rivers and seas, land and trees
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. from the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.
a resounding cry circling the globe. this heartbroken chorus of solidarity rang out in the aftermath of the brutal retaliation orchestrated by Zionist occupying forces against Gazans who righteously struck back against their blockade on October 7th. it is they who have been labeled terrorists, and not the signees of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. not the occupying forces who violently displaced close to 1 million Palestinians from their homelands in 1948 (known as the Nakba, or "great catastrophe.") not the israeli government aiming missiles at Palestinian homes and hospitals, nor the settlers who have been given arms to eliminate Palestinians on the ground. the great catastrophe of displacement and dispossession never ended, it has only intensified over the course of 75 years. the language of "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" seem too small on the page to capture the onslaught of horrors persisting in Palestine.
israel has dropped over 12,000 tons of explosives on Gaza since October 7th, rivaling (if not surpassing) the nuclear force that the so-called United States used to decimate Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. nearly 10,000 Palestinians have been murdered by israel in that time from Gaza to the West Bank. we have seen mothers whispering parting words into the ears of their shrouded, pulseless children; defenseless and densely packed residential areas and refugee camps hurtled into oblivion by airstrikes; men brimming over with tears for the warm embraces they'll never share again. the unfathomable must be fathomed because it has happened. it is happening.
certainly the US has been working overtime to evade culpability, even though our government regularly grants israel blank check and carte blanche to carry out daily massacres. the recent aggression is no different: our War-Criminal-In-Chief responded by proposing to send billions more dollars to "aid" israel, then willfully casting doubt on the number of dead. Genocide Joe, indeed. meanwhile, mainstream media blathers slick propaganda to oil the cogs of the war machine, and the neocolonial bloodlust grows in fervor day by day.
along with its people, the land of historic Palestine weeps at 75 years of loss and lies. whole worlds reduced to rubble atop the troubled soil. i think of the olive trees, tended to by long lines of reverent stewards, that have been uprooted and burned by Zionist settlers doubling down on their "ownership" of the land through its destruction. October was the month of the olive harvest, but few were able to "return to their olive groves with their families and visit their ancient trees that have provided them with a livelihood for generations." instead, Palestinians were forced to mourn annihilated family trees last month as israel razed entire bloodlines from the registries.
the other day, after i contacted Congress to urge them to call for a ceasefire now and an end to israel's occupation, i placed calls to the prison where one of my penpals is incarcerated to (unsuccessfully) gain clarity on why she's tested positive for H. pylori for the fourth time this year. this is a serious gastric infection that usually comes from contaminated food or water. faced with the cruel indifference of the Lee Arrendale officials and weighed by the knowledge that many Palestinians, too, have recently fallen ill from unclean water (if they can find any at all in the wake of israel's barrage), i couldn't help but make connections between the carceral logics shaping life here in Georgia and life in Palestine, colloquially known as the world's largest open-air prison. the suffocation of barbed wire and metal doors complements that of stolen land where white phosphorus trickles down from above like caustic snow. placed side by side (though the comparison is not 1:1), i acknowledge how my penpal (locked away for escaping her abuser by any means necessary) and the Palestinian people (defiant in asserting their right to return) have been punished immeasurably for their survival.
zooming out a bit, the interconnected threat of US and israeli police states reveals itself again here in Georgia's capital city. the trees comprising the Weelaunee Forest come to mind, how their roots sung sorrow to the South River when the Mvskoke were ripped from their ancestral lands and forced to march west. now, all their intertwined fates will be endangered if Cop City materializes. more trees will be uprooted and water polluted if city officials enable militarized police are to enact terror more efficiently, an unknown number of whom are proud students of the IOF through the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) Program. the division between "here" and "there" grows fainter.
i cycle between cold rage and amorphous sadness at the brazen and widespread assault against life, against truth. still, as i wake up under skies unmottled by missiles, i am reminded that hope is not mine to lose. Palestinians remain unbowed under the crosshairs of their colonizers, and the rest of the world must follow suit.*
When the Tree rises up, the branches
shall flourish green and fresh in the sun
the laughter of the Tree shall leaf
beneath the sun
and birds shall return
Undoubtedly, the birds shall return.
The birds shall return.excerpt from "The Deluge and the Tree" by Fadwa Tuqan
hundreds of thousands have spread the call for a Free Palestine, and in doing so, layers of empire have been peeled back. the ongoing bombardment of Gaza heightened attention to the prolonged suffering on the African continent and throughout the African diaspora, which consequently raises questions on why and how that strife has gotten eclipsed. as i type this newsletter to U on my laptop, as we watch the unfolding ethnic cleansing in Palestine, we do so on devices powered by coltan, a mineral central to the genocide ravaging the DRC. sacrificed by corrupt regimes and multinational mining companies, millions of Congolese people have been subject to displacement, enslavement, sexual violence, and murder. Sudan has also been ravaged by displacement, sexual violence, and murder amid conflict and siege mobilized between the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces. and if we loop back to the Western powers at the center of Palestine's bloodshed, the Dominican Republic recently consulted with israel on how to build a militarized border wall separating them from Haiti, while Haiti also fends off an invasion logistically and financially supported by the US.
fully exposed, these entanglements can no longer be ignored. demands for a Free Palestine inherently amplify demands for a Free Sudan, Free Haiti, Free Puerto Rico, Free Congo, Free Hawaii, Free Oromia, Free Kashmir, Free Armenia, for freedom to any and all peoples struggling to breathe under the chokehold of violence and imperialist oppression. for those of us within the rotting imperial core, we have a duty to leverage our positions in whatever ways possible. the belly of the beast deserves nothing less than evisceration, our heads of state deserve nothing less than decapitation — metaphorically speaking, in case the feds watchin. as they manufacture consent for unrelenting atrocities, we are called to withhold our consent from the systems that empower them. no longer on our dime and no longer in our name.
we must remember what has always been true: we are many, they are few. if our commitment wavers, if the momentum grinds to a stop, imperial puppeteers will know what they can get away with. how might these mass mobilizations be channeled into sustained, organized liberation movements? how can we im/materially support each other through revolutionary sacrifice and risk-taking so that our friends/lovers/neighbors/comrades/etc. don't succumb to precarity? how will we distill our conscience and our consciousness in conversations with those who might not operate in the same digital spaces as us? there is much to study and even more to do, which should not immobilize us. quite the opposite. we should take heart and be inspired.
rivers and seas, land and trees serve as our eternal witnesses and teachers. they hold the knowledge that violent regimes hope to erase because, through them, truth flows and resistance grows. the olive groves predate the Israeli ethnonationalist state, and they will outlive its clutches; so shall the Palestinian people. despite their pain, the sandy soils in Sudan reverberate with the chants of Thawra pouring from the throats of displaced Sudani women, humming with affirmation that revolution will come. and so on. the futures of the dispossessed beckon, so may our grief and rage be openings through which we reach to learn from the earth and move as the waters do from their sources, so we may throttle empire once and for all.
from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.
from the Dajabón to the Caribbean.
from the Nile to the Red.
and beyond, and between, and beyond.
peace,
Dkéama
* i say that not to minimize the immediate and long-term effects of incalculable trauma that Palestinians have experienced under colonial rule, especially since October 7th, but instead to emphasize that their devotion to reclaiming their homelands is indomitable.
a sampling of suggestions:
place calls to your senators and representatives to demand a ceasefire now and an end to Israel's occupation of Palestine. this form makes it easier, as does this one, though i prefer the script language on the USCPR's site. if calls are not accessible for U, USCPR created a guide for sending emails.
peep the guide that rise created for folks to tend to their nervous systems during immense and unyielding grief.
attend protests to show your solidarity with Palestine. The People's Forum is organizing the 11/4 National March on Washington, projected to be the largest pro-Palestine demonstration in US history.
make sure to prioritize digital security before/during/after in-person actions! this post (accompanying transcript) and this post have incredibly useful tips.
and of course, make sure to mask up both to protect yourself from COVID-19 transmission and to deter surveillance! the People's CDC released a guide on making protests more accessible which is helpful for both organizers and attendees.
if in-person demonstrations are not safe or accessible for you, here's some guidance for additional things you can do (provide childcare, write letters/essays, pray Tahajjud, get educated, prepare meals, educate others, organize fundraisers, engage in arts activism). i would also add any form of digital organizing (including creating agitprop), banner drops, wheatpasting and/or flyer distribution, and learning how to coordinate offsite jail support (tracking locations of people who have been arrested during actions, calling to figure out bail and arraignment details, and/or holding safe space for people with snacks, water, and compassionate energy to help them decompress after they get out).
as a follow-up, look into political organizations near you through which you can prioritize focused, long-term action. personally, i plan on following the curiosity i have around Community Movement Builders, as well as the Atlanta chapters of Black Alliance for Peace and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.
i've been following @sbeih.jpg and @wizard_bisan1 (Creator bless and protect her while she's on the ground) for crucial updates on what's happening in Palestine, and @bsonblast and @yassmin_a have been providing invaluable context on the violence in Sudan. i haven't yet come across accounts reporting on the conditions in the Congo, Haiti, or many of the other exploited nations whose struggles have been coming to the fore lately, but when i do, i'll be sure to cite them in the next issue.
that said, i also recommended strategizing ways of relying less on social media. though it's been an invaluable source of education and connection, we can't ignore the fact that our access to Instagram (heavily cited throughout this issue) or Twitter can be revoked at a moment's notice by the capitalist overlords who own those apps. this guide isn't organizing-specific, but the tips are a jumping off point for ways to broaden our reach beyond the algorithm.
honor the guidelines of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. recent focus has been on boycotting Disney, McDonalds, and Starbucks, but there are other brands and companies to avoid too.
peep the events happening during November 6th-13th for the Week of Action to Stop Cop City. from November 10th-13th, Block Cop City will take place where people opposing the training compound will march on Weelaunee Forest.
like i said, it's mad things to study. i'll link some of the things that have caught my attention, but don't let me limit your imagination! explore and explore some more, dear reader.
Palestinian Youth Movement's reading list (compilation)
All the Walls Will Fall: 2023 Palestine Liberation Resource List (compilation)
Solidarity with Palestine - A Radical Black Feminist Mandate: A Reading List (compilation)
includes the recording of the 10/22 panel Black Feminist Writers & Palestine
All Out for Palestine: Palestine Digital Action Toolkit (compilation)
"Moving Towards Home" and "Apologies to All the People of Lebanon" by June Jordan (poetry)
My Heart, oh, Palestine by Fariha Roisin (newsletter)
Being Apolitical is Political, Beloved by Ayana Zaire Cotton (newsletter)
The Internet Determines What is Remembered and Who is Forgotten, A Micro-Influencer’s Guide to Being on the Right Side of History, Having Faith Means Taking Action, and Grief’s Many Faces by Neema Githere (newsletters)
Can Palestinian Men be Victims? Gendering Israel's War on Gaza by Maya Mikdashi (essay from 2014)
Grief Beyond Language by Nicki Kattoura and Nada Abuasi (essay)
Pandemic Apathy Allows Genocide: A look at the connection between pandemic public health and the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people by ShiShi Rose (essay)
The Unspoken Colonial Contradiction of Haiti by Erica Caines (essay)
Peace, If You’re Willing To Fight For It? by Eva D (essay)
"Our peace, a true peace, will be an offering to this planet. It will be rooted in truth and justice. It will be cultivated through collaboration and consensus. Our peace will be the soil that situates itself under your nails when offering seedlings to the earth. Our peace will be the cacophony of living sounds that you can access when you learn to listen to the forest. Our peace will be the silence at the altar and in the graveyard, when our hearts are finally still enough to grieve. To thank the martyrs. To honor the ancestors. Our peace will be our children at our feet, struggling to even conceive of a world where their freedom was not a forgone conclusion."
Protect the Land by System of a Down