The courage to cultivate resistance
Updated On: 26 July, 2024 05:07 AM IST | Mumbai | Rosalyn D`mello
In the face of heightened oppression, activism requires resilience, which is deeply rooted in the audacity to imagine a world premised on a love for justice and a deep respect for one another
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Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib registers her protest as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the US Capitol on July 24 in Washington, DC. Pic/X
Each time I see video footage of Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the US Congress, especially in the light of the ruling by the International Court of Justice declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal, I am drawn to the lone protesting figure of Rashida Tlaib. The only Palestinian American in Congress, she held a sign that boldly said ‘War Criminal’ besides wearing a Palestinian flag pin and keffiyeh. The other side of her sign read ‘Guilty of Genocide’. I try but fail in imagining the extent of her rage and disappointment. Apparently, I read in a report in The Guardian, she brought with her Hani Almadhoun, a fellow Palestinian who has apparently lost more than 150 members of his extended family since October 7. I think about the resolve, what it must have taken for her to sit through the address and the standing ovations it received, to know that the majority of the people in the room have no regard, only contempt for Palestinian life.
I have read that there were protests outside the hotel where Netanyahu is staying. People have been actively campaigning, protesting, raising awareness and facing the ire of the police. These gestures matter. They are proof that there is humanity left in us, that we are still capable of empathy, that we are not automated beings who will digest what the propaganda machines feed us.
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