“One person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist”*
How can we co-create a world defined by freedom, safety and prosperity for all children?
* “One person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist” is a quote often attributed to Gerald Seymour, a British author and journalist, but is referenced in the movie The Gatekeepers: where six former heads of Israel's secret service agency, the Shin Bet, discuss their organization's successes and failures since the Six Day War in 1967. This is part of a dynamic resource list cited below that I will update with thoughts from all of you.
I’ve been working on this piece since I stepped out of the race for Senate. October 7th happened while I was on the campaign trail. That day and everything that followed kicked off this intense challenge of internalizing fast-moving and often conflicting sets of facts about current events and history and varied points of view; digesting all of those; and articulating a point of view (as a candidate for office and then private citizen) on a topic that, previously, I knew a very nominal amount about.
I had many versions of this post that fell to the side when we learned last week that more than 12,300 children have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, surpassing the number killed in conflicts around the world from 2019 to 2022 and that 1 in 6 children under the age of two in northern Gaza are suffering from “acute malnutrition and wasting”.
My friend who leads MercyCorps shared how inadequate words were to describe the level of pain, suffering and desperation that people in Gaza feel. She described in detail how both Israelis and Palestinans feel unsafe, vulnerable and mistrustful. She explained this duality of hopelessness combined with a fervent *need* to hope that things will get better. Many adults have given up hope for themselves, but cling to it for their kids.
This newsletter is a weekly conversation about going all out for a brighter future - for our children.
What follows is a narrative that asks you, as adults, to:
imagine a lived experience potentially different from your own
be quick with facts and slow with blame in the unfolding of crises (using my experience on the campaign as just one example)
take informed actions based on a commitment to understanding history and present from many sources
move forward by centering on the notion that people create structures and systems and we can choose to redesign them to exclude or include others - especially kids.
I hope you’ll be motivated to crisp up how you’ll support, actively, all children (not just our biological ones) to be welcome, safe, valued and championed in a world that is actively keeping so many from living life at all, let alone fully. With a reminder that we are only as free or as great as the least free and most oppressed people among us.
IMAGINE
Imagine what it is like to have your family and town slaughtered and your right to exist questioned.
Really take a pause to imagine that - imagine all your senses reacting to that.
Can you?
Now what do you feel at the thought of it: what happens in your brain, body, mind, spirit?
What would you want to do at that moment to the perpetrators of the violence if you could? They just killed your children, your parents, your spouse, your best friend. Everyone you love. They deny your right to exist.
Both Palestinian people and Israeli people have been traumatized by violence like this.
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in the United States have been traumatized by violence like this.
Families across the world involved in 110 armed conflicts right now are currently being traumatized by violence like this.
In the U.S., of the 13 gun deaths per 100,000 people that occur each year, 5.7 are homicides or shootings by the police: those families and communities experience trauma and violence like this.
The triple threat of conflict, climate change and poverty are driving massive humanitarian crises, leaving millions at risk of famine. 783 million people do not know where their next meal will come from. 1 in 5 deaths among children under 5 is attributed to severe acute malnutrition.
Children are the most vulnerable as a result of all these things. Kids are the most traumatized and powerless of all.
Trauma like this is truly hard to empathize with (defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another) if you’ve never lived it. To even begin to comprehend, I think you have to lean into understanding the perspectives of and trust the direction of people who have.
With respect to the situation in Israel and Palestine in particular, I have been endeavoring to learn from Israelis, Palestinians, Jewish and Muslim people, scholars, activists, and community leaders across the board to understand their experience and perspectives. I want to share what I have learned, how the inputs over time have evolved my thinking and actions and offer some observations on what that might mean going forward.
This is written with respect and humility for all who have much deeper expertise on this topic and with gratitude for those who have shared their perspectives so graciously and patiently.
It is written with one goal in mind: make the world safe for all kids.
It makes a very large assumption as a first principle: that we agree with the data I just mentioned which show that children today are NOT safe.
I make a second assumption as well: that we can agree that kids’ lack of safety is because of adults doing things that, if we chose, we could do differently.
BE QUICK WITH FACTS, SLOW WITH BLAME
When October 7th happened, I was running for the United States Senate - a white woman of privilege from California who has never traveled to Palestine or Israel, nor has deep foreign policy experience. Since the Senate declares war, would-be candidates should always voice their take on issues of war (voters deserve that). My team and I worked hard to quickly absorb as much as possible before saying anything at all.
I believe in the Leonard Saffir quote during crises: “be quick with facts and slow with the blame.”
I voiced that Israel had a right to defend itself when Hamas slaughtered around 1,200 men, women, children, and infants in the largest and most brutal massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. After the attack, Hamas retreated into its network of tunnels beneath the homes, schools, and hospitals of Gaza, using Palestinian civilians as human shields in order to weaponize the resulting civilian casualties into an anti-semitic movement.
I became more convinced in the days and weeks that followed that the Israeli military defense was so massive and the killing of innocent men, women, children so widespread, military action was not likely the solution to achieve four things:
Stop loss of life - especially for innocent children and their families
Ensure security, humanity and dignity for the Israeli and the Palestinian people - including a return of hostages and those wrongfully detained
Empower an equitable and just existence for Israel and Palestine
Fight the rise of hate crimes and threats against Jewish and Muslim people in the United States and around the world
I called for a structured pause in mid-October, a disarming of social media as a for-profit weapon of war, and then an all out ceasefire. I repeated this call on November 18th at the Democratic Convention with Congresswoman Lee when pro-ceasefire demonstrators came into the hall and Convention organizers shut the convention down as I was talking to the demonstrators saying: “I support a ceasefire. The United States has a heavy moral responsibility for waging peace thoughtfully, in a structured way. I know I would want immediate action if my children were raped and murdered and taken hostage at a music festival by an entity with the goal of wiping us from the planet. But I also believe all children are *all our children* and if we want real and lasting benefits for children, we need to end - not escalate - armed conflict. This requires coherent, thoughtful planning that we have not had a chance to do.”
My mic was shut off after the first sentence and my campaign shut down soon after.
INFORMED ACTION
I did not feel any further sharing of my opinion was helpful (I’d voiced it in the most public of ways and had not been chosen by Party or Ceasefire proponents to carry it forth). As a private citizen, I felt I could focus on two things: build knowledge and use that to focus action.
BUILD KNOWLEDGE: Getting a deeper grounding on history in Israel and Gaza (*Resource list below and I welcome additions to this). Three areas I sought to understand better: the historical record on oppressing Jewish and Palestinian people, the connection between Palestinian Liberation and the U.S. Civil Rights movement, and the role of social media and social media activists in this conflict.
Learning Focus 1: The history of oppression of Jews and Palestinans and the U.S. Government’s Role in that Oppression. Below are very abbreviated, cliff-notes on the history of oppression by both Jews and Palestinians and the U.S. Role in this (there is far more to this story than I could ever represent). I include this history simply because I speak to many people who vocal and assured of their right-ness yet very thin on history. Summarized, this context suggests both Jews and Palestinians have experienced atrocious oppression and much of that oppression in modern history is rooted in how Europe and the United States have engaged in the region. And, since the war began in October, US antisemitic, Islamophobic incidents surged
1) To people who are anti-Israel and pro-Palestine in a way that comes across as extremely antisemitic, I’d love to make sure they appreciate and acknowledge the oppression of Jewish people dating back to ancient times
Ancient Period - Jews faced oppression in ancient civilizations like Egypt and Persia. They were enslaved in Egypt before their exodus led by Moses. Later, they faced persecution under various rulers in the ancient world.
Medieval Period - 5th to 15th century - During the Middle Ages, Jews faced severe persecution across Europe, including forced conversions, expulsion from countries like Spain and England, and the establishment of ghettos
In the late Middle Ages and into the early modern period, Jews were subjected to pogroms (organized massacres) in Eastern Europe and faced expulsion from numerous European countries, including France and Germany.
The Holocaust, British Mandate, Arab-Israeli War, Hamas - The most notorious act of oppression against Jews in modern history, the Holocaust, orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulted in the systematic genocide of six million Jews through mass extermination in concentration camps. The horrors of the Holocaust intensified the desire among Jews for a secure homeland where they could live free from persecution.
In the aftermath of the war, hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees, including survivors of the Holocaust, immigrated to Israel. This mass immigration, known as the Aliyah, played a crucial role in shaping Israel's demographic makeup and reinforcing its Jewish identity.
Following World War II, the British mandate over Palestine became increasingly untenable due to conflict between Jewish and Arab populations.
In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Jews accepted the plan, but the Arab states rejected it. After the declaration of independence by Israel on May 14, 1948, neighboring Arab states invaded the newly established state, leading to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949. Despite facing significant challenges, Israel successfully defended its independence and expanded its territory beyond the UN-proposed borders.
Hamas was formed in 1987, during the First Intifada, primarily as a Palestinian resistance movement against Israeli occupation and to advance Palestinian nationalist goals. “The establishment of ‘Israel’ is entirely illegal and contravenes the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,” Article 18 states, “and goes against their will and the will of the Ummah.” Driving home this point, the new Article 19 proclaims, “There shall be no recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist entity.” [more on this Understanding Hamas’s Genocidal Ideology, A close read of Hamas’s founding documents clearly shows its intentions. By Bruce Hoffman]
Modern Anti-Semitism - Ongoing: Despite improvements in many parts of the world, anti-Semitism persists in various forms today, including hate crimes, discrimination, and political scapegoating, leading to ongoing challenges for Jewish communities worldwide.
2) To the pro-Israel and pro-US/Israel policy, I would hope they appreciate that that unwavering support seems to deny the impact to Palestinian human rights.
British Mandate - 1920-1948: After World War I, Palestine was under British control, leading to tensions between Palestinian Arabs and Jewish immigrants. Arab resentment grew over Jewish migration and land purchases supported by the British. The US generally supported the British policy in the region.
Partition Plan and Nakba - 1947-1948 - In 1947, the UN proposed a partition plan to create separate Jewish and Arab states in Palestine. Again, the plan was accepted by Jewish leaders but rejected by Palestinian Arabs, leading to violence and ultimately the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled during this period, known as the Nakba (Catastrophe). The US supported the UN partition plan, but did not take direct military action.
Occupation and Conflict - 1967-present - In the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, territories inhabited by Palestinians. This led to ongoing conflict, marked by Israeli military control, settlement expansion, and restrictions on Palestinian movement and rights. The US has provided significant military and financial support to Israel, influencing the dynamics of the conflict.
Intifadas and Resistance - 1987-1993, 2000-2005 0 Palestinians have engaged in various forms of resistance / pushback against Israeli occupation, including two major uprisings known as intifadas in 1987-1993 and 2000-2005. These periods saw widespread protests, civil disobedience, and, at times, violent clashes with Israeli forces. The US has sometimes mediated peace efforts but has generally supported Israel's actions against Palestinian resistance.
Peace Efforts and Stalemate - Ongoing - Numerous peace initiatives and negotiations have been attempted to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the Oslo Accords in the 1990s. However, a lasting solution has remained elusive, with issues such as borders, settlements, refugees, and the status of Jerusalem remaining contentious and unresolved. The US has been involved in various peace efforts, often as a mediator, but has faced criticism for its perceived bias towards Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu's positions on Palestine have prioritized Israeli security concerns, supported settlement expansion, questioned the feasibility of a two-state solution, affirmed Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and pursued a tough approach towards Hamas in Gaza.
Learning Focus 2: The connection between Palestinian Liberation and the U.S. Civil right movement. I previously understood a strong connection between Black and Jewish Activists in the wake of the 2020 racial reckoning in the U.S.. I did not totally understand the connection between the fight for racial justice in this country and the support for Palestinians until Andrew Butters, a journalist who has covered the Middle East and now teaches at UT Austin, shared this (excerpted):
If I had been a journalist in America in the 50’s and sixties I hope I wouldn’t have covered Bloody Sunday on Selma Bridge as an outbreak of racial tension between Black people and White people. I hope I would have called it a civil rights movement against a system of racial segregation. And rather than policies for promoting racial harmony, I would have focused on what needed to be done for Black people to get their rights and what we need to do to dismantle Jim Crow.
… while co-existence programs and peace work are important, if they don’t
take into account the vast difference between the occupied and the occupier then they serve to legitimize the current unjust status quo.
And one more blunt thought — we [Americans] are part of this problem. … The dialogue that needs to happen is here at home.
And just to be clear. Being pro ceasefire, being anti occupation doesn’t necessarily mean pro Palestinian. Doesn’t mean not accepting the attachment that Israelis have for their land and state, or acknowledging the safety that Israel represented for those fleeing the Holocaust.
It means accepting that Israel has also made Palestinians unsafe, and that solutions have to be based on justice, international law and equal rights.
Learning Focus 3: The Role of Social Media and Social Media Activists in this Crisis (and others). I spent time with and still feel horrified, sad and deeply concerned for people in the region and Muslim and Jewish friends and colleagues who were missing family members and experiencing either real hate crimes or the rising threat of them and I wanted to better understand social media’s role in this.
I saw the pro-Palestine movement growing on social media with support from leaders that I admire for their work on structural racism in the United States. I was alarmed by the dissemination of misinformation at even higher warp speed than normal. I was compelled by the comprehensive data about TikTok algorithms promoting antisemitism and hatred (even though I still think the TikTok ban is a red herring for bigger issues on social media as I wrote about last week). Antisemitism is the #1 hate crime in the US according to FBI (more than any other *ism): and for a group that represents only about 2.4% of the American public, they account for ~60% of all religious-based hate crimes.
I see how polarizing rhetoric is becoming by leaders on all sides of this issue who believe they are getting affirmation in their perspective from more and more followers who will write ‘thank you for saying the truth,’ when a lot of that followership is heavily manipulated by algorithms and ad systems influenced by bad actors who want to divide and destabilize people and systems - particularly Americans and the U.S. government. My concern on this reached an all time high this week as I hear people identifying as both progressive and MAGA saying there will be a bloodbath (or similar terminology) if ____ [their desired set of next steps does not take place].
When the talking points become so similar among those with seemingly polar opposite points of views, you can rest assured that this is the algorithmic tail wagging the dog of active social media users who have been nudged to update their rhetoric to be more extreme because extremism, negativity and hate go viral. And social media virality amplifies societal threats, fueling moral panics and increasing expressions of outrage. This virtual panic and outrage bleeds offline into heightened tensions - both interpersonal and across populations. This is so nefarious and, having helped to build some of these systems in order to keep the internet free and accessible, I can tell you first hand how unintended and regretful this consequence is.
FOCUS ACTION WITH PROTECTING AND EMPOWERING CHILDREN AS THE GOAL: Endeavor be an ally to those experiencing violence and trauma (in and outside Israel and Gaza) defined as:
(1) Take on the struggle as your own considering the context of your capabilities and resources [Personally, I try to focus efforts where I have experience in technology, finance, and building inclusive organizations and systems that scale alongside massive growth and change; this is different for each person]
(2) Stand up, directly and with care, even when you feel scared.
(3) Transfer the benefits of your privilege to those who lack it.
(4) Acknowledge that while you, too, feel pain, the conversation is not about you.
GOING FORWARD
With the very HUGE luxury (see this amazing article by ANNA VAN PRAAGH on latest status symbol du jour is your luxury beliefs) of being able to integrate the above into a logic framework for thinking about the future where kids can be safe and empowered equitably, here are three observations:
1: We are living in a time of significant conflict, greater than any other in my lifetime. Israel-Palestine and the deaths of 12,300 children is particularly grave, and yet we must stay connected to the impact that adult-caused conflict, climate change, and poverty has on 1 in 6 children all over the world (as my friend who leads an aid organization says, Americans can be very fickle friends in times of conflict based on whatever the algo boosts in their feeds).
2: People create structures (political, economic, religious) upheld by systems (governments, markets, traditions) that enable these conflicts to continue or be resolved. These structures operate on a spectrum of exclusion to inclusion. The U.S. Government can play a bigger role domestically and abroad in influencing an evolution toward more inclusion.
3: To change any system, we need to be willing to evolve as people. I think the path for this is to call on all humans, from wherever they sit but especially if they have positions of power and privilege, to adopt
a curious mindset that seeks to learn from the lived experiences of others
a motivation to deliver a safer world for our children and future generations, knowing that requires giving something of yourself (including, very likely, some comfort you may have come to enjoy as if it’s an earned right versus part of a privilege and consequence of systems that systematically include you and exclude other)
a skill set to cultivate trust that has been shaken deeply between and among us at such a large scale
I will write more on the flywheel between people, structures, systems and the fuel of trust in upcoming posts.
In the meantime when I ask experts: “what can someone reading this post do to be a better ally in this particular struggle?”, here is the aggregated advice:
Be humble in approaching people who are living the trauma of this conflict. Israelis, Palestinans, Jewish and Muslim people are experiencing it in a way that those outside those intersections are not. Those of us outside can be allies but must be cautious about not co-opting the struggle, especially on social media. Facts matter more than followers.
As Andrew Butters said, “Cross the boundaries of imagination and - whenever possible - cross actual borders before vilifying others.” And, in crisis, that mantra - “BE QUICK WITH FACTS, SLOW WITH BLAME” - can be really helpful.
Wherever you are, know that children suffering at the hands of adults lacking skill and will to create safety for them is on all of us. Do not tune out because the issues are too hard. We all have some role to play in supporting the end of needless death, destruction and suffering.
Give to causes or candidates that have cogent plans for helping kids. These are important organizations doing work in the area that we support. I will share an interview with the MercyCorps Executive Director soon.
Invest in your own learning journey to augment your understanding on this issue. All the non-profits linked here have great resources. Below are other resources have influenced my thinking, though I would love to learn from others on what they think is useful and I will keep adding to this. Please note I share these because they taught me something. Not because I agree with all of them. It feels like a waning and important skill to read and absorb material that you may disagree with, while acknowledging that it provides an angle you may have been missing.
[Four Hours] Israel-Palestine Debate: Finkelstein, Destiny, M. Rabbani & Benny Morris | Lex Fridman Podcast #418: Norman Finkelstein and Benny Morris are historians. Mouin Rabbani is a Middle East analyst. Steven Bonnell (aka Destiny) is a political livestreamer.
[1 hour, 40 minutes] The Gatekeepers: Six former heads of Israel's secret service agency, the Shin Bet, discuss their organization's successes and failures since the Six Day War in 1967. The memorable quote for me from this “"One person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist" is often attributed to Gerald Seymour, a British author and journalist”
[1 hour] The Wars in Ukraine and Gaza Have Changed. America’s Policy Hasn’t. The Ezra Klein Show - with Richard Hias, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations for 20 years
[2 minutes] Gaza faces famine during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting By Joel Gunter, BBC News, Jerusalem
[27 minutes] Piers Morgan vs Norman Finkelstein On Israel and Palestine | The Full Interview: This will be a very hard listen for some (it was for me), but it was compelling to hear the perspective of those who carried out the October 7th attacks.
[5 minutes] Israelis, Newly Vulnerable, Remain Traumatized and Mistrustful - In the Times, By Steven Erlanger
[2 minutes] How women in Israel and Palestine are pushing for peace — together (spotlights: Israeli movement “Women Wage Peace” and the Palestinian movement “Women of the Sun”)
[2 minutes] Foreign Policy, The Case for Palestine The Palestinian Authority Has Outlived Its Purpose—It’s Time for the State By Raja Khalidi March 19, 2024
[Ongoing] Peter Beinart Substack - editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, a CNN political commentator, and a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
[Ongoing] Verify Israel
[Ongoing] Democracy Now
[Ongoing] Council on Foreign Relations - coverage and analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
[Ongoing] Israel Policy Forum - dedicated to advancing the goal of a two-state outcome in order to preserve Israel’s future as secure, Jewish, and democratic.
[Ongoing] Here4The Kids makes connections between civil and human rights in the US / Gaza / elsewhere with regular Thursday 12 pm ET community forums that spotlight unique perspectives
I hope this piece did allow you to imagine new perspectives, dig into facts you may not have understood, inform the ladder of inference you make about those facts to inform the actions that can keep children safe.
There is so much grey area when you are looking for “who’s right?”. Examining that question allowed me to appreciate this notion that one person’s terrorist is indeed another’s freedom fighter.
Let’s ask ourselves a different question “what is right for our kids and the generations from whom borrowing this planet?” and agree that all of us adults are being called to do so much better in service of that goal.