Message of Solidarity to the Lady Badasses
It has been exactly 1 year since I last wrote on this blog. Frankly, I just couldn't excuse yet another American Jew writing about their "experiences" in Palestine. But then, I became more and more familiar with a whole new (to me) group of writer/activists: the young, fabulous Palestinian women who have been tearing up twitter, blogs, Nabi Saleh and Ramallah streets, making many of the same arguments that I was intending to make here. I became inspired. I decided I would write, mostly just as a shout out into the world: you women are right, 100%, and it's sooo obvious you're right, even an American girl who lived in Palestine for more than a few months could figure it out. Now, I have no intention of putting words in anyone's mouth, not to mention the fact that no two of you amazing women think exactly the same way about everything, but I had a couple of things I just wanted to say:
1) No, Israeli activists should not feel entitled to being treated as equals by you. Trust, comraderie comes with sacrifice, and an analysis of power. I don't give a fuck how many demonstrations they've been to; until they live under military occupation or apartheid, they have no fucking idea what resistance is about. And yes, that means they should defer to you, and not be arrogant asses. Concretely, that means they should follow your lead in any relationship: if you want to invite them for coffee, or to work on a project, right on, but they shouldn't be inviting themselves along. And dear God, if they start talking about their arrests/injuries/treatment by Israeli forces, tell them to live in constant fear of having their house raided in the middle of the night and incarceration for years without charge, and then come talk to you (or me).
2) Yes, your voices are way more important than international or Israeli voices on this subject. I'm highly skeptical of any project that is aimed at "making your voices heard" unless they're designed by you. Your voices are out there, folks need to shut up and start forwarding.
3) No, the "Bil'in model" of "popular resistance" is not the only one, and no, not everyone thinks it's a good one (the idea that "popular" is defined as "a few people in a few villages, funded and supported by the PA" seems suspicious to me, too).
4) No, you don't need internationals, and certainly not Israelis. In fact, I would argue in some ways we do more harm than good (especially if all we're going to do is be a temporary presence, without speaking Arabic or providing structural support, and smelling bad). And no, I don't think you need to be polite and generous to internationals, just because they "came all that way" or are "also getting hurt". We do so because our governments support the soldiers and the guns. We should take the heat for a while, be a distraction for the soldiers or something.
5) There are internationals who will support you even if you don't use the term "non-violent".
6) Good solidarity activists will support you in what you need while not just blindly following any Palestinian initiative. They will keep the proper balance between being supporter, comrade, and friend, depending on what you want, & will be wise enough to know when they don't know what the hell they're talking about. They will also take responsibility for making shit happen. Only shitty solidarity activists sit around waiting for direct orders from Palestinians (and bitch about being bored when they don't have any). Good allies get what's needed from what you say, give suggestions for how to get it done, and then do it!
6) If any of you have really curly hair, please get in contact with me: Rafeef is in need of a godmother.