How to be an impactful ally as a Pro-Palestine American
A list of educational materials and meaningful actions for anyone, anywhere.
"Read over your contracts" "The ATMs are taking your picture, and "They have your blood in the system". These were the familiar early morning sound bytes of the man with the bicycle standing in front of the World Trade Center train stop. I, like everyone else, was used to ignoring him, his fervent screams blending into the white noise of high-heeled clacks and taxi horns, only today his voice rang out to me as clear as a bell. The idea that the government is "out to get you", is no longer reserved for those dawning tin foil hats, but is a substantiated truth propped up by deep-rooted and systematic corruption. The concept of an unassailable pure governing body went out with the bath water, and with Watergate, leaving nothing but the ringlets of an ugly reality. The average American feels as though nothing that they do has any impact on anything. Outside of running for office or committing some form of domestic terrorism, this average American.. let’s call them Sam for argument's sake, feels a level of deep unimportance and defeat prompting them to choose the easier path of idleness. Why vote when a secret council pulls all of the strings, why protest for a free Palestine when billionaires are threatening to find your identity and make sure that you never work again, and what do you do when the United States government is on the wrong side of history, allying with an extremist Zionist party to enforce an open-air prison? As someone with a working brain, heart, and a healthy set of ethics you may be wondering, what can I do from the U.S. to ally this heartbreaking and decades-long issue? I know this is how I was/am feeling and so for my own well-being and for whoever else, I have listed a few ways that you can.
Educate yourself: Read, watch, and most importantly listen
Below are some resources that act as a good starting point to understand the history of this conflict.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/10/israel-hamas-war-list-of-key-events-day-35
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/07/israel-palestine-two-state-solution-explained/
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/10/ignoring-roots-violence-israel-palestine-conflict-challenges-any-future-peace
Pick up the phone: Call your local representative
Using the app 5 Calls, you can easily select an issue close to your heart and quickly be connected to representatives in your zip code. Your voice matters and, believe it or not, is actually changing the tides of America’s stance in this war. You don’t need a script; most offices are just taking tallies of how many people are calling and what side of the issue they are on. Simply speak from the heart.
Protest *safely
Get a group of friends, a few signs, and a shared belief in freedom and justice, and find the closest rally happening to you. Ensure that if you are posting images, blur the faces of people that you don’t know as well as avoid police-heavy areas during heightened times.
A final note..
I am neither a citizen of Israel nor of Palestine, but as a Black American, I stand with the plight of any systematically oppressed people and recognize when an oppressive state uses gaslighting, manipulation, and selective ignorance to paint themselves as the victim in a war in which they started. My love for the Jewish community is real and longstanding and I do not conflate members of the Jewish faith with the extremist government currently in Israel. This is an issue of humanity, anyone who tries to paint it differently is lying, most specifically to themselves. I pray for the people of Palestine and think about them every single day. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
Amazing read and extremely important right now. We can all make a change even a small one buys it’s extremely impactful. Thank you so much #FreePalestine