The People’s Conference for Palestine

Detroit made me proud last week- I was able to attended the People’s Conference for Palestine, here in my own city. What a wonderful experience to be surrounded with clear-sighted people full of hope, despair, information, ideas and plans. I will share some of what I took away from it for myself and for those who weren’t there (but note videos available on youtube!).

Quotes from the Keynote: Gaza is the Compass

Mahmoud Khalil:

“They want to silence us. And honestly, it would be much easier and safer for me to remain silent, but silence is not an option, it should not be an option. I will not remain silent in the midst of a genocide. I will not be silent when my people are being starved and massacred. And I will continue to keep the focus on Palestine and its liberation.“

Mohammed Mustafa:

“Why is baby formula banned in Gaza? Why is feeding a child considered a threat? Why are incubators, ambulances, hospitals- the very lifeline of life- turned into targets of war? When did milk become a weapon? When did bread become contraband? When did saving a child’s life become a crime? Gaza is the only place in the planet where nourishing a baby is treated as an act of resistance. The only place where medicine itself is put on trial. The only place where life itself is seen as a danger. And the world accepts this in Gaza. And it tells every oppressor ‘you may criminalize survival itself, and no one will stop you.'”

“There is no comfort in standing up for Gaza, there is only pain. In this you may lose your job, you may be imprisoned, you may illegally bonded, you may lose your reputation. You will be vilified, you’ll get death threats. But think about what we call sacrifice: we fear losing a title, a paycheck, a platform, while the people in Gaza are losing their homes, their families, their children and their very lives. We count the cost of speaking, yet they are paying the price of silence with their blood. Courage is not the absence of fear, courage is knowing the cost. Courage is feeling the fear and courage is still standing where humanity demands you to stand.”

“Gaza is the moral compass. The question is not whether it points true, the question is whether we have the courage to follow it and the conviction to act before it’s too late.”

Abu Baker Abed

“Journalism in Gaza is genocide documentation. ”

“Since I was a kid that was exposed to western culture because I wanted to learn English, I was naive probably to believe what they were writing in books about western culture, that its always saved or maintained human rights for every human being across the globe in terms of national laws. But when I grew up I realized that all of this was a mere facade. That human rights were only for certain categories of people, not for all people.”

“In Gaza, we always wanted to say the truth, no matter what the cost was, although we were not protected. We talk about horror stories and unbearable anecdotes that everyone has every single day. Moments before the live TV I had to see my cousin killed in front of my eyes with his son. Doing the report, going to the funeral, bury his body, and after that, go back. ”

“As because this is Anais Al Sharif hall where we must really honor his memory, the sacrifices he has taken since day one it’s been truly unbearable since he left us and the news has been quite suppressed. …That’s why I really left when I left Gaza four months ago, because I faced the same threats. …We for many months during this genocidal assault in the strip- we sacrificed our lives we sacrificed our families. I remember the words of my mother before I left Gaza all the time at night before the dawn prayers she would say ‘I just wanted to check on you because I thought you were bombed.’ And my sisters would say, whenever they heard a quadcopter over the house they would say ‘This is coming for you and to kill you.’ Everyone doing their duty is a target, is being criminalized. ”

Other Takeaways

Chris Smalls, the labor organizer who spearheaded the unionization of Amazon workers and who was recently part of the Freedom Flotilla. Even if I hadn’t heard his words, I would have been moved by his sheer essence. He embodies courage. He reminded me it isn’t nice to be nice in the face of evil. He spoke of the extreme deficit of action among labor unions when it comes to this genocide. He reminded us of the local manufacturing forces creating the parts, the machinery, the weapons that commit genocide each day. Jobs, paychecks and economies depending on complicity for sustenance. It reminded me that we need to do more than denounce, we must envision and create alternatives. What can those factories make that would create rather than destroy? Who will be the one to retool those factories for another line of products?

Linda Sarsour shared a letter written to her unborn grandchild, a lovely letter that she said helped her find her voice because, so often lately, words fail her. I was struck by the courage of her closing line that “Palestine will be free in my lifetime.” The difference between “someday” and “someday soon” was tangible.

I had tears in my eyes when the stage filled with children. I don’t even remember much of what they did or said, but the symbolism alone- of survival, of vitality- was beautiful, and sad.