[Käthe Kollwitz, The Mothers (Die Mütter), 1922–1923]
I’ve been following @nadiaaakd since October 7. Her bio at Twitter says nothing, but those of us who follow her will recognize her as a Palestinian citizen of Jordan who posts in English. She’s maybe Christian? I read her regularly and scan her feed for the consistent political insight and moral clarity she brings to the war and conflict. Empathy and solidarity across genuine lines of profound and bitter difference are possible. What follows is a post she posted about the reality of enmity.
A reality most of you refuse to accept is Israelis and Palestinians do not owe each other sympathies, I won’t tiptoe around anyone’s feelings and if I show sympathy to the innocent victims, hostages and their families on the Israeli side, I do not consider it transactional.
It would be nice, but it’s just not doable, not now, not ever.
At the end of the day we both *hopefully* are going to have to sit on the other side of a border and not kill each other.
But running purity tests on Palestinians “do you condemn *insert*” and on Israelis “do you denounce *insert*” is not going to do it.
We are enemies, we hate each other and many on both sides have shown that they celebrate each other’s pain openly without shame and justify it for their own belief of what will bring them freedom/security.
Never are we going to hug it out and get over it, so if you want to demonize Palestinians for expressing their open hate and contempt for Israelis, go ahead, but at least stop denying that the same deep hatred runs through Israeli society, is celebrated by their supporters, labeled as “strength” and is actually followed by actions far more disastrous and deadly than anything Palestinians have ever done.
I have pointed out shameful actions, even crimes committed by our diaspora and their supporters, will continue to do so, but if Israel can’t have a ceasefire for one month to even allow us to bury our dead, who are rotting in the streets, don’t expect us to stand still for you to have a memorial.
I pray the day comes when we can all mourn our victims without offending each other or use that pain to justify more atrocities against each other, but the day won’t be Oct. 7th, 2024.
I’m posting this before Yom Kippur, a year after October 7. I don’t think it’s right to imagine yourself in place of the other, because to do so is to impose yourself on them. Enmity does not get the last word in Nadia’s reflection in the face of catastrophic human suffering. But I think it’s right for all of us first to be able to confess and to be honest about our own sin and rage and hardening of heart and to work our way through it.
