Thank you for these thoughts, I desperately needed to read this and re-frame my calls for Palestinian liberation, not just in the name of women and children, but for ALL.
I do not understand how people cannot see this as a human issue. They believe the lies the western media feeds them and refuse to even question this narrative. I have lost friendships over my support of a free Palestine, and I do not regret that. I cannot sit by while people suffer on this massive a scale. From the river to the sea 😥✊️
Just finished reading this and wow. Just wow. Thank you so much for writing this Ayesha ❤️ such a beautiful beautiful piece. You’ve given me another lens to see how the colonial regime works to dehumanize Black & Brown People, and Palestinian Men & Boys specifically in this Moment. It makes so much sense for how it works in the settler narrative; we’ve always done it. And, just from reading your comments about Language, think you are so right and it is very important. That’s essentially what this post is about, in my opinion. It’s the Language we’re using and the notions we’ve tied to these words in white christian hegemony. That’s how we’re able to weaponize them against Black & Brown People. It’s what propaganda is. I think it’s important that we’re vigilant about it. Thank you for showing us that 🙏❤️
thank you. i've been watching palestinian doctors work at the point of exhaustion to save lives. the journalists who risked their lives to report on the horrors that were/are unfolding. yes, to the humanity of palestinian men and boys. the only way forward now is together.
This was a powerful read. I’ve shared it far and wide. Traumatized boys will have a much harder time living a healthy and happy life, and directly correlates with a more violent adult life. The oppression and dehumanizations must stop. STOP IT NOW
Important to point out that it’s not that traumatized boys will grow up to lead a “violent adult life”- that idea plays into their demonization & perpetuates the idea that they are ultimately the aggressors & that violence is coming from within them which isn’t the case.
It’s the fact that traumatized boys are traumatized because they grow up drowning in the violence of genocide/ colonialism/ occupation/ siege and as adult men they are STILL facing the same violence while trying to push back against it. There is no way for any Palestinian- kids, adults, elderly- to be fully “healthy and happy” until the occupation ends, the settler colonial state is dismantled and their lands/ people are liberated. They can experience collective joy alongside crushing grief & suffering because they are rooted in culture & community and that’s how we collectively struggle but there is no idealized happy or healthy state for an oppressed people.
Good clarification, thank you - I definitely meant it in the way you worded it here. I was speaking to the broader notion too of men and boys, but take your point on the more context you explain.
Haha yeah, it’s also sad cuz I feel like anything I say out of context will be taken the worst way possible because the most fked up beliefs ARE the dominant/ mainstream narrative. So it’s made me more vigilant about language & word choice etc. But sometimes I do just wanna scream and have that be enough to relay my point. 😔
It is good to be vigilant but its hard online. Everyone seems to take things or assume the worst, before asking questions. These dialogues are important but difficult. Thank you for sharing your thoughts :)
Thank you for this post. Thank you sharing these heartbreaking truths. Thank you for giving a voice to these men who deserve compassion, freedom, safety, and peace just as much as the women and children, boys and girls, that they love and mourn and protect do. Just as all Palestinians and all marginalized and oppressed peoples do. The violence of the colonizer always begets more violence; a cycle of violence that starts with and is perpetuated by them. #FreePalestine
Important to point out that the violence of the colonizer is not something that should be compared to or equated with the resistance of the colonized/ oppressed people in any way. It’s not a cycle. Empires have been dismantled by the oppressed people fighting back, and armed resistance has always been a critical part of revolutions. So when the oppressed fight back, they aren’t perpetuating some “cycle”, they are trying to break the cycle.
The oppressed are fighting for freedom. The colonizer is committing genocide to maintain colonialism. This is not a tit for tat situation. Resistance factions are fighting to free their people. They are fighting for liberation. The Zionist regime is massacring people because genocide is what it was founded on & it continues to mass murder Palestinians because that’s what ruthless colonial empires do to maintain their existence. It’s not a “violence creates more violence”. If there is one thing that should be classified as horrific violence here, it’s colonialism/ occupation/ apartheid. Everything else is part of a necessary struggle to put an end to violence.
Yes, I agree. That's why I said the violence is started by and perpetuated by them. I suppose cycle was the wrong word, but the world has gone from empires to colonizers to imperialists to capitalists raping and pillaging; it continues under new names and faces, always with the same goal - to exploit and destroy for their own gain.
I attended a funeral recently and an observation I made there was how people didn't seem to be very expressive in their grief apart from this one lady who at some point was wailing and people were starting at her!! Then later I saw a video of a Palestinian father crying and wailing for his two dead children; other men also joined him in crying! That contrast struck me; on one hand people look stoic in a funeral and in another part of the world some men are openly sharing thei grief! I shared this observation with my partner and he mentioned that the Palestinian men in this video seem more in touch with their humanity! I'm left wondering at what colonialism has done to our humanity 😭😭
Thank you for these thoughts, I desperately needed to read this and re-frame my calls for Palestinian liberation, not just in the name of women and children, but for ALL.
Crying. Powerful. Heartbroken .
I do not understand how people cannot see this as a human issue. They believe the lies the western media feeds them and refuse to even question this narrative. I have lost friendships over my support of a free Palestine, and I do not regret that. I cannot sit by while people suffer on this massive a scale. From the river to the sea 😥✊️
Thanks for such a powerful post. 🍉
Just finished reading this and wow. Just wow. Thank you so much for writing this Ayesha ❤️ such a beautiful beautiful piece. You’ve given me another lens to see how the colonial regime works to dehumanize Black & Brown People, and Palestinian Men & Boys specifically in this Moment. It makes so much sense for how it works in the settler narrative; we’ve always done it. And, just from reading your comments about Language, think you are so right and it is very important. That’s essentially what this post is about, in my opinion. It’s the Language we’re using and the notions we’ve tied to these words in white christian hegemony. That’s how we’re able to weaponize them against Black & Brown People. It’s what propaganda is. I think it’s important that we’re vigilant about it. Thank you for showing us that 🙏❤️
Thank you for this.
thank you. i've been watching palestinian doctors work at the point of exhaustion to save lives. the journalists who risked their lives to report on the horrors that were/are unfolding. yes, to the humanity of palestinian men and boys. the only way forward now is together.
Thank you for this heart ❤️ Ayesha.
This is incredibly powerful. The standard media lines are so insidious.
This was a powerful read. I’ve shared it far and wide. Traumatized boys will have a much harder time living a healthy and happy life, and directly correlates with a more violent adult life. The oppression and dehumanizations must stop. STOP IT NOW
Important to point out that it’s not that traumatized boys will grow up to lead a “violent adult life”- that idea plays into their demonization & perpetuates the idea that they are ultimately the aggressors & that violence is coming from within them which isn’t the case.
It’s the fact that traumatized boys are traumatized because they grow up drowning in the violence of genocide/ colonialism/ occupation/ siege and as adult men they are STILL facing the same violence while trying to push back against it. There is no way for any Palestinian- kids, adults, elderly- to be fully “healthy and happy” until the occupation ends, the settler colonial state is dismantled and their lands/ people are liberated. They can experience collective joy alongside crushing grief & suffering because they are rooted in culture & community and that’s how we collectively struggle but there is no idealized happy or healthy state for an oppressed people.
Good clarification, thank you - I definitely meant it in the way you worded it here. I was speaking to the broader notion too of men and boys, but take your point on the more context you explain.
Haha yeah, it’s also sad cuz I feel like anything I say out of context will be taken the worst way possible because the most fked up beliefs ARE the dominant/ mainstream narrative. So it’s made me more vigilant about language & word choice etc. But sometimes I do just wanna scream and have that be enough to relay my point. 😔
It is good to be vigilant but its hard online. Everyone seems to take things or assume the worst, before asking questions. These dialogues are important but difficult. Thank you for sharing your thoughts :)
Thank you for this post. Thank you sharing these heartbreaking truths. Thank you for giving a voice to these men who deserve compassion, freedom, safety, and peace just as much as the women and children, boys and girls, that they love and mourn and protect do. Just as all Palestinians and all marginalized and oppressed peoples do. The violence of the colonizer always begets more violence; a cycle of violence that starts with and is perpetuated by them. #FreePalestine
Important to point out that the violence of the colonizer is not something that should be compared to or equated with the resistance of the colonized/ oppressed people in any way. It’s not a cycle. Empires have been dismantled by the oppressed people fighting back, and armed resistance has always been a critical part of revolutions. So when the oppressed fight back, they aren’t perpetuating some “cycle”, they are trying to break the cycle.
The oppressed are fighting for freedom. The colonizer is committing genocide to maintain colonialism. This is not a tit for tat situation. Resistance factions are fighting to free their people. They are fighting for liberation. The Zionist regime is massacring people because genocide is what it was founded on & it continues to mass murder Palestinians because that’s what ruthless colonial empires do to maintain their existence. It’s not a “violence creates more violence”. If there is one thing that should be classified as horrific violence here, it’s colonialism/ occupation/ apartheid. Everything else is part of a necessary struggle to put an end to violence.
❤️🔥🙏🏾❤️🔥
Yes, I agree. That's why I said the violence is started by and perpetuated by them. I suppose cycle was the wrong word, but the world has gone from empires to colonizers to imperialists to capitalists raping and pillaging; it continues under new names and faces, always with the same goal - to exploit and destroy for their own gain.
I attended a funeral recently and an observation I made there was how people didn't seem to be very expressive in their grief apart from this one lady who at some point was wailing and people were starting at her!! Then later I saw a video of a Palestinian father crying and wailing for his two dead children; other men also joined him in crying! That contrast struck me; on one hand people look stoic in a funeral and in another part of the world some men are openly sharing thei grief! I shared this observation with my partner and he mentioned that the Palestinian men in this video seem more in touch with their humanity! I'm left wondering at what colonialism has done to our humanity 😭😭
Thank you so much for writing this in such a thought provoking and humanizing way.
You are right & you should say it.