It sounds ridiculous to say, but unfortunately it needs to be said:
If you are not Jewish, a Jewish person -- me -- is giving you permission to speak out against the greatest crime committed (and still being committed) in our lifetime: Israel's genocide of Palestinians.
I have seen the hesitation of non-Jews at getting involved in the debate about Israel vs. Palestinians. They have said things like, "I'm not Jewish, so I can't really understand their experience; therefore I'm uncomfortable offering my opinion." (Tellingly, I have never heard anyone say the same thing about not being Palestinian.) Or, "I know it's wrong, but I feel like I have no right to make my opinion known because so many Jewish people are hurting too and I'm not in their shoes..."
However, when the facts are as clear and unequivocal as they have been for months:
- that Israel has now killed over 35,000 Palestinians (plus thousands more who have not been found because they are buried under rubble), 24,000 of them women and children; and 14,000 of them children,
-that Israeli leaders have made one genocidal statement after another, from Prime Minister Netanyahu to President Herzog to the Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, not to mention many Israeli politicians,
-that a campaign of forced starvation against Gazans that is so obvious that even the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, who is the widow of U.S. Senator John McCain and the mother of vocal Israel supporter and Zionist Megan McCain, said yesterday that there is "full-blown famine" in Gaza,
-that 80% of Gazans are homeless and living in miserable conditions without food, water, health care or sanitation, AND STILL being bombed and sniped at by the Israeli Defense Forces,
-that when the entire healthcare infrastructure of Gaza has been destroyed, along with the entire education system,
-that 500 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by the IDF since October 7th,
-that Israeli soldiers themselves say that they are ordered to act on the assumption that all Palestinians are terrorists and therefore they may kill any Palestinian without distinction if they are fighters or civilians...
...then you don't need to be Jewish or Palestinian to have the right to speak out against it.
Some Jews may (and will) tell you otherwise, but I will shamelessly play the identity politics game to step in and tell you: I'm a Jewish person. I'm waving my Jewish magic wand:
There. You now have permission.
Don't believe anyone when they tell you, "You're not Jewish and you're not Palestinian; you have no right to say anything." That argument is B.S. and is meant to intimidate. You DO have a right because you are something that trumps membership in either group: you are a human being.
Look at this example: everyone agrees that the Holocaust was wrong. No one says, "Well, I'm not a Jew or a German, so I'm not really sure what happened there; I have no right to an opinion." Everyone in the world, no matter if they're in India or Peru or Korea, knows that the Nazis were fucking monsters and the Jews (and some other groups) were the victims, without any equivocation.
The same goes for the genocides that happened in Bosnia or Rwanda or Armenia. No one says, “Oh, I’m not Bosnian/Croat/Serb so I can’t really opine on what happened.” No one says, “Since I’m not Hutu or Tutsi I can’t determine whether that was genocide.” No one says, “I’m not Armenian so I can’t say.”
And the Holocaust, as well-documented as it was for an event of its time, was not nearly as well-documented as the crimes that have been happening for the last 7 months in Palestine. None of the abovementioned genocides were documented in such detail, in real time, in spite of Israel's refusal to let foreign journalists into Gaza. So the argument that "I still don't really know what's happening there" is invalid.
The situation in Gaza and the West Bank is a different atrocity from the Holocaust in the details, but the principle is not. Like the Holocaust, what is happening in Palestine is a genocide, which is an offense to humanity.
Human beings, no matter what their ethnicity, geography, nation, or religion (or lack of), all agree on basic moral priniciples. We all agree that, in general, it is wrong to murder, rape, humiliate, lie, and steal. We all agree, no matter where we're from, that, in general, it is wrong to murder children.
Basic morality dictates that if 38 kids are murdered, it is wrong to murder 14,000 kids and starve the rest. We all know this in our hearts. Trauma-fueled nationalism and sectarian hate will bend and twist this truth inside our hearts by making justifications for such an evil act. It will amplify paranoias, ignorance and prejudices to make it seem okay. But deep down, everyone -- even those who are perpetrating it -- knows it is wrong.
This deep-down knowledge is what comes from having a basic morality and conscience as a human being. You are a part of the human community on this earth. It is therefore not only your right, but also your duty, to speak out against the greatest crime committed in our lifetime. And to support others who do so when they come under attack.
Speaking up does make a difference. Prominent U.S. universities such as Brown University and Evergreen University have been forced to discuss divestment from Israel and U.S. weapons manufacturers, thanks to the brave, smart, and persistent efforts of students from all groups and backgrounds who chose to speak up by protesting on their campuses. The massive wave of student protests has also focused the attention of the world on the U.S. power structure and its corruption by big business and foreign governments: namely, the arms industry and the Israel lobby. The voices of celebrities and prominent citizens such as Susan Sarandon and the Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer all work to shift world opinion on this so-called "war" which is nothing but a genocide. Speaking up has educated and changed the minds of many people who supported, either actively or tacitly, the occupation before. Speaking up saves lives. And, if I dare say so, speaking up will make it easier for us to live with ourselves.
Header photo: Anadolu/Getty Images