Glimmers of hope in the darkest of times...

This might be our last chance to learn the lessons we need to learn

Hello everyone, with everything that is going on, I would rather not write a satirical post today if that would be okay? It just wouldn’t feel right…

We are seeing the first glimmers of hope coming from Gaza in a long time and I would rather not focus on sarcasm if I can avoid it! Sarcasm is kind of ingrained in my DNA so wish me luck getting through an entire piece without resorting to it, but I shall try my best.

At the time of writing, we are told a ceasefire in Gaza could come at any moment and a deal may well have been signed by the time you read this. This makes me more relieved than I can put into words. I know the ordeal for Palestinians is far from over, but as a parent going through real difficulties with my own baby, I want more than anything for the parents of Gaza to not go to bed with the fear their babies might never wake up. I want their children to feel warm and safe and happy and just be children.

Even if a ceasefire is agreed, it’s worth remembering these people are still going to be sleeping in leaky tents. A ceasefire will not mean a return to normality, but it will mean we can send better tents and warmer blankets, and we can get the sick and wounded out of Gaza for treatment. It means hospital patients won’t have the fear their doctors are going to be shot by snipers and their ward is going to be struck by a missile. These are not unreasonable things to wish for, are they? That sick people can be allowed to recover in peace? That even well people don’t need to worry the end could come at any moment? I just want these people to be safe and well, and I want the same for my own baby. It’s so sad that we live in a world where even the most basic of wants and needs is often too much to ask. It says a lot about societies that we allow so many bad things to happen.

Societies are weird because they are composed of people who are mostly wonderful, but as a collective can behave in cruel ways, due to how power manifests. It’s not just Israel that needs to learn lessons from this genocide, it’s us too. Say what you like about how most of us westerners oppose the genocide, most of us westerners are wedded to a two-party system that makes this sort of violence and cruelty inevitable. And I’m tired of it.

I’m really tired. I’m tired of the things I’m going through in my personal life. I’m tired of writing about the suffering of the children in Gaza. I’m tired of the endless grey skies. I so badly need those glimmers of hope to become bursting sunrays…

Many of my readers won’t know there was a time when I didn’t write about such horrible things. Instead of covering genocide, I was often writing about trivial things, fun things, random things, stupid things, annoying things. I miss being able to do that. I miss not feeling an obligation to speak out against the war crimes my government is committing in my name. I miss not feeling responsible for human suffering. I just want to live in a world where I don’t need to constantly fight my own leaders, where I can make jokes about fun things, and we can focus on kindness and unity and be what we are meant to be: communities.

We aren’t supposed to be fighting like this, so here’s the deal, world, you stop doing the horrible things and I’ll stop writing about them! That’s called a win-win, right? Honestly, I’m not sure if my mental health can cope with anything less. Life is getting too hard…

My wish now is that we use all of this pain and suffering to wake us up because I don’t know about you, but I’m not strong enough to cope. If empathy won’t be enough to wake us up, what about selfishness? What about the knowledge that if we don’t change, we could very well be next? I don’t want to be living (or dying) in the next Gaza, do you?

One Gaza can be rebuilt. Many Gazas can’t. The focus now should be on rebuilding and healing. All of us need to heal, but Palestinians need to heal more than we can ever appreciate. We owe them so much. Their beautiful land has been turned into a cratered moonscape with mountain ranges composed of rubble. So many beautiful souls have been lost under that rubble, but so many more are above the rubble, still determined to live, determined to hold onto their land, no matter what. That’s the thing about being indigenous, the land means something to you and you will do everything to hold onto it. You don’t destroy land that you know is yours and you don’t flee at the first sign of trouble: colonisers do that.

The Palestinian people will rebuild their lives, however slow and painful that process is. I remember seeing a video where Palestinians had joined up their tents and little girls turned those tents into beautiful areas adorned with plants and scattered flower petals, sunlight just strong enough to penetrate the canopy, bathing their indoor garden with a soft light. It was so tranquil it made me cry. It was inspiring. It was a sign that these people can never be beaten, that they can find joy anywhere, that they will turn even the moon craters and rubble mountains into something beautiful. That their olive trees will be replanted and new flowers will grow and even if they have to spend a lifetime in tents, they will make the best of it. They are not waiting for Israel’s permission to exist. They have lives to live now. They have hugs to give, games to play, memories to make…

When we look to Gaza, we should look with shame but also with hope. We should understand that if the Palestinian people can rise again, if they can show the passion and resilience needed to rebuild their society, we sure can fix ours. This might be our last chance to build a better world, so let’s please just do it. I don’t want my children growing up in danger. I want every child to know only peace and love and joy, and I want the same for you too.

Thank you so much for reading and for bearing with me during this difficult time. I appreciate your love and support more than you know x