Recognising our entry points into a cause
A quick check-list into ways we can connect with Palestine and the world better
“Hey, do you have family or friends in Palestine?”, a loved one asked me last weekend. I shook my head, “Nope.” Her enquiry came from a place of concern as we discussed the ongoing horrors in Gaza. But her question was a reminder that for many amongst us, to feel and do extend oneself towards Palestinian cause, comes from a place of association, ‘a line of sight’.
It has been through such conversations that I’ve found the need to ask a basic question, “What are one’s entry points into the current situation in Palestine?” For me the answer is - “I come from a colonised, brutally partitioned country, whose history is still causing communal ruptures. I am from the Global South. I am a woman with a Muslim identity.” All these are reasons I resonate deeply with the Palestinian cause.
For many others, these might not be the entry points, rather they might have friends / family who feel more connected to it. Beyond the scope of of such connections, we choose to connect with the world outside of ours in more ways than one. And we can always use such entry points to identify our relationship with any cause better.
We do not wait for a local Greta Thunberg to stand with her in climate activism. In the same vein, we do not need to have a direct connection with Palestine to support their call for liberation and freedom from settler colonialism.
Recognising our socio-cultural entry points
Pakistani singer and global phenomenon, Ali Sethi is soon to perform in Dubai and has been sharing stories of fans who are flying from India to Dubai just to watch him perform. Without speaking much of Japanese, a lot of us have grown up watching Pokémon glued to our television screens, and read translated works of celebrated authors. I have friends who enjoy K-Pop as part of their spinning routines and others are planning trips to South Korea owing to the wave of K-Dramas. Closer home, we all know that Shah Rukh Khan is not just King of Bollywood but ‘Raj’ and ‘Rahul’ to millions of fans globally.
When art, pleasure and love help us transcend cultural, social, linguistic, or geographical barriers, then what stops us from extending our attention when it comes to Palestine, Sudan, or any other place where grave injustices are unfolding?
Our entry points are like the second layer under our skin that is not visible but outlines us as a whole. Somethings simply move us. It could be movies, music, stories, or travel. We wander through books or poetry to anchor ourselves into feeling more human and feel connected and seen.
Tapping into our existing cultural inclinations, social causes and employing them as entry points into understanding Palestinian history and reality are ways to become long-term allies. It is precisely the varied entry points that allow us to offer solidarity in the way or shape that makes us who we are. As fans of pop culture, cinema-goers, students of dance or music, readers, whichever way to choose to be curious and explore our worlds, we must continue to learn from and include Palestinian stories, voices in them.
Educating ourselves through these entry points
What is happening in Gaza is not only affecting people who have family, loved ones there - this onslaught has lifted the veil on the settler colonial mindset that is continuing with its brutal violation of human rights. For many of us, this isn’t simply a Palestine-Israel conflict, rather an ideological one.
Tapping into any of our social, cultural entry points is a quick lesson on Palestinian life and history. Just listen to MC Abdul’s rap lyrics, or watch Farha on Netflix. The entry points can become our rabbit holes that could further initiate meaningful support and solidarity.
In doing so, we’ll expand our world view, connect with more people and find common grounds. We’ll rejoice in the resistance and beauty that Palestinians and all indigenous people continue to live and thrive with. We’ll learn from each other and celebrate coming together. We’ll grieve together. We’ll call out hate and bigotry of any kind.
To all of us who wonder how we can find our entry points:
Recognise your positionality. Identify all intersectionalities.
Make a check-list of all that you care about. Then search for and include Palestinian voices.
Look around and check-in with your friends, colleagues and loved ones. Listen to the ones who are closer to this conflict than others. Offer them space. Decentre yourself.
The ideology of any settler-colonial occupation is based on dehumanising certain communities / individuals, and the longer it continues, the longer it threatens to erode our attempts towards peaceful and compassionate living. We cannot allow such inhumanity to continue, and in each and every way, call it out. Loss of human dignity anywhere is threat to peace everywhere, our homes, homelands, relationships, and communities.
Whether it as kids or adults, in some way or form, we are curious to understand the world beyond our horizons, and we must learn to recognise whose voices are missing. The more we open our hearts and pay attention to this situation, the better we recognise how many entry points we can have.
All of us who were in choirs growing up, listen to the Gaza Youth Choir; dance students, have you watched the Dabke steps? Musical souls reading this, recommend me Palestinian singers and musicians. 🎵 Gardeners, tell me more about the olive trees that grow in historic Palestine. 🫒
And, Free Palestine. Always. 🇵🇸🍉✨ Call for an immediate ceasefire. Call your representatives. Write letters. Make resistance art. Speak up. Do your bit. Do not be a bystander.
Mariyam Haider is an independent writer-researcher, producer & host of Main Bhi Muslim podcast, and spoken word artist creating works on feminism, culture and society. Her writing has appeared in Scroll, Kontinentalist, Asian Review of Books, Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy, AWARE, Livemint, Mekong Review, among others. You can follow Mariyam’s other works on Instagram or LinkedIn.
References:
Dabke palestino (Fundación Palestina Belén 2000, Published on YouTube, Nov, 2021)
‘Line of sight’ taken from Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar screenplay (Interstellar - The Complete Screenplay with Selected Storyboards, November 2014, Faber & Faber Ltd.)
FARHA (TIFF Trailers, YouTube channel, 2021)
MC Abdul - Palestine [FREEVERSE] (MC Abdul’s YouTube channel, 2021)
One of the most difficult things for most people to do are to speak about injustices that occur in our home communities. The people who feel empathy to people in other places are usually the ones who also feel, speak out and fight for their own neighbours. For them, it begins and home.