It would be over now. This Holocaust would be over now if all of you who privately claim to care publicly chose to do something – anything. If you could bring yourself to march and chant. If you could fly a flag. If you could wear a badge. If you could post a poster or stick a sticker. If you could just turn up.
The polls say that most of you are on our side. Why do you leave us feeling alone? Why do you let the people who hate and murder feel so normal and accepted?
You came out of the woodwork to tell me I was brave for going to the other side of the world for the Global March to Gaza. I wasn’t brave, I was privileged. Millions would have joined if they could. They would have joined because we are all desperate to find ways of breaking through. Millions of people pour their hearts and souls and time and money beyond measure into this – this desperate screaming attempt to raise the alarm over things that can never be undone. The dead will never not be dead. Each day the number grows and these indelible violent acts will live in memory for generations of sorrow and generations of guilt. We are all sick of banging our heads against the brick wall of public immobility.
Oceans of tears are shed by a those brave enough to open their eyes and hearts to the sorrow. Many feel that they must bear witness to the graphic horrors even if it rips them to shreds. And you wont even click on a post, like a post, or share a post, let alone make a comment. Some force themselves to face nightmares, and you literally will not raise a finger for what you claim to believe in.
It has been so long and so lonely. The argument was won over a year ago, but the cruelty, the killing, the maiming, the starving, the destruction goes on. The polls show that most people know this is wrong, you just don’t care enough to do anything.
I was asked what I did over the summer for the work newsletter. I told them that I did Palestine solidarity activism. They told me it couldn’t be included in the newsletter because they didn’t want to be political. You asked what I did and I told you. Do you think censoring that is not political? Do you think your silence is not political? Do you think your inaction is not political? Do you think avoiding learning more because it might make you sad and angry isn’t a fucking political choice? Do you think history will look kindly on this generation of Western genocide enablers? It will not.
If everyone who tells pollsters that they are against the killing in Gaza took that tiny step further and said that they support Palestinian freedom because Palestinians are humans with human rights; and if every one of those people just wore that on a badge or put that on a bumper sticker it would change everything. It is such a small thing for each individual, but together the visual signal of where people stand would radically change the crucial presumptions of journalism and politics.
A ceasefire in Gaza will not end the genocide, it will merely lead to slow killing through deprivation and broken aid promises peppered with the violent ceasefire violations that Israel always practices. If Palestine is not liberated then in a few years another pretext will be found for another major massacre. This issue is not going away. It is time to choose to stand with what you believe, or to continue being a traitor to yourself.
Taking action is not hard. Facing reality is hard. Finding out that everything is worse than you thought. Finding out that the news media has to censor most of the newsworthy stories so they can maintain “balance”. Finding out that your leaders aren’t merely selfish and myopic, they are actively working to make the world safe for mass murder. Taking action ends the horrible tension of guilt, but it must be real action.
Don’t give money to seek some facile absolution. Money to people in Gaza does not make one morsel of food enter. Money fuels inflation, and inequality. Money pays bandits and profiteers. Real action means becoming active. Real action means taking on an identity and owning it.
No one can ever do enough. The small enjoyments and large privileges we have in life will always create dissonance and discomfort, but a clear conscience doesn’t require perfection, it requires earnest and vulnerable commitment. It requires that you make it part of who you are and deal with the social consequences as best you can. Once you do a burden will fall from you.
And for those who already are taking a stand it is time we stop making excuses for others. Our low expectations are not kindness nor humility, they are a type of arrogance. We are letting our society fall into an evil that demeans the individual and increases the tyranny of the state. Their choice to be silent now will lead to the end of choice for all of us in the future.
The post The Silent first appeared on Dissident Voice.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Kieran Kelly.