Holding on to love and grief in Gaza
JVL Introduction
Here Devin Atallah writes poignantly but angrily at what is happening in Gaza and in the West Bank and at how this is being portrayed. He has particular criticism for a piece written by Judith Butler and more generally of the framing of the situation; she condemns Hamas and the Israeli regime and calls for nonviolence “even though she admits that nonviolence is not a politic that can “possibly operate as an absolute principle to be applied in all occasions.” But apply it, she does.
We must acknowledge what has been happening to Palestinians long before this or previous bombardments, is violence. He has difficulties when Butler asks if “we can mourn, without qualification, for the lives lost in Israel as well as those lost in Gaza”? Not because Israeli lives are less valuable but because of how hard it is for Palestinians to grieve as they would want to and that the deaths are part of the violence of occupation and colonialism. “We know deep in our bodies that to grieve we must have access to the fluidity of time stolen from us along with our land.”
There is much more here and Atallah stressed that “(e)ven when we cannot grieve, still, we choose love. We affirm our Palestinian love with refusal, persistence, and care”.
This article was originally published by Institute for Palestine Studies on Tue 24 Oct 2023. Read the original here.
Beyond Grief: To Love and Stay with Those Who Die in Our Arms
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I’m sorry, I am worried by this piece. Not because I regard Judith Butler as a sacred irrefutable voice! But because this writer’s perspective seems to be not only nationalist but natalist. I’ve been unable to read the paper on Palestinian Feminism (linked to this piece) because it’s only available to academic subscribers; but from the summary it appears to argue that feminism equals everything Palestinian women do to support the struggle. This is a huge exploration , not to be gone into here when mass murder is continuing, but I am worried by the rhetoric of this piece. With some trepidation, may I also express a concern that this apparent prescription for Palestinian feminism is coming from a man? I think JVL may have decided to upload this piece because of its piercing memories of being under bombardment again and again, trying to help, save, comfort. In front of those memories, of course,I have no words but can only promise to honour them by remembering them always.