These People Have Paid the Price

It’s been nine weeks since October 7. During this season, I am deeply grateful to have spent significant time studying what’s going on in the occupied Palestinian territories. I do not trust corporate media outlets. Because they rarely scrutinize US and Israeli agendas. I’ve seen clips. There’s so much propaganda out there right now. It just feels like a big power game that serves the status quo, seeking to comfort the conscience of mostly white people who absolutely do not want to be troubled with any serious reporting of a genocide. 

I am far more interested in books and longer articles and listening to interviews with scholars and journalists who have immersed themselves in this issue. I bear witness: these leaders carry themselves with integrity and possess a passion for justice. They have studied every side, but they also take a clear, unequivocal stance. Because this is what love demands. Many of these people have paid the price, in one way or another, for speaking up for Palestinian people. 

I am talking about Noura Erakat, Rashid Khalidi, Zachary Foster, Norman Finkelstein, Miko Peled, Ali Abunimah, Marc Lamont Hill, Nick Estes, Dylan Rodriguez, Steven Thrasher, Amanda Gelender, Gabor Mate and Gazans on the ground like Bayan, Bisan, Motaz and Mosab Abu-Toha. Amy Goodman, Briahna Joy Gray and Chris Hedges have been brilliant. None of these leaders are perfect. But it is clear to me that each of them actually cares about the truth - and they are willing to put their careers on the line for it. They have had a profound impact on my spiritual life.