Reflections on Day 160 of genocide
Hello Friends and Church Family,
I was convicted by Pastor Young-Ki’s charge last week to fast and donate the proceeds to Gaza. I am going to try to start tomorrow by fasting from lunch on Thursdays and donating the money I would have spent to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), take time to pray with the Sabeel Ecumenical Palestinian Liberation Theology Center’s Wave of Prayer, write a brief reflection and share it with you all.
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Below is my first reflection. I will try to keep them short! I have a tendency to go on and on:
TLDR (Too Long Didn’t read): Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, in particular by starving Palestinians, people are rising up around the world to stop it. Going to start fasting from lunch on Thursdays and will send out reflection and prayer from Palestinian Liberation Theology Center. If you feel convicted, join me!
The theme of the unit I just closed out with my students is about Hegemony (the control of what we believe is normal and common sense) and Counter-Hegemony (resisting the status quo and giving power to the marginalized).
As the genocide in Gaza has unfolded, I have been dismayed at the ways in which the mainstream media, is deeply committed to the imperialist hegemonic narratives of the united states. For example, claims that Hamas systemically used sexual violence on 10/7 have been consistently proved false, but the dammage is already done. The story was uncritically repeated by Biden, the NYT, Netanyahu and the Zionist encampment at Stanford and became the justification for an all out assault on the refugees and descendants of refugees who were violently expelled from their lands to form Israel in 1948. Even before this genocide, Israel had bloquaded Gaza and was only allowing in the minimum calories nessesary for survival. To add horror upon horror, Israel is massacring people who try to get aid and tortured detainees to give false testimony to defund the main relief agency in Gaza (UNRWA). All the while, US media does vocabulary gymnastics to reinforce a hegemonic narrative and absolve Israel from any guilt. I am taking every step I can to prevent this genocide, but I was convicted by my colleagues fasting for Ramadan and the service last friday to fast and take counter-hegemonic action.
This lent, I have been committed to getting news from counter-hegemonic sources and participating in counter-hegemonic action. In the mornings, I often listen to Democracy Now! daily global news report or Electronic Intifada Podcast an independent Palestinian online news outlet. With my sister, I attended Rashid Khalidi’s talk at Rutgers University on Israel as a settler colonial state. With my mom I marched with nearly 10,000 other people on a global day of action for palestine. With my colleagues at Stanford, we organized an open letter calling for the Stanford Teacher Education Program to divest from Israel and push for a permanent ceasefire. On Thursdays, I want to pray the Wave of Prayer with Sabeel because it is a form of counter-hegemonic prayer, coming from Palestinians in Occupied East Jerusalem. I am also grateful for the invitation from Jennifer to an interfaith march/pilgrimage coming up in the east bay next saturday. I would like to fast as a spiritual discipline in solidarity with those who are being starved in Gaza. I want to cry out in word and action for justice and for peace.
If you feel convicted, feel free to pray with me or fast or donate to UNRWA. On Thursdays I will send a brief (hopefully) reflection and the liturgy is attached!