Whether or not you hold political opinions surrounding October 7th, the bloodshed and loss of humanity is undeniable. It has been a full year since our screens and our remote connections with the rest of the world have been, and continue to be, all about families being separated, statistics of loss and expenses, and a map of a 140 square mile territory. Unfortunately, dishearteningly, disappointingly, it has only escalated further as more and more people are increasingly affected.
It is heavy to take into heart that this is a mere subject for debate to some. That their intentions are set somewhere else rather than in the interest of our shared humanity. It keeps being brought up that the means of solidarity with Palestinians have to take root from a place of absolute empathy, that there needs to be a common ground; which is more often than not, loss.
A frustrating reservation: shouldn’t the nexus of being made out of the same flesh, blood, and bone be enough?
There is a feeling of defeat in remembering that across generations, witnessing such atrocities is common. Through the normalized desensitization and compartmentalization, the truth lies within the eyes of our parents, of our older kin, of our educators, of our neighbors, of strangers in the streets, of ours. The amount of carnage that we have witnessed and continue to witness within our lifetimes is unstopping. That this isn’t new. That this isn’t the first time, and you could only hope it is the last. That this numbness, this non-expressive reaction, a restraint of emotions we hold upon seeing documentations of fathers and mothers and aunts and uncles, of grandparents, of children crying and bleeding for their innocence, is normalized. That besides our shared humanity of having our senses, our emotions, our brains–we relate in the amount of unimaginable violence we keep witnessing.
We all have an idea of the recent college unrest that happened across the country; we watched it. Students declaring that they will not be complacent with their institutions to invest in funding the genocide of innocent people. Few of us know that there was also college unrest throughout the (late 1940s to early 1950s) McCarthyism era, throughout the civil rights movements of the 1960s, throughout the progression of the Vietnam War. That the most extreme acts of protest have been done more times than it should have been in this current century. That these pleadings of mercy from millions of people have seemingly not been enough.
An exhausting observation, realization: it keeps happening again and again. The bloodshed for the machine and humanity’s fight against it.
The critical and the outspoken are only becoming younger and younger. High schoolers are participating in walkouts and protests, all while balancing societal expectations imposed upon their age group; to be compliant with authority and yet chase dreams. These demands of accountability in the shape of people are only getting more tender in age while youthful resistance grows roots.
More and more are becoming aware because they are being directly affected by these decisions of misplaced priorities. The approach being taken to these world issues are only going back to the intrinsic humanity.
This is all to be said out of hope. For the wishes that future generations do not need to sit with this unexplainable grief, to be pushed in a corner for feeling the rightful emotions. That this culture of apathy be desecrated along with the inhumanity that keeps consuming the minds of those daring enough.
It has been 367 days since October 7, 2023. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, as of October 8, 2024, 41,870 civilians have been identified to be killed. This number includes more than 16,756 children, while more than 10,000 people are reported to be missing. At least 97, 166 people are injured.
Since the Nakba, since the establishment of the state of Israel, the United States has sent over $200 billion in security and military aid. It has been 267 days since the student-led walkout in solidarity and demand of an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine calling out to the City of Union City.
Take those numbers in. Those are all human lives. Humans just like me and you. Do not subject them to mere political topics. Those are human lives. You bleed the same as they have bled.
Take care.
Free Palestine.
