Artist: hafandhaf
When I first started posting about the Palestinian crisis 6 days ago, it was with gentle uncertainty, as this region is known primarily for conflict, so why care now? Friends of mine were celebrating Ramadan, and usually during this time, they feed their socials with magical images of crescent moons and stars, what is inspiring their giving, and what food and cookies they will be eating to break fast that evening.
Six days ago, however, none of those images were shown. Instead, friends kept sending up signals of a neighborhood protest in a place called Sheikh Jarrah in Palestine. Families were marked to be evicted by Israeli police from their homes, and it sounded like these evictions were just a normal part of life for these Palestinians. People speaking of what some call “the conflict” were stressing how this eviction was not unique, and happens frequently. Muslim friends were imploring each other to direct their Duha (prayer) to Palenstine.
What was unique, however, was that Palestinians in that little neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, were protesting. The night was a Friday, the last Friday in Ramadan, which for Muslims, was the most exciting (Fridays are considered the holy day, much like Sundays are for Christians, and Saturdays are for Jews). Social media posts educating people about the area and the decades of colonialism by the UN, the US, who gave this land to the Jewish people after WWII in 1948, which is now called Israel, were flying across social media like the rockets launched that we see in the frightening images now on the national news.
Social media people were describing how their posts were being censored, and that the news media was not covering it. Granted, when news media does cover this, it is usually in a way that sounds like “Israel vs The Terrorists,” and then the news media moves along.
Personally, I grew up with all kinds of friends from different cultures, as I am sure you did as well. My friends were and are Jewish, and Arab, and African American, and Asian American, and Indian American. I went to bat mitzvas, and my closest families I babysat for were Jewish. I valued their love of community, nature and giving back very much, and wished I had been born into a Jewish family so that I could be surrounded in this.
My Arab friends brought to me the experience of living with the weekly ritual of making food like homemade yogurt for family with family each week. When they spoke in Arabic around the kitchen island, it was melodic and I was mesmerized. I learned words in Arabic for emotions I felt towards others, that did not necessarily exist in English. I listened to my friend’s love stories about her person in Syria, and we vowed I would write a novel about their story one day, which meant I needed to visit Syria with her in order to experience the land and their gardens.
Syria has since been destroyed, and I watched the destruction through my friend’s family’s heartache. The news media around it was the usual: “it’s complicated.” Talking about it with Americans really does not happen, as it’s not our subject or our war. And, “it’s complicated,“ so why bother. It will never end.
The benefit of growing up in the 1990s in a “colorless” time, which means that we were taught to love everyone despite the color of their skin, is that we did grow up loving people in different cultures. What maybe did not happen, however, was the next step of understanding their culture, and respecting it and holding it up. Maybe our children are at that level. But for my generation, we had the friends. Now what do we do when they are hurting?
Which brings us today. I’m a blogger now, and a business owner. I don’t write romance novels as I dreamt I would, but I do know how to translate a story through pictures and words. As the owner of Tin Shingle, I bring awareness to my readers about what the media is covering, and how they are covering it. Usually this falls into the lighter news stuff so that businesses, artists and makers can see how to spin their stories into trending news stories, and what might work 6 months from now.
When I started writing about the racial re-awakening in the United States, spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement, that was risky, but many people were interested. Every time I published, I thought: “This is it. They’re going to drop me now.” But most didn’t (some did).
When I posted about Palestine, a friend and supporter of my publishing of Black lives spoke up to tell me to stop writing about Palestine, that it was too complicated and “controversial.” Whew! If Black Lives Matter wasn’t controversial, I don’t know how Palestine isn’t the same caliber? But yes, she was probably very protective of Jewish culture and was personally feeling the affront as we all now talk about the holy land, and who did what when, and why all is justified on each other.
Mindful of my Jewish friends, what has emerged from covering this racial topic, is that some in the media, like Sean Hannity, are calling any defense of Palestine to be anti-Semitic. To speak about Palestine without using the word “terrorist” is very difficult for the traditional news media. So I started looking to other sources who live in Palestine, or who have family there, to seek out a different perspective. The issues feel very connected to military rule and power of individuals of other ruling countires, with emotions resulting from racism being manipulated to strengthen the conflict to get the end goal of real estate domination for money.
Tin Shingle is including this perspective in the coverage, which is very relevant to all of our lives. No, I don’t seek to cover wars, but we are in a time of racial reckoning. Racism throughout different races across the world is being touched and wiggled around, and is shown now through social media. The first to go in these racial wars is communication. In Myanmar, where the military has taken over after keeping their leader who won their election in house arrest has finally cut the social media as they started killing more civilian protesters, as reported by the BBC. Civilians are now taking up arms. Reporters are now not allowed in Gaza, as reported by NPR.
So we’re covering it. And in the process, learning about new media outlets and new artists. Some of the posts at Tin Shingle’s Instagram have been brought here to the blog, so that you don’t miss them in the infinate scroll of social media.
👋🏽 Hello!
Been following these censored post posts, and reading accounts from friends who read friends accounts of what is happening. It’s time to go to History class on Palestine as this crises has worsened right now. Wishing the media in USA would report on it to keep us informed/educated, since USA policies have to do with this. So we are reposting.
Repost from @reclamationmagazine
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Social media is currently censoring posts standing in solidarity with Palestine — now more than ever, it’s crucial to amplify footage on the ground and share resources. Your silence does you no favors. We need to do the job the mainstream media fails to do.
“More than 170 Palestinians have been injured after Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque and dispersed worshippers elsewhere in occupied East Jerusalem, as weeks-long tensions between Israel and the Palestinians over Jerusalem soared again.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers packed into the mosque on the final Friday of Ramadan and many stayed on to protest in support of Palestinians facing eviction from their homes on Israeli-occupied land claimed by Jewish settlers.
During the past week, residents of Sheikh Jarrah, as well as Palestinian and international solidarity activists, have attended nightly vigils to support the Palestinian families under threat of forced displacement.
Israeli border police and forces have attacked the sit-ins using skunk water, tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and shock grenades over the past few days. Dozens of Palestinians have been arrested.”
-Arwa Ibrahim for Al Jazeera, May 7, 2021
Artist: @hafandhaf
