Anthology: Reflections on US!

Introduction

Nella van den Brandt & Saad Halawani

This anthology consists of short pieces in various styles written in response to the eruption
and acceleration of violence since 7 October in Israel/Palestine. The contributions are by
scholars working at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations of Coventry University,
UK. Many are versed in the study of peace, conflict and reconciliation, some are at home in
studying social movements, migration, faith relations. Some of us have lived through violent
conflict ourselves. Many think of themselves as activist scholars, who hope to contribute to
building a better world with their research projects. The authors of this anthology are both
junior and senior scholars. Many ages, nationalities, and ethnicities are present among us, as
well as faith, secular, and syncretic traditions. The anthology is the product of a research
community that in a way represents all of us – the world. This means that different
positionings in terms of power exist among the authors, since that is part of the world we
inhabit. Diverging vulnerabilities partly explain that a number of us wished to remain
anonymous. In a contemporary setting, including academic contexts, especially in the West
but also beyond, where space is dramatically shrinking for critical voices that point at the
colonial histories and imperial present of Israel/Palestine, this is no trivial matter.

This anthology is meant to create an accessible venue for finding words, and expressing
ourselves, starting from various backgrounds, engagements and life stories. We hope it can
be a way of holding each other in times that make us angry, despair and weep. The
contributions are written out of us being heartbroken with injustice and violence taking place
in Gaza – the latter at this very moment backed up and fanned by many governments that
claim to represent us. As sociologist Gargi Bhattacharyya writes (2023), heartbreak is at the
heart of an awareness of and living with injustice. We are broken apart by the world we are
in. Our heartbroken contributions are visceral responses to bearing witness to space, land,
mobility, rights allocated to some more than others. We refuse staying silent in the face of
the Palestinians being drummed in a corner, securitised, incarcerated, killed. We condemn
apartheid and call for justice, freedom and equality for all people living in what is historically
the land of Palestine. We speak out, even if we have to do it anonymously, and even if we
scramble for words. Feminist scholar Sara Ahmed (2004) understands emotions as the effect
of the world being imprinted on us, and as moving us or keeping us in place. In speaking out,
we channel and collectively carry anger, despair and sadness, and we amplify hope. This can
be done in many ways, but ours is one of short reflections in the various styles that suit us.
Because it is a mode of speaking out in which everyone can participate.

We are together an ocean of grief for those who were murdered or are hurt. We grieve for
the emptiness on which settler colonialism has thrived in many places around the world: a
notion that land can be taken because it is presented as empty, the raw and ugly emptiness
after destruction, the emptiness of the hollow rhetoric of freedom and democracy. We firmly
denounce this violent emptiness and loss of humanity. What we are hoping for is a world of
full-ness, of something better and completely new for those who come next. What ultimately
moves all of us is what decolonial activist Houria Bouteldja (2016) has called radical love – we
are dreaming of a world in which distinctions of class, god and skin fade away in the face of
who we could be together. And for this kind of radical loving humanity to unfold and flourish,
we call out all those in power to abolish racial capitalism, patriarchy and settler colonialism.
The new to come should be a world where no-one ever feels heartbroken again.

The writings express the opinions of the individual authors, and are not representative of the
views of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations or Coventry University.

References
Ahmad, Sara. 2004. The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bhattacharyya, Gargi. 2023. We, the Heartbroken: Reflective Essays on Revolutionary Brokenheartedness.
London: Hajar Press.
Bouteldja, Houria. 2016. Whites, Jews, and Us: Toward a Politics of Revolutionary Love. Cambridge, MA:
MITPress.
From Coventry to Gaza

Jessica Northey

Closed are the minds of those if they cannot see

Beyond 7 October 2023
To the pain of a whole people
Trapped, restrained, dispossessed.
Once again, this repeats,
in circles.
And Coventry, our city of Peace,
sells its weapons,
As the bombs rain down on the hell which has descended on Gaza
I Grieve for Those I Do Not Know

To my diary, 10 November 2023

Anonymous

“We are not alright”

Today was difficult. During one of my transfixed-on-TV-news periods, I hear this deeply
upsetting call from a hospital in Gaza, from the chaos of the violent conflict in Israel-
Palestine. This call is accompanied by flows of cruel and unforgiving imagery, from big
picture to very personal grief; images of loss and desperation, of those who have died or
those who are missing. It seems to be senseless, inexplicably inappropriate, such loss and
grief. I grieve for those I do not know. This is my humanity -why can it do this?

It is so hard to find the empathy that we need, so hard to move forward from the personal
pain of engagement. Nothing can at this moment replace the losses, fill the chasmic gaps in
families that are suddenly so wide open.

These are dreams that are shattered; hopes that have been dashed, buried under
impersonal bombed concrete or by very personal savagery. The pain of the barbarism of 7 th
October has become less not more bearable because of the time and actions that have
followed.

I am continually reminded how consequences matter, intended or not. Hate has escaped
from its constraints, shaken off its shackles; I hear friends and those I love say terrible things
about each other, and to and of me. Hatred of the ‘other’, antisemitism and islamophobia
pervade our precious space crowding out humanity in the urgency to divide, to land blows
on the ‘other’, to help with our sense-making, to assert our need for identity and belonging,
our tribes. The consequence here in home terrain is scary. I see and feel the struggle in our
multi-cultural, multi-faith neighbourhoods, the fragility of the cohesion and coherence that
has served us well with the diversity that so enriches our humanity and should strengthen
our resilience. For the moment that precious coexistence is at risk.

A close friend tells me of her struggle… During such times, I find my ability to stay calm and
true to my values is really tested… this is both clear and real for me. It is my struggle too.

And we are not alright

Reflections on US!

Saad Halawani

1.

An ode to dust

Everything is covered in blue and grey

The dust this time is different
Dust erupts, and settles
Faces covered in dust
Faces look all the same
In the steel blue of the dust
Tears engrave ravines on cheeks
Through the dust
Clothes and houses are covered in dust
Toys are covered in dust
They miss the hands of children
But children are also covered in dust
Dust will accumulate
Into ashes
From the ashes
Like the phoenix
We will rise!

2.

The dance of pain

Palm trees sway in the wind

Dancing to the tunes of a lonely piper
Shading a couple from the autumn sun
The fronds rhyme like a dancer's arms
Silence
They await the approaching wave
Air, sand, shards of glass
All blow up in a moment
No warning
The violent burst shakes the fronds
The Palm is used to such upheaval
But it never gets used to the screams of children
Reaching up into the night

3.

Shades

Light embarks on its journey

Across night skies, glistening in agony
Its pale hue traverses the cityscape
Creating shadows as it crosses from West to East
The eerie shade moves slowly away from the light
In its turn running scared
The haunting engulfs the spectators
Who stand powerless
Their eyes tracking the angel of death
Instead of ushering delights,
Light carries torment in its path
Light brings death to the field
Yet when light breaks, a rainbow is born

4.

The scream

Hanging between heaven and earth

A scream resounds to eternity
A baby yelling in the abyss
A mother’s eyes glaring into blindness
A father calls out for his children
Calling them to dinner
Yet he hears nothing back
For only screams echo back into the emptiness
From far away children’s laughs are heard
They are not anywhere to be seen
They left to the skies, laughing at the remainder of us
The scream remains
Hanging on a wall in some museum
Possibly a reminder
Possibly a minder

5.

Bearing witness ‫الشاهد‬

(To Jaser) )‫(إلى جاسر‬

Yet you stand alone ‫تقف وحيدا‬

‫في وسط كل هذا الظالم‬
In all of this darkness
‫وتحمل قلبك الثقيل بين يديك‬
You hold your heavy heart in your hands
‫تلك اليدان اللتان تحمالن ما ال يطاق‬
The hands that have done the unbearable
‫مجبولتان بالدم والتراب‬
Covered in blood and mud
‫ال تريد أن تغسلهما‬
Yet you don’t want to wash them
‫ففيهما بقايا األعزاء على قلبك‬
They hold the remnants of what is dear to your
‫فيهما ذكرى الضحكات‬
heart
‫وذكرى االبتسامات‬
The memory of laughter ‫وذكرى قصص رويت‬
The memory of smiles ‫وتواريخ سطرت‬
The memory of stories shared ‫وانت ال تريد أن تغسلهما بعد‬
And histories made ‫ففيهما أصول من أحبائك‬
Yet you don’t want to wash them :‫وقد و َد َعتْك أرواحهم‬
They carry the essence of your loved ones ‫ وعسى أال نكون نُسينا‬،‫أ َملُنا ان نكون قد ذهبنا‬
Whose spirits are bidding you farewell ‫عيناك تتذكران حبك األول‬
Gone but not forgotten they hope ‫وصرخة طفلك األولى‬

Your eyes remember your first love ،‫ والخطوة األولى‬،‫ والسن األولى‬،‫العناق األول‬
 Your children’s first cry ‫الذكرى األولى لكل شيء‬
First hug, first tooth, first steps, first everything ‫ولكن الصمت يعم اآلن‬
Yet all falls silent ‫ال تستطيع أن تنفض ما رأت عيناك‬

For you can’t unsee what was done to them ‫وال ما صنعت يداك‬

You bid them farewell, yet no one told them ‫ لكن لم يخبرهم أحد عن‬.‫ وأودعتهم‬،‫تودعهم‬
‫الفراق‬
You stand alone
‫تقف وحيدا‬

6.

Perspectives

22 thousand is 1 %
1% is 140 million in China.
3.3 million in the US
1.2 million in Japan
850 thousand in Turkey
300 thousand in Mozambique
Next time when get in your car, remember
When you put lunch on your table, remember
When you feed your pet, remember
Those who are left without names
Those who are left without smiles
Those who dared to dream
Remember these are real
Names, not mere numbers
How Should the Oppressed Die?

Anonymous

Screens should broadcast death every second.

Brains should keep images of broken limbs and countless corpses.
Minds should imagine babies rotting to death.
Eyes should see mothers burying their grooms and brides.
Hearts should stop as the lonesome grandfather bids farewell to the soul of his soul.
Souls should be touched as the husband writes a final love letter to his dead pregnant wife,
my beloved he calls her.

Only and only then will the badge of human be bestowed, until then the suffering is distant,
is passable, even forgiven, and sometimes a lie to many.

In summary, the oppressed should die a high TRP death for the world to recognise that
they’ve died unjustly.
Who Are You “Pro”?

Anna Gillions

We stand shivering
Feeling small
Rural town, no urban crowds here

A single flag
A motley crew
Humanist, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, Atheist

But they come

One by one, and in two’s and threes
Drawn by the call for peace

They come to sign

Names etched on waterlogged paper
Ink running like tears

They come to talk

Sheltering under our umbrellas
Sharing horror and anger

They come to cry

An instinct that in this place
Someone will understand

They come to check

Flash of ID badge
“We’re here to keep you safe –
Who are you ‘pro’?”

We are pro humanity

We are pro peace
We are pro ceasefire

Not what the badges want to hear

They want a “side”
Clean statistical reports

We stand shivering,
Feeling bonded
By humanity and pain
Hindutva and Zionism: The Fatal Embrace

Vishal Sharma

“Everyone has the right to refute any opinion. But no one has the right to prevent its
expression.” ― Periyar E.V. Ramasamy

The inclusive anti-colonial idea of India, whose basic tenets were pluralism and sovereignty,
served as the foundation for the India my ancestors envisioned. However, the exclusive
colonial idea of Hindutva, whose basic tenets are absolutism and dependency, has formed
the foundation of New India's governance ever since the regime change in 2014.
However, Hindutva, which exploits the Hindu religion as a shield, has also attacked India's
sovereign system by giving power to a purportedly non-political group that draws its
inspiration from Fascist and Nazi ideologies to decide governance-related matters. Because
of their shared anti-Islamic sentiment and the way their Hindutva ideology aligns with
Zionist ideology, this group is also crucial to the current government's efforts to change
policies in the Middle East.

It is disheartening to observe how a country that was born out of an anti-colonial movement
and served as a model for similar struggles around the globe is now supporting colonization
thanks to the actions of its current government. Open support is given to pro-Israel
messaging while Palestinian solidarity is being suppressed. Sadly, the same country that was
among the first non-Arab countries to acknowledge the Palestinian people's struggle is now
among the first non-Western countries to support the genocide of the Palestinian people.
My thoughts go out to all the Muslims, Jews, Christians, and members of other communities
who have lost their lives in this protracted conflict. I also apologize to the Palestinian people
for the current position of my country's government and look forward to the day when my
fellow Indians, some of whom are currently blinded by Hindutva's venom, realize their error
and ensure that Hindutva meets the same end as fascism and Nazism.

Further reading
Deb, Abhik. 2023. ‘How the BJP Is Using the Israel-Palestine Conflict for Domestic Gain’, Scroll.in, 9 October,
https://scroll.in/article/1057325/how-the-bjp-is-using-the-israel-palestine-conflict-for-domestic-gain
Jaffrelot, Christophe. 2023. ‘From Savarkar to Golwalkar, why Hindutva admires Zionism’, The Indian Express, 7
December, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/from-savarkar-to-golwankar-why-
hindutva-admires-zionism-9057486/
Shankar Aiyar, Mani. 2023. ‘What's Similar Between Hindutva and Zionism: Modi and Netanyahu Are as Similar
as Two Peas in a pod’, The Week, 24 December, https://www.theweek.in/columns/Mani-Shankar-
Aiyar/2023/12/15/whats-similar-between-hindutva-and-zionism.html
Thanawala, Sarah. 2023. ‘Shh, Don’t Support India’s Official Position on Palestine or Sec 153A Will Be Imposed
on You!’, New Click, 1 November, https://www.newsclick.in/shh-dont-support-indias-official-position-
palestine-or-sec-153a-will-be-imposed-you
Unknown. 2021. ‘A Struggle Between Two Ideas of India’, The Hindu, 15 August,
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/a-struggle-between-two-ideas-of-india/article35910823.ece
Suzanne Vernon-Yorke

1.
We cut up paper tanks.
We pleaded "humanise to sympathise".
We lit candles.
We cried a lot.
We didn't sleep.
"What is the cause of war?" Asked the priest.
"Stupidity." Said the child.
And it became a prayer.
"God, why are human beings so stupid?"

2.
A poem because the world is stuck in a spin-cycle:
I understand it when we look at the brokenness of the world and feel helplessness and
distress.
But we're not powerless, whatever our circumstance is, we have some choice in our active
responses.
We have the power to resist hate and surrender our souls to the healing work of
forgiveness.
If we don't want to see the same cycles repeat, we need to repeat after me, "love sets you
free".
 #TheHeartless 💔

Ulya Fuhaidah

I can't sleep... 😴💤
Feeling breathless.
Once upon a time, I witnessed the heartbreaking loss of these precious souls. 💔 #TragicLoss
#NeverForget #HeartbreakingMoments
🌟 Children must be actively engaging in play and treasuring every moment!

💫 👨👩👧👦 Blessed with a happy family! ❤️

#FreeOfTerror ✌️✨

They must be innocent people. 🌟 #Innocence #PureSouls

Why are you heartless? 💔

💔 Heartbroken 💔
Sending love and strength to all those who have experienced the unimaginable pain of losing
a loved one.
Why are you heartless? 💔
Would you like it if your beautiful daughter die?!
Your beautiful mother 💖
Your uncle, aka the coolest guy in the fam?!
They are missing amazing father today.
Why did you spill their blood? 💔

Why are you heartless? 💔

Why not just share the homeland? 💙

Why be enemies? 🌍

Let's come together and share the water and the air. 💧🌬️ #Unity #PeacefulCoexistence

Aren't you from the same land? 🌍✨

Will end up in the same land ✨

Why are you heartless? 💔

What are you looking for? 🤔
I stand with Palestine
#Palestine will be free, from the land to the sea#
Do We Need a #BalfourMustFall Movement? Contending With the Statue and Legacy
of Arthur Balfour

Michael Kilmister

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour by George Charles Beresford, 1902
© National Portrait Gallery, NPG x8451, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DEED

In November 2022, two female members of the group Palestine Action entered Britain’s
House of Commons and splashed the statue of former prime minister and foreign secretary
Arthur Balfour with fake blood. The women then glued themselves to the statue, unfurled a
small Palestinian flag and shouted ‘free Palestine’ before being arrested by police for criminal
damage (The Guardian, 2022). One of the demonstrators uttered ‘Palestinians have suffered
for 105 years because of this man, Lord Balfour – he gave away their homeland and it wasn’t
his to give.’

Who was Balfour?

To understand these women’s dramatic act of protest a brief explanation of the Balfour
Declaration is necessary. Signed by Arthur Balfour on behalf of the British government in
1917, it pledged support for the ‘establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish
people.’ The document sought to protect ‘the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine,’ but it did not give them political or national rights. The Balfour
Declaration set the stage for the establishment of a Jewish state by creating conditions that
marginalised the Palestinian Arabs as well as the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, during which Zionist
armed groups forcibly displaced over 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral land.
However, Balfour’s support for Zionism did not exactly make him a friend to the Jews.
As prime minister he was an ardent racist who oversaw the enactment of the 1905 Aliens Act,
primarily designed to limit Jewish immigration into Great Britain. As writer Yousef Munayyer
(2017) wrote on the centenary of the Balfour Declaration, Balfour’s ‘support of Zionism was
motivated to an extent by his desire to protect Britain from the negative effects … of having
Jews in its midst.’
Against this background, the Balfour Apology Campaign established in 2017 an
unsuccessful petition for the British government to ‘openly apologise to the Palestinian
people for issuing the Balfour Declaration.’ The government responded that ‘[w]e are proud
of our role in creating the State of Israel. The task now is to encourage moves towards peace.’
Failure to acknowledge the trauma and human suffering caused by the Balfour
Declaration cannot build a stable foundation for peace. The fake blood splashed by the two
pro-Palestine protestors on a statue that glorifies an architect of Palestine’s colonisation is
not only a vivid reminder of the significant scars Balfour has left on Palestinian collective
memory, but also the pain that physical symbols of colonisation hold for those who live with
the intergenerational trauma of colonialism. Monuments, after all, are not neutral
representations of the past disconnected from our everyday politics. The role monuments
play in contemporary politics and understanding the past was highlighted for me by the police
cordons around war memorials during the National March for Palestine in London in
November 2023. (Securing these memorials was a major focus of government rhetoric around
the London protests in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza).

What do we do about the Balfour statue?

In moments of crisis, memorials, monuments and statues serve as ‘lightning rods of social
conflict’ (Gregory, 2021; Morgan, 2018). In recent years the #RhodesMustFall campaign,
which led to the removal of the statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes from the grounds of
the University of Cape Town in 2015, has sparked broader discussions about the legacy of
colonialism and decolonising public spaces and cultural memory. More recently, the
#BlackLivesMatter movement saw the removal of or threats to coloniser and Confederate
statues in the US, the toppling of monuments to slavery and slavers in the UK including of the
slave trader Edward Colston—whose statue was pushed into Bristol Harbour by anti-racism
protestors—and the graffitiing of statues of British colonisers in Australia. While politicians
and commentators frequently frame these acts of protest as unlawful and unruly, historian
Penelope Edmonds (2021) argues these acts ‘around monuments re-story them with higher
and alternative orders of justice to counter histories of violence and trauma, colonialism and
slavery.’

Statue of Cecil Rhodes being removed, 9 April 2015 © Desmond Bowle, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
The idea of toppling statues is as appealing as curator and historian Paul M Farber (2020)
suggests: ‘[t]here is glory in seeing monuments, once dedicated to colonisers, enslavers, and
brutal leaders, removed from their pedestals and layered with new inscriptions for social
justice.’ The removal of a monument to oppression can also create ‘space in which previously
constrained cultures can flourish’ (Antonello & Cushing, 2021), but there are alternatives that
still have the power to decolonise. We might, for example, engage in dialogical or counter
memorialisation, whereby additional plaques, information or alterative monuments are
added to the original site in acts of truth-telling, healing and reconciliation (Cushing, 2021;
Scates & Yu, 2022).
Re-storying the statue of Balfour requires us to reflexively contend with Britain’s
imperial past in Palestine and the violence and trauma its actions continue to inflict on the
people who live there. While the UK government rejects apologising for the Balfour
Declaration, there might still be space to make an addendum to or reinterpret Balfour’s
statue. Taking our cue from the extremely effective activist campaign that led to the removal
of the statue of Rhodes, we might usefully start by popularising #BalfourMustFall. If we
collectively take up the challenge of re-storying the statue of Rhodes in the House of
Commons, it is possible we can set ourselves anew on the path towards justice and reparation
in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

References

Antonello, Alessandro & Nancy Cushing. 2021. ‘Re-storying Monuments: Forum Introduction’, History Australia,
18:4, 747-752, DOI: 10.1080/14490854.2021.1991816
Cushing, Nancy. 2021. ‘#CoalMustFall: Revisiting Newcastle’s Coal Monument in the Anthropocene’, History
Australia, 18:4, 782-800, DOI: 10.1080/14490854.2021.1991814
Edmonds, Penelope. 2021. ‘Monuments on Trial: #BlackLivesMatter, ‘Travelling Memory’ and the Transcultural
Afterlives of Empire’, History Australia, 18:4, 801-822, DOI: 10.1080/14490854.2021.1994862
Farber, Paul M. 2020. ‘Toppling Racist Statues Makes Space for Radical Change’, Al Jazeera, 6 December,
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/6/12/analysis-toppling-racist-statues-makes-space-for-
radical-change
Gregory, Jenny. 2021. Statue Wars: Collective Memory Reshaping the Past’, History Australia, 18:3, 564-587,
DOI: 10.1080/14490854.2021.1956333
The Guardian. 2022. ‘Palestinian Protesters Squirt Ketchup on Statue in Houses of Parliament’, 12 November,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/12/palestinian-protesters-squirt-ketchup-on-statue-
in-houses-of-parliament
Morgan, David. 2018. ‘Soldier Statues and Empty Pedestals: Public Memory in the Wake of the Confederacy’,
Material Religion, 14:1, 153–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432200.2017.1418231
Munayyer, Yousef. 2017. ‘It's Time To Admit That Arthur Balfour Was A White Supremacist — And An Anti-
Semite Too’, Institute for Palestine Studies, https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/232119
Scates, Bruce & Peter Yu. 2022. ‘De-Colonizing Australia’s Commemorative Landscape: “Truth-Telling,”
Contestation and the Dialogical Turn’, Journal of Genocide Research, 24:4, 488-
510, DOI: 10.1080/14623528.2021.2023261
Seeing Today in the Temporal Distance

Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

I am tearful. Mesmerised by the images I see of Palestine – desperation, despair,

destruction of hospitals, and homes and lives, but weirdly not of hope, which is tottering but
somehow resilient, dare I say even triumphant.

I am thoughtful. I remember Gandhi, the story of the Indian nation and freedom. A
complicated man. Non-violence as a weapon. We CAN be free. Together we march - our
own salt from our sea.[1] Yesterday imprisoned. Today, we are free.

I am truthful. Gandhi said that non-violence and truth we inseparable. The truth... where is
it in today’s crisis. Who can I trust, but myself? And? I can witness children dying, their
mother’s crying. Israeli. Palestinian. Me.

I am fretful. Self-defence against a defenceless people? There is no truth in this. Numbers

are pathetic but they make a point. One life on this side is worth ... well... twenty on that
side. Or more? What happened to empathy? It is dead, just like so many lives

I am tearful, again. 1919 - a thousand killed. Soldiers ordered to fire, until they finished all
their ammunition. The only exit barred by a veil of bullets. People...fathers, sons and
brothers ... just fell... dead.[2] A 100 years ago. History or is this today?

I am thoughtful - thinking is good, especially when truth is sparse. 1928, Bhagat Singh kills a
British policeman for killing Rai. At least three lives are lost. A show trial and many pleas. A
colonial judge - no leniency. To make an example, a 23 year old is hung. His act forgotten,
his name lives on. “Inquilab zindabad - Long live the revolution”.[3] Singh too, helped India
be free.
Back to being truthful. History is useful. I can see clearly in the temporal distance. Labels are
just labels, often written by the powerful.[4] Mandela was a ‘terrorist’ until 2008, according
to the US state. Singh, a gentleman terrorist[5] or a hero in a thousand freedom songs?
British culpability. Colonial lines.

Am I fretful? Yes I am. Ceasefire? Prisoners? Hostages? Loved ones are home. Relief or a red
herring. The bombs are falling, all over again. We promised ourselves, never again.
Jallianwala Bagh – never again.
Auschwitz – never again.
Srebrenica – never again.
never again.
never again.
YET AGAIN.

Tearful, thoughtful, truthful, fretful..... what can I do but write .... at least I can. There are
those who are dead. And others who are dying – justice, self-determination, the freedom to
be. Hope is tottering but alive. Peace between two nations torn by a British line

For now, I go back to history and to Gandhi who once said, “... according to the accepted
canons of right and wrong, nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of
overwhelming odds.” (Mahatma Gandhi, Published in the Harijan, 26-11-1938)[6]

[1]
Salt March, major nonviolent protest action in India led by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi in March–April 1930.
The march was the first act in an even-larger campaign of civil disobedience (satyagraha) Gandhi waged against
British rule in India that extended into early 1931 and garnered Gandhi widespread support among the Indian
populace and considerable worldwide attention. https://www.britannica.com/event/Salt-March
[2]
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, incident on April 13, 1919, in which British troops fired on a large crowd of
unarmed Indians in an open space known as the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in the Punjab region (now in Punjab
state) of India, killing several hundred people and wounding many hundreds more.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Jallianwala-Bagh-Massacre
[3]
Bhagat Singh was revolutionary hero of the Indian independence movement.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhagat-Singh
[4] Waxman, Olivia B. 2018. ‘The U.S. Government Had Nelson Mandela on Terrorist Watch Lists Until 2008.

Here's Why’, Time, 18 July, https://time.com/5338569/nelson-mandela-terror-list/

[5]
Glaser, Linda B. 2018. ‘Historian Examines India's 'Gentlemen' Terrorists’, Cornell Chronicle, 29 January,
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/01/historian-examines-indias-gentlemen-terrorists
[6]
Mahatma, Ghandi. 1934. ‘The Jews In Palestine’, published in the Harijan, 26 November,
https://www.countercurrents.org/pa-gandhi170903.htm
Palestinian Effect

Neslihan Ozfaris, aka – nslhn

Let’s talk about Palestine.

Let’s talk about Palestinian effect.
Let’s talk about the capacity to feel pain or unite in action for the hope for a positive change.

Can I also talk about how sorry I am for the 7th of October attack and all those who lost their
lives?
Can this be politically correct?
Do I have to confine in an established side?
Can I think for myself please?
Can I just say what I think and what it makes me feel?
Without the fear?!

Would I blur the ideological fault lines or confuse the little crowds who’d rather be right?
I don’t care about Hamas, couldn’t care less about the Isis.
I don’t want anyone to hijack the purity of my religion to use it to justify their atrocities!
I might be a Muslim, but I don’t have to comply or try hard to fit in,
I thought life was about having faith in and working for the common good.
The more I talk with people the more I realise.
There are more of us than I thought there might, scattered around.
Kind, good, true spirited from all around the world raising their voices and taking action
against evil.
Millions of us unconsciously gathering in a spiritual state.
Gentle, fearless, spiritual peace warriors from all ages, sexes, and backgrounds.
From my neighbourhoods, my colleagues, friends, family, and strangers a far.
Those who aren’t strangers to me anymore, they are already in my circle of love.
What unite us the energy of the common truth and desire to be just.
When Facebook likes are not enough to protect the innocent or call out help or pursue for a
positive change.
You demonstrate, you talk, mourn, shout, mostly, quietly cry alone.
You go deep inside of your faith and pray to the highest power, call out to all the goodness in
the universe to help to stop the pain.
Because our powers aren’t enough to change this horror, we need to unite and complete the
circle.
When we say horror, it is all politics as religion call for unity for good, fair, and just living.
For everyone of us, no distinctions on race, gender, or faith.
Dignity of humanity for us to protect.
I wish we could all remember this.
Life is about fulfilling our potential to be at our highest self.
I salute everyone of those who took the time to demonstrate and advocated the truth about
what is happening in Palestine.
Children with their families killed without mercy.
History will tell how decision makers caused another crime took more than 20,000 lives.
In front of our eyes…
All algorithms bombarded us with manufactured or raw images of war.
Now we are all under the spell of this dark magic, and real side of what is happening in
Palestine.
Whether you call it trauma or something else I am sure I suffer from it.
We are forced to witness, Palestinian children and Israeli youth butchered as well as
thousands of women, man, elderly, animals, and trees.
We are burdened by the visions, the guilt, and the helplessness.
Who can I sue for the lost insanity of billions?
Have we already turned into squid game that we are on the snooze zone?!
Is this the fight between good and evil?
Not Palestine and Israel as nations, but those who pursue to kill and those innocents
suffering?
Think about proportionality and it will give you all the answers of this story.
For now, like Palestine, you and I and millions need of each other’s good energy.
Screaming to Birth Hope

Justina Pinkeviciute

A visceral, all-encompassing scream engulfs us.

Screaming from pain, anger, terror and loss.
Even when silence descends, the scream radiates
Uniting us in unspoken solidarity.

We scream because this war is a war on children.

it assaults our very essence
Ravaging our dreams of peace
It is a war on our shared humanity.

Yet our screams are not a sign of surrender.

We scream to birth hope in the face of horror
the hope that is not a fantasy or a naive wish,
but a vow to end the occupation and free Palestine.

Let our screams shatter Israel's apartheid against the Palestinian people.
Kate

My heart hurts. It is hard to bear witness because of this war. I cannot understand how
peace can return. It is hard not to lose hope. When hope is still or silent, I try to observe
what comes then.

In my faith community we have formed solidarity partnerships with Palestinian organisations

for as at least 20 years. It is a short time compared to 75 years…
This solidarity with Palestinian people and partnerships has meant regular visits from the UK
to the West Bank and Gaza, of adults and young adults, to listen, learn, and connect with
tradespeople, small businesses, schools, and faith communities including Jewish, Muslim, and
Christian neighbours in Israel, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and in the Palestinian Occupied
Territories. We have had choice, agency, privilege to do this. This is normal for us as a
Reformed church in the UK, we are a minority in the UK as Christians. We are small however
we have bought and treasured Palestinian olive wood, eaten Palestinian meals together,
supported Playgrounds for Palestine, visited ancient olive woodlands from Zaytoun, and stood
with Palestinian people going through Israeli checkpoints together in an ecumenical
accompaniment programme. I have learnt by hearing from Palestinian Muslims and British
Palestinian Muslims and Christians at Greenbelt Festival in the UK for a few years including
through literature, art, food, music. Smells, tastes, sounds of home.

When our small community of 10 people, mainly women, began making up small spice bags
for Calais Kitchen for people living in makeshift tents in France a few years ago we realised we
were small and not going to make many so we took the activity to a Garden City festival where
we are based. So many people from so many places in the world made spice bags together.
Together we sent off 500 spice bags to be added to plain cooked rice to give some smell and
taste of homelands. It was this action at which I was thanked as a faith leader for supporting
‘our people’ inferring people who are Muslim Arabs. This phrase enabled me to ask who are
my people? I want to say – all humans are my people, but this is not what I feel sometimes. It
is a controversial and hard perspective to retain. Whenever I smell the spices which make up
the bags I return to the question of who and where my people are. I try to imagine not having
a place to call home. I try to turn again towards people it is hardest for me to understand.
As a PhD student at CTPSR I have been challenged and enriched by a broad and deep
commitment to peace – in exploring peace through relationship building across disciplines,
traditions, and perspectives. Ceasefire is a bold, risky, political, and peace-filled act which I
imagine takes extreme courage. I do not presuppose what another group, government, or
political party in a part of the world I do not know well should do. I am committed to non-
violent active peace from far away, from within my privilege. There are questions unanswered:
Can there be active peace whilst there is still bombing of hospitals?
Can there be active commitment to peace whilst there is yet more death of civilians?
How will Israeli and Palestinian children come to know the smells, tastes, sounds of home
which is secure, rooted, and hospitable?
How will Palestinian and Israeli children come to know peace with justice?
WHITE

Nella van den Brandt

Blazing White
murderous
innocence

Blazing White
secular/Christian
Europe

Blazing White
Self-
defence

Blazing White
phosphor

Wipes out
Air
Land
Water

Wipes out
breath
the ground we stand on
the skin that envelops

Wipes out
a generation
Wipes out
our dreams

(4–5 November, All Saints/All Souls 2023)