Having spent an adulthood protesting the occupation of Palestine, and the last month and a half watching the results of evident war crimes committed by a far-right settler-colonialist government of Israel, from the point of view of a smartphone screen, I am sick. I am tired. I am profoundly sad. And I am angry. I am rageful. The words, Free Palestine!, pass through my mind every few minutes, it seems.
As I sit here warm, comfortable, and safe, I can’t begin to imagine myself in the place of the civilians in Gaza who have suffered this disgusting collective punishment. Those who have lost whole families. People who have been forcibly displaced. People who may never see their homes again. I can, however, pay tribute to the Palestinian journalists and citizen journalists who have shown the world the truth of what has been happening in Gaza. Many of those have been killed, in fact, just today as I write this, the CPJ has announced this to be the deadliest time for journalists in modern warfare.
Before the Photos, Some reading
I began to write at length my thoughts on the shameful rhetoric coming from much of the Western media and politicians, but I don’t have it in me, and frankly, others have written much more eloquently and informatively about Israel and Palestine than I could do. I will direct readers to Verso Books which has made available 6 titles for free. Ilan Pappé’s Ten Myths About Israel is an excellent primer on Zionism and Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Palestine Speaks, edited by Mateo Hoke and Cate Malek, centres the voices of Palestinians themselves. Not included, but worth finding is Pappé’s excellent conversations with Noam Chomsky, titled On Palestine.
Since the inevitable mowing of the lawn began in Gaza, I have been following and documenting the Polish-Palestinian protests. These photographs as a selection of my work up until the 5th of November 2023, with other photographs from the 18th November and onwards still to be developed. There will inevitably, and heartbreakingly, be a follow-up.
Free Palestine!
