From the river to the sea

I am shouting into the void. I am whispering prayers into the fabric of the universe. In case an echo bounces back, or its shadow catches in the starlight and falls into the sea.

It is a privilege to remain silent in the face of oppression, in the face of violence and genocide. Perhaps I am only adding a clang to the noise, barely heard. But it matters, just as all the thousands of Palestinians who live, and all who have been killed, matter. Their lives are precious, and they have a right to resist the endless violences being enacted against them for simply existing on their land.

Decolonisation is not merely a word or a theory. History repeats itself in too many bloody ways, in a hundred different places at a hundred different times. The reality of decolonisation is not a poem. It is resistance, no matter the cost, because no cost is higher than the death that will come by not resisting.

There are no words, and there are too many words. I live in my own little bubble, afraid that saying something, posting something, would be merely performative. But how else can we speak out against oppression? These are the tools we have to create conversation, to learn, to be in solidarity. Let me start here. Let me bear witness. Let me not be desensitised to colonisation and racism and genocide. Let me not be complicit in this.

This is my drop in the ocean. From the river to the sea, may Palestine be free.

*

If you live in Australia and are rightly horrified at the atrocities, something actionable you can do is write to your local MPs, senators and congress people to ask our government to condemn Israel’s repeated attacks against civilian infrastructure in Gaza.

Here is a link to how you can do that in just 30 seconds.

You can also attend your local protests and rallies, show the government and the people that you care. You can educate yourself, use online resources such as the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network.