Privilege and the News from Gaza
Hi there, and welcome to KeduziCast. Today we are going to talk about
the role of privilege and what is happening in Israel and Gaza.
Because some of us
can choose to ignore it.
Some of us can wake up in the morning,
and,
even if we look at the news, we can just kind of skip that headline – and look at something that interests us more. Or we choose not to
listen to the news.
We may avoid social media
and mainstream media.
And that suits us.
We don't want to put ourselves through hearing what is going on.
And yet,
there are some people who have no choice.
They aren't sleeping at night.
They
wonder whether they should leave the house,
due to the rise of Islamophobia or anti-Semitism where they live.
This is the reality
for folks who
don't
have the privilege of being able to shut it out,
where it's not going to affect them day to day
unless they choose to look for it.
These folks are in a lot of pain.
And yes, some of us who
choose to look at what's happening
are in pain as well for what we see:
because of our humanity and our caring about other people.
But, for some people, it is a matter of survival.
And
watching, reading, listening to people
who are referring
to people like them, in a dehumanising way, this
is a matter of survival.
And so, those of us with the privilege
of
deciding whether or not to put our attention on what is happening,
we do have a role
as allies.
We can reach out to people we know
whom we think
may be affected in this way,
by the news, by the reality of what is happening
over there
– and here, because of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. We can reach out
and break the silence.
The silence which they find
really disturbing.
We can say "I hope you're okay,
and I'm here if you ever need to talk.
I think
we need to word it in this way,
so as not to put people on the spot by asking questions. "How are you doing?"
They may not want to take the emotional labour
necessary to
figure out how they want to answer that question, whether they trust you, whether you really want to know or whether you just want to hear something trite.
They might welcome a distraction from thinking about what's happening
and so not want to feel obligated to answer a question.
So, by wording it as, "I want you to know I'm thinking about you with everything that's going on. I hope you're okay. I'm here if you ever need to talk."
And the most that they need to say is thank you.
If you're reaching out
by text, by email,
you could also say, "No need to reply to this." And then they don't even have to feel obligated to say thank you.
This may seem like a small thing.
And, of course, do more. If you can protest, be outspoken on social media,
donate,
etc.
But actually breaking that silence
is super important to people.
It feels terrifying.
For these folks, some of them, the ones I've spoken to, it feels terrifying to think that people they know aren't saying anything.
People they know are not reaching out.
So if you can
find it in yourself,
go through that discomfort and fear of saying something
and making that connection.
I think that this will go a long way
towards contradicting that isolation that people are feeling with what is happening.
And, on a related matter,
I think there is something like 30 to 33 conflicts happening in the world right now.
Not just what's happening in Ukraine and Gaza.
But dozens more.
And it's important that we look at which of these conflicts gets media coverage.
And it can break our hearts that there tends to be a pattern,
that some conflicts are more worthy of news than others.
When, of course
they're all worthy of media coverage.
These are human beings
suffering
greatly.
For example,
what has been happening in Sudan since March:
the people we know who are from Africa
are also feeling that silence.
I only found out about what is happening in Sudan in the past two weeks
and yet it began in March.
So this is a plea for us to be mindful,
to make connections,
to reach out.
Thank you for taking the time to listen to this
and
be good to yourself and to others