This is not my usual kind of post, but I feel a moral duty to write it. This is about the ease of convenient silence, the riskiness of speaking up and the transformative power of owning our voice.
I often struggle with this issue, Alis, and particularly Israel and Gaza. I worked at a Jewish hospital years ago where 90% of the staff were Jewish and I learned so much. Many had parents who were Holocaust survivors. Transgenerational trauma is their norm. They are subject to the reality that anti-semitism still exists across the world. So anyone criticizing Israel is suspect and those of us who abhor racism stay silent. Yet Israel as a nation is a case of - as you put it: “the abused becomes the abuser.” Thank you for speaking up. 🙏🏻
Thank you dear Alis. I've felt my own version of this invitation to bring my voice to the foreground and also to take actions in the background, donating and divesting and witnessing. I found this useful to guide these actions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QETlmSABqiaKbF_4IrlgIscmmrNXturdCgGikRTVelg/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.gf1hk3d5jdd8
I often struggle with this issue, Alis, and particularly Israel and Gaza. I worked at a Jewish hospital years ago where 90% of the staff were Jewish and I learned so much. Many had parents who were Holocaust survivors. Transgenerational trauma is their norm. They are subject to the reality that anti-semitism still exists across the world. So anyone criticizing Israel is suspect and those of us who abhor racism stay silent. Yet Israel as a nation is a case of - as you put it: “the abused becomes the abuser.” Thank you for speaking up. 🙏🏻