The genocide in Palestine flickers continuously at the top of our news headlines. Millions of eyes spectate the live-streamed atrocities through phone screens, viewing devastation we cannot unsee.
The genocide is ingrained in our minds. With a faltering ceasefire, the phrase “do not look away” burns into our feeds. With each scroll through social media, we hold an immense responsibility: to bear witness.
We are all witnesses to these brutal murders. The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) reports an estimated 69,000 Palestinians killed and at least 170,000 injured. But The Lancet medical journal, suggests the death toll to be 40 percent higher than what is reported because GHM is unable to get to bodies under the rubble and is not counting “indirect” deaths (caused by forced starvation or aid blockades). The Lancet’s findings bring the number of Palestinians murdered to nearly 100,000. By the time this piece is published, the toll will certainly rise.
One hundred thousand lives and histories — each person is a whole world.
Some names break through Israel’s blockade and circulate — Anas al-Sharif, Reem and her grandfather Khaled Nabhan, Refaat Alareer, Sidra Hassouna — but most do not. Palestinian’s lives and deaths are cropped, clipped and curated into posts fighting for engagement. All the while, the BBC found the social media and technology conglomerate Meta increases moderation and restrictions on Palestinian creators, often removing their profiles, posts and comments. Meta’s algorithms bury Palestine’s communications.
Knowledge of Palestinian reality is discarded and rejected by western media, forcing Palestinian voices into the confines of our social media. Evidence of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has always existed but is now broadcasted through a different format; one that demands viewership.
We are tempted to disengage, as the inherent push for us to keep scrolling is built into the social media algorithm. But if we disengage, we become disembodied viewers and our witnessing is passive. We begin to ignore our complicity.
As students, it is also necessary to watchdog our university. UCSC, being within the UC system, is a cog in maintaining billions of dollars in investments to BlackRock and, therefore, various weapon manufacturers.
In a UC regents meeting covered by the Daily Bruin, the UC Chief Investment Officer Jagdeep Singh Bachher, admitted that the UC invests $163 million in BlackRock. BlackRock notably includes organizations like Lockheed Martin in their investment portfolio.
According to Al Jazeera, Lockheed Martin is a major weapons manufacturer for one of the world’s largest arms procurement programmes, which provides arms directly to Israel’s military. By investing in weapons manufacturers contributing to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, the UC is actively ignoring their support by proxy of the settler-colonial project of Israel.
Their silence is an extension of America’s rejection of Palestinian epistemology. Palestinians are not believed by our government nor our university. Our tuition finances the university and in turn allows the university to fund the occupation of Palestine. In opposition, we must bear witness.
However, witnessing cannot be a singular act.
Witnessing must function in tandem with action. Action can be both individual and communal. We need to speak of Palestine in every facet of our lives. We need to abide by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). We need to organize towards sustaining the disruption of the status quo that has allowed Palestinians to be killed, displaced and starved.
We must answer calls for movement. We must make noise. Bisan Owda, a Palestinian filmmaker who has become a journalist covering the genocide in Gaza, called for many to bang pots outside of city halls. If Palestinians cannot sleep, neither can the officials that have allowed Israeli weapons to thunder through the night.
It is not always easy. Sadness, fear and loss can take hold. We may get desensitized to the massacres on our screens. But work towards liberation requires caring for ourselves and for one another. We give a moment towards renewal and revitalizing because bearing witness and taking action require it.
In the words of Palestinian feminist and human rights activist, Sandie Hanna, actions of solidarity must “center critical consciousness and radical revolutionary love as foundations for every transformative action.”
Solidarity is the political version of love. We are all kindred. We grieve together. We keep each other safe. We have to make the choice to work everyday towards a free Palestine.
