Advocating for an end to the Israeli Occupation of Palestinians was the main reason I joined Daily Kos in 2006. My first years of online writing before joining this site, were devoted almost exclusively to this topic, and this continued for quite a few years over here too.
But in recent years I have gradually deserted it. Not just in writing here; I have also neglected activities like editing the website of the tiny but remarkable organization The Villages Group (a website which I had originally set up), and other aspects of activism.
It seems that I have lost hope. The almost-unnatural resilience of the system of evil manifesting itself most blatantly in the Occupation, but surfacing in other aspects of Israel-Palestine life, has literally worn me down. I guess I have always been somewhat of a slacktivist, compared with others. I just bumped into Amin Odeh the other day. He continues to vigil in downtown Seattle every week, rain or shine. We are of similar age, and grew up a few km from each other; he under the Occupation and later organizing against it in the First Intifada, me over it and at times directly serving it as a soldier.
But this is not about me. Better people, better activists than I get worn out by the Occupation and by I-P. It used to be a very active topic here. Now amazing voices like David Harris-Gershon haven’t written for months, despite momentous events on the ground. The indefatigable subir keeps the flame going, but even he writes about I-P only about once a month nowadays. Palestinian or other Arab bloggers who were here, some of them much loved by the greater site community, were driven out by relentless dog whistles and shithousery from a minority who wanted to silence them.
But this is not about us. It’s about Palestinian life, which is being robbed en masse, year after year, decade after decade, while we play the role of mute bystanders and accomplices. Palestinians cannot quit the battle for their freedom and dignity - because they are forced to be born into it.
Their actions may be misguided at times, but so have been the actions of every single indigenous people facing this universal type of onslaught by vastly stronger forces.
Palestinians and their few but loyal allies continue on. We should do our part to end the travesty of their ongoing subjugation. More about one recent high-profile battle fought in the courts and in the Israeli public arena, below the fold.