The Palestinian cause may be the defining political motivation of my life and a wellspring of my passion for human rights and interest in world affairs. It came to be when I lived in Jordan when I was 12 years old and saw the heartless conditions forced on Palestinians 35 years ago! (This did not begin on October 7th.) I’m not even sure if this is a real memory or something I manufactured but I remember standing on the Jordanian hills looking down into Israel and Palestine and right next to the border was an amusement park for the Israeli children. They rode their roller coasters and ate their cotton candy while the Palestinian and Jordanian kids were playing with sticks in the mud across a barbed wire fence. The placement of the park was only made out of spite and arrogance. Judging from some of the stuff I’ve seen lately, it was probably an authentic recollection and not at all unlike the “rave” that kicked off recent events. In those 35 years it’s only gotten worse. There have been long stretches of my life when I’ve had to ignore it - I just couldn’t handle the pain of constant attention to such a hopeless situation. Several years ago I was offered what is my current position, but working in the West Bank, and I said “No, I don’t want to live in a prison,” despite what good I may have brought and what sympathy I feel for Palestine. Then in the last couple of years it just seemed to get worse and worse and even more hopeless and depressing and now we are where we are. From the first moments I’ve been abjectly disgusted with the behavior of “my” government, but considering Anthony Blinken is pretty much my boss, I’ve held my tongue - I mentioned this obliquely in a post before the new year. But Aaron Bushnell quite honestly woke me up. His bravery and commitment and fortitude held a mirror up to my own cowardice. In the face of the slaughter of countless innocents, at the very least I need to be clear where my loyalties lie and not silently accept the barbarism of the U.S. and its proxies (or vice versa). So I wrote him a poem and am firmly expressing my belief and solidarity. To end on a brighter note, I’ve been heartened as Palestine has moved from the obscure back corners of human interest to a major driving issue in the world, as it should have been forever. The kids these days may suck at customer service, but they’re great at saying fuck you to the man. ✊
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