It’s been a difficult few weeks in the world, with the October 7th attack on Israelis and the escalating crisis and siege against the people of Gaza/Palestine. Almost everyone I connect with has a heavy heart as we watch what’s been taking place and do what we can to decrease suffering and call for peace.
Social Impact Insights: Shared Humanity on Israel, Palestine, and Gaza
I consider myself “mid-level literate” on the Israeli/Palestinian issue, and as I’ve thought about what I can do to help over these last weeks since Oct 7th, I’ve seen that sharing my own journey of learning and thinking about this historical and present-day ongoing crisis can be helpful to others who are also learning and unpacking the complexity. So I’m doing my best, knowing that I am still very much on my own learning journey.
The first thing I should say is, it’s clear that both anti-Jewish/anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim sentiment are alive and insidious in our present times. And I’ve seen that I need to say clearly here, both are wrong. Whether they’re blatant or coded or rooted in historical suffering, these anti-humanity and anti-human rights biases are wrong, no matter who they come from and no matter who they are aimed at. From increased posting of anti-Semitic coded language to the horrific killing of a Palestinian-American child, it is all terrifying, and escalating, and wrong. I actually can’t believe I have to say it, but from what I’ve witnessed from both the political right and the political left, this has to be said.
What I also feel compelled to say is that we can hold in our hearts terror and compassion for Jewish people who feel targeted, Israelis and others who were killed on October 7th, who are grieving lost family/friends, and who are either still hostages or who are praying for the safe return of loved ones; AND we can hold in our hearts love and support for the Palestinian people who have endured the suffering of occupation and the violence, cruelty, and apartheid of the hard-right-wing Israeli government for more than decades, and now this cruel escalation in Gaza. Our hearts, our generosity, and our minds’ ability to hold multiple and different ideas at the same time are all vast. The people in Gaza are suffering from a full-scale military attack and are losing their lives and their homes in real time. We owe it to them and to our own humanity to commit to a path forward that builds on our understanding that all people have dignity and deserve compassion and self-determination.
Because I usually talk about pop culture and social impact in this newsletter, I am sharing one of the most moving and inspiring statements on this topic I’ve seen in the past few weeks. It’s from the model Gigi Hadid, who is half-Palestinian (and who reportedly has received death threats due to this statement).
I first learned about the Israel/Palestine issue after September 11th, when my friend Reena and I represented one of the many Brown, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latino men who were wrongly and without respect to their rights detained, disappeared, and/or removed by the U.S. government after the horrors of September 11th. We represented a Palestinian man whom we were ultimately able to get released from detention despite the feds’ false claims that he was, as Reena and I put it in case our phones were being surveilled, “a T-word.”
For me, the history of Israel and Palestine reminded me very much of the history of my own family/culture: of Partition in 1947, and the ongoing enmity between India and Pakistan that continues through today. Both of my parents’ families were forced to leave their homes behind and move from what is now Pakistan and to re-settle into what is now India. I’ve known this at a mid-level/vague sense of what happened, but the current crisis has prompted me and my siblings to dig deeper with our parents and to hone in on maps, to get a greater sense of this piece of our family’s history and the impact it had. My father remembers being on that journey as a child, which I remember him telling us when we were kids and first saw the movie Gandhi, which briefly portrays people having to make the trek of Partition. I was lucky enough many years ago to be in India with my parents when my father reunited with an old family friend who also came from their original town in Pakistan, and the emotion of seeing our family history come alive in that way. My father succinctly summed up global history and politics in a family text chain about this topic in the context of what’s happening now in Israel/Palestine/Gaza:
“All these ‘Partitions’ were the ill-conceived notions of the then ‘British Empire’!”
In 2014, a close friend arranged a delegation of donors and activists to Israel and the West Bank, through his organization, which worked with Israeli and Palestinian youth to create relationships and a pathway to peace. I of course invited myself along, and I had the privilege of meeting both Israelis and Palestinians who taught me about the oppression and apartheid of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and I got to see the resilience and beauty of both Israel and the West Bank. And I also saw that, just as many of us Americans would not want to see ourselves confused with the Bush or Trump governments, many Israeli Jews and Jews around the world and here in the United States support the liberation, dignity, and self-determination of the Palestinian people.
**And I want to thank a few close friends who have religious and cultural ties to this issue who graciously reviewed this newsletter for me, to make sure I addressed this topic with accuracy and sensitivity.**
I’ll leave you with a few pictures from my trip to the border of the West Bank, where there is a dividing wall that artists have covered with murals. I can’t put into words how moving it was to experience this art. And I’ll also say, the cruelty and terror of October 7th are horrific, but in no way do they justify a retaliation that is obliterating so many civilian communities. Again, we can hold both these ideas and feelings in our minds and in our hearts.
Surf Synthesis: Seeking Peace and Clarity Any Way You Can
It feels a little off-note to follow up talk of terror and hate with the surfing section, but people tell me they always enjoy this piece of the newsletter. So I will simply remind everyone to take care of yourselves, to seek joy where you can find it, to check in on friends and family who are heavy of heart, and to do whatever you can to contribute and to call on policymakers to do the right thing in the face of this escalating crisis and laying siege.
Tarot Inspiration: The 6 of Cups
I recently pulled the 6 of Cups in a reading, and I’ve been thinking about it almost non-stop since then. Sixes are a building moment, and the Cups are the suite of water, emotion, and love. I’ve been reflecting on this card as it keeps coming back to me, and it feels so on point for this global moment. Building connection and community, and providing support to the people we love: This is what we need to do as we collectively advocate against terror and hate in all its forms.
On a personal level, the 6 of Cups spoke to me because it resonated with an Akashic reading I had recently received from my friend Ryan Migge. A basic description of Akashic readings is that they tap into the collective spiritual experience of the universe, channeled through the person giving the reading. The building of community and connection I see in the 6 of Cups related back to the mantra of “Balance” that came through in Ryan’s reading, which is an amazing experience. You can’t keep veering off so hard to one edge or the other, it becomes unhealthy. Whether it’s working too much, not taking time to exercise or cook healthy food, or whether it’s about the larger culture of moving past the nuances and history involved in a global crisis, Building and Balance are good guideposts for all of us.
Sending my best for peace of mind and for a larger global coming together.
Appreciate the balanced view point. Hope of the world lies in the optimism of the younger generation to Right the Wrongs committed by the generations past!❤️💐
A truly thoughtful and insightful perspective with a strong and clear message for solidarity, compassion, and peace - Found it very clarifying. Thank you Juhu for writing this and speaking out.