Rage

What Do We Do With It?

Rage. In times like these, it’s the purest of emotions.

I’m naturally polite, but I can’t stand this genocide that seems to go on forever, and the acceptance of Israel’s tyranny, lies and contempt for Palestinians and international law.

Stripped down, rage is what’s there. I want to scream, to hiss, to pull my hair, to shout from a mountain top. How dare they?! How dare our western governments and the media that parrots them betray us this way?

And how do we come to terms with western support for this? The USA being the biggest supporter, sending billions of dollars and all the weaponry Israel could ever dream of.

Western leaders calling us anti-semitic because we’re appalled at watching Israel’s genocidal rampage across Gaza. Since when does anti-genocide equal anti-semitism?

And those of us not of the privileged crowd, used to the contempt we’re often treated with, used to their slings and arrows, actually now see how far those arrows will go: all the way to genocide.

Contempt, like a presidential campaign with a theme of joy during a genocide, a president eating an ice cream cone as Palestinians are starved to death. Our demonstrations and social media platforms scrubbed to the point where most Americans don’t know which side — Israel or Gaza — has had the most casualties. Children, journalists and care workers targeted by snipers; torture, and all kinds of reprehensible dirty tricks clutter landscapes and newsfeeds.

Journalists are murdered and terrorized. As we protest, we’re silenced, misrepresented, accused of violence. As though genocide isn’t the ultimate violence. As though we’re ill informed, and petty for wanting it to stop.

The people who are supposed to be looking out for our best interests betray us, so they can continue to rake in billions.

War is very profitable for these folks, and pillage and plunder have been a way of life for centuries.

As many of us are removing our colonialist glasses, these folks are fastening them on tight. It’s the way of the world, they say. Some are superior to others, so they get to destroy those they deem inferior, and steal their land and resources. And then lie about it, painting their violence with patriotic and humanitarian hues.

And that good ol’ standby: democracy. Where we don’t get to vote on deregulation and profiteering that makes housing and food unaffordable, or whether to support Israel as it bombs the crap out of Gaza, or on any real issues that affect our actual lives. Democracy. It’s what we’re supposed to be bringing to the countries our leaders choose to invade.

We used to fall for this stuff. Not any more.

Now it’s visible on our social media, and we can discuss it with each other. We can reassure each other that we’re not crazy, and help each other to carry on.

And we will strategize. We will galvanize our rage into a beam of resistance that is irrepressible. We will become a force against those bloated and unconscionable people who say things to each other like, “Your jet or mine?”

Because we know what it means to love. We know what it means to desire peace and justice and a liveable world. We love our offspring and earth, and want a future for everyone. Our love is fierce. And we will defend what our ancestors fought for, and what our children and grandchildren have a right to.

Outrage. The outrage of everyone who has ever been betrayed, of the colonized, the exploited down through the centuries. We need to channel that now.

Sometimes I want to see all of us get off of fossil fuels, not just for the earth, but also to make the black gold they fight over worthless. I want to see us grow a system that doesn’t depend on people who would just as soon commit genocide and lie about it, and exploit the rest of us, as show any concern for society or the greater good.

Every election campaign feels fake, promising everything to the middle class while candidates are being funded by billionaires. Whose interests will they support, I wonder. Yours and mine? I think not. As is demonstrated by each of their performative and shallow gestures. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Most candidates are too preoccupied with supporting Israel, and providing everything they need, including diplomatic cover. They’re also busy funnelling our tax dollars to the rich; you know, the money that should be helping us, strengthening our social safety nets, and cleaning up our environmental messes? They’re also busy organizing coups and colour revolutions. Do you think people in Georgia want to be the next Ukraine? It doesn’t matter. That’s what the west wants for them.

And which countries are we not hearing about? Not everything makes the news.

So many don’t even know this genocide is happening. Mainstream media and much of the alternative media submit to Israel and western political leaders. Why do they do this? Is it AIPAC money? Is it deeply ingrained colonialism? What in hell is it that keeps them in lockstep with Israel as it destroys and starves the people of Gaza?

What will I do? Everything in my power to stop this genocide, and to get us onto a restorative path.

I refuse to vote for any politician or party that supports Israel’s genocide.

My money’s in a credit union, which supports my community and not the corporate class.

I will amplify Palestinian voices at every opportunity.

And the news that informs me will come from sources that have proven themselves trustworthy over the years.

Brick by brick, I will do what I can to dismantle this crumbling system and replace it with one that thrives on peace, where all can flourish, in our countries and between nations. We deserve nothing less.

Before he self-immolated, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman of the United States Air Force, said, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’ The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”

What are you doing with your rage?

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I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here's an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/browse/1

Here's a way to help others not in your bubble to boycott Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/stickies_2024_en

And here's where you can support Palestine by buying a keffiyeh: https://www.hirbawi.ps/