow banned there, like anyone speaking out. Increasingly I have been hoping to move away from all Meta platforms, it’s a difficult ask. Mainly because I need to stay in contact with my Palestinian families. And Meta is their preferred choice. I have started an UpScrolled account. A new social media created by Tech for Palestine, whilst currently predominantly Palestine content they request more diversity to grow. And pride themselves in “freedom of expression” with no shadow ban.
I guess I would like to say is, after a long hiatus on Substack (other than helping share some of Yahya and Ahmed’s writing.)
I am not unique. I am not even a great writer, reader. I am not given any more time and I certainly have no huge resource to pull from. All Palestinians have ever asked for, is for us (you and me) to amplify their voice. So to anyone reading this (if anyone is still out there?) you could be sharing their voices too. Our media, our governments and our white dominated society of greed, as a whole, is built on and functions in complicity with genocide, multiple genocides.
“Palestine is the moral litmus test.”
