It is overwhelming to view images of the ethnic cleansing assault Palestinians are enduring in Gaza. The trauma of seeing ones homes, schools, clinics bombed into smithereens, of running with your children from air strikes, of seeing your neighbors die, of burying your dead amidst all this is a measure of human suffering we rarely witness.
The ubiquity of cell phones & cameras combined with social media have forever ended the days of innocence when we got our news only from cinema newsreels & network news. No one today can claim ignorance, even if some still cling to indifference.
It’s a terrifying moment of escalated ethnic cleansing for Palestinians & it’s unbearable to witness. But cameras are also capturing resistance which we would likely not have known about. This woman is an Israeli activist in Tel Aviv protesting the war on Gaza. Tel Aviv is not very far from the border of Gaza & when Israel conducts its murderous sieges in Gaza, it sets off sirens & red alerts in the city to scare the hell out of residents. In the current political climate where Israeli politicians are calling for Palestinian blood & inciting violence against Palestinians, this woman & other Israelis took to the streets to protest the bombing in Gaza.
The antiwar movement is small & weak in Israel & like US media & the antiwar movement here, their activities don’t get much coverage. So we should take a moment to honor these activists for standing against slaughter in a political climate where there are consequences to pay for resistance. The truth is, such Israelis in alliance with Palestinian intifada & African refugees are the force that will bring Zionism down & help establish a democratic secular state rid of racism & suitable for human beings to live & love in.
(Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)