Managing Our Grief Over Gaza

This sounds like the most privileged title ever, doesn’t it? Families in Gaza or elsewhere with loved ones anyplace in Palestine are overwhelmed with grief as they watch little children being torn to shreds, burned beyond recognition, or exhumed from having been buried alive. Buried alive in mass graves at hospitals where they had taken refuge.

Those of us in other places differ markedly in our belief that these truths are self-evident depending on where we get our news. I gave up consuming U.S. corporate news decades ago, peeling off television early on to protect my children from it, and then eventually shedding the liberal print news and opinion sources I’d grown up on. Who wants to subscribe to or even read a publication that signals Donald Trump’s ascendance by putting him on their cover over and over again?

But right now I’m in Australia responding to a family medical crisis and so have been keeping folks company while watching corporate t.v. news in the evenings.

Latest emblem of the resistance? An empty water carboy as was wielded by students at Cal Poly Humboldt to successfully to ward off police rioting.

Last night I was brought to tears several times as the mangled bodies of children in Gaza were rushed to makeshift medical facilities (all the hospitals were long since destroyed by Israeli bombs). The ambulances of Gaza are now the able-bodied men who carry wounded kids while running as fast as their malnourished legs can go. Those horrific scenes – are they shown on corporate t.v. in the U.S.? You tell me.

Next came something sure to appear on “news” throughout the evil empire: Joe Biden claiming that U.S. weapons aren’t killing Palestinians. Did Australian newscasters call him out on this giant lie? Nope. And me yelling, “Liar!” in the privacy of the home where I’m staying is just venting on my part.

So, I turn to social media platforms run by Zionists where a little truth and the scorching eyewitness videos out of Gaza and the West Bank can still be found. Twitter is complicit, Instagram is complicit, and still I continue to guiltily use them. I’ve never really invested time in building up a news feed on TikTok, but I probably need to do that soonish. Telegram overwhelms me but again it’s probably my ineptitude as a user that creates the attempting to drink from a firehose effect.

My email inbox is also a good source for real news. As are certain substacks, MintPress News, Popular Resistance, Black Agenda Report, and many more I’ve named before.

How soon before all my access to authentic information is blocked? Time will tell.

These bullying Zionists (redundant, I know) do NOT represent me. How about you?

To return my original question, how or even why shall we manage our grief over Israel’s genocide of Palestinian people?

Speaking for myself, I can’t dwell on my emotional response or I become incapacitated. Turning angry grief into action feels like the right thing to do. Diverse actions present themselves and not only provide an outlet but they put me in touch with other people I can trust and respect. I met my husband while protesting the impending Shock and “Awe” attacks on Iraq in 2003, and together we’ve met many kind souls who sincerely engage in resisting imperial warmongering -- and not just when the Republican Party controls the White House.

Many people use their creativity to remain sane in a genocidal world. One example: the keffiyeh sticker cropping up in random places.

Another example currently going viral: rapper Macklemore's "Hind Hall." The artist has pledged to donate all proceeds to UNRWA.

A person I respect a lot recently revealed that they had neglected a peripheral task associated with our work and that this might cost them a lot of money. We’re all in this together so others in the group consoled them and offered monetary support while awaiting the outcome of skilled negotiators working on our behalf. One said, “Hope you are all giving yourselves grace.”

And that is as good an answer to my original question as any.