settler colonialism is violence
my heart and mind are fixated on Palestine. i'll defer to the perspectives of a few Palestinian and Jewish advocates as well as sharing part of a piece i wrote in 2021 about supporting Palestine and opposing the Israeli state without feeding anti-semitism.
some historical context on the current resistance in Palestine.
a post from Ari L. Monts, a Black american Jew.
his post includes links at the bottom to more media from Palestinian thinkers.
"but as a descendant of black people illegally brought here by settlers, i and my struggles will always on the side of those whose land is occupied, those who had their homes and lands and histories wiped out. all of them too, not just the non-violent ones. oppression is violent, and to resist it, violence is very often necessary. every day on turtle island and in palestine, indigenous people are relegated to small, under-resourced spaces, given subpar educational opportunities, medical care, short life expectancy, over-represented in prison populations. this is violent, even if life goes on all around it. especially so. it is violent to have music festivals outside of an apartheid fence, to play concerts in cities where police are killing people to build cop training cities. we are desensitized to it, we can wake up and make our coffee and feed our dependents and complain that the train is $2.90 and go about our buys lives within the violence, but that does not mean we live peacefully. that does not mean peace has ever been achieved. my and your comfort are not indicators of peace. because this lack of peace harms and kills people every day, not just when the oppressed rise up and it makes the news. i blame the state and its violence for every person who is faced with the threat of sexual violence—ESPECIALLY the ones not “important” enough to have videos of that violence plastered online. settler colonialism kills people every day—with police and military, by denying education and healthcare, by destroying people’s hope of a future—and will continue to until we destroy the state. every person who dies a violent death in a settler colonialist state dies because of the state, and those who side with it. i mourn their deaths and blame the nations which make violence the only option for change. oppressed people need to be free. it is deep inside all of us to resist. and i must support all peoples who free themselves and their people by any means necessary"
24 tishrei 5784
indigenous people’s day
Ari L Monts
a WWCB post from 2021 on supporting Palestine without being anti-semitic
TLDR: listen to jewish and palestinian pro-palestinian activists. in addition to learning about and supporting BDS, it may be useful to support Pro-Palestinian marches in your city. i also suggest following Mohammed El-Kurd's twitter for updates from the ground. we all have a responsibility to examine our words and thoughts related to this violence to make sure we are not intentionally or unintentionally making generalizations about jews or using antisemitic rhetoric or tropes. calling out the violence perpetrated by Israel is not an example of antisemitism.
on being pro-palestine without being antisemitic
i am not an expert on middle-eastern history or politics. i am not an expert onjudaism or islam. i am a student of liberation and abolition. i have beenreading about and studying perspectives related to palestine for ten years. isay all of this to say: you do
what we could become
as always, i hope this was useful. if folks have further perspectives or opportunities for support, please feel free to share in the comments.
with hope,
katie wills evans