Palestine in Our Hearts and Minds
There’s been an overwhelming collective feeling of anger, sadness and despair because of the news out of Gaza. It’s been 50+ days since the Hamas attacks on October 7th followed by the Israeli army attacks on Gaza which is mostly killing innocent civilians including thousands of children, destroying homes and hospitals and the killing of many journalists who were bravely reporting under dangerous conditions. What happened on October 7th was tragic, but what’s happening in Gaza is not punishing the perpetrators of that attack, but a genocide killing thousands of innocent men, women and children.
Politicians and mainstream media have a lot to answer for, but what many of us didn’t see coming is the growing wave of censorship by Western cultural institutions of artists and thinkers showing sympathy and support for Palestinians and a demand for an immediate ceasefire. Whilst I’m used to censorship in my part of the world, seeing it implemented by individuals at these institutions has been shocking and disappointing and makes it clear to me that any form of suffering or injustice outside Europe and America don’t actually matter to them.
I don’t have the headspace now to write more about this or to put together a list of these institutions, but will try to do so soon, at least to have a record for myself.
I’ve been out of town for a while, and while experiencing autumn in Europe is something I look forward to every year, this time I was spending time in cinemas and walking around with a heavy heart, and found it difficult to share any updates from my trip on social media because of the news and also because many friends, colleagues and peers on social media are sharing feelings of pain and despair.
I wasn’t even in the mood to photograph much whilst I was away, but I did photograph a few signs of support for Palestine that I saw from my walks. The first photo is from Vienna, the rest from London.
