By Rev. Dr. Jennifer Leath, 4th Episcopal District

By Rev. Dr. Jennifer Leath, 4th Episcopal District

fellow sufferers

silence will not protect us

time to rise is now

 

reflecting on …

 

land

 

freedom at high cost

where does “do no harm” begin?

where i am settled

 

suffering

 

enduring these days

heaping mounds of angry pain

oozing scents of death

 

terror

 

taking hostages

reigning horror all around

now: feel what i feel

 

dissemblances

 

“we won’t take your land”

“we affirm self-governance”

“we had to strike them”

 

manifesting …

 

discernment

 

who is at fault here?

how deep are agony’s roots?

our balm must reach there

 

justice

 

it’s just all of us

needing healing balance

souls: recalibrate

 

peace

 

resurrection breath

it’s nothing without justice

more than a stillness

 

healing

 

first: wash off the hate

showing oppression’s faces

then: apply the cures

 

love

 

justice projected

strong and vulnerable peace

sacred relations

 

AND

 

feel antiblack vibes?

wonder how the dust settles?

ceasefire. regardless.

 

AT LEAST ceasefire!

accumulated epochs

end during these days

 

~

 

I grieve for each person, each family directly impacted by the violence of 7 October 2023. I pray for the safe return of every Israeli hostage taken on that day. And still: we all know that the terror of that day began long before for all who are involved.

 

I stand against anti-Semitism. I stand against Islamophobia. I stand against the erasure of Palestinian Christians. I stand against militaristic empires. I stand against fast and slow violence. I stand against the anti-Blackness and anti-queerness that somehow still creeps up in those with whom I stand on these fronts.

 

And I *must* speak because of those (with whom I now stand) who have recognized *my* suffering – and that of the communities of which I am a part – and have spoken and stood with me. You who have stood with me – Palestinians and Israelis; Jews, Christians, Muslims, agnostics, atheists, and people of other faiths; people of all walks of life: thank you.

 

And I *must* speak and take a stand because – even if you did *not* stand with me (or wouldn’t) – I recognize you as my neighbor crushed under the rubble of whatever bombs or hang-gliders have dropped on you.

 

I have walked the walls that separate Palestinian territories from Israeli territories. I have experienced the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical terror and hyper-surveillance that Palestinians endure each and every day firsthand. There *is* an apartheid, Jim Crow, George Floyd murder era familiarity about walking the streets where Palestinians live. There is so much I do not know, but this I know as well as my name: what is happening to Palestinians right now – and what has been happening to Palestinians for decades – is unjust. And this I know as well as the first century Palestinian Jew in whom I believe: there is no justification for the current crushing approach of the Israeli government. And too: there is no justification for the violent amalgamation and targeting of Jews and Muslims who live outside this region.

 

On 3 November 2023, Adam Serwer published an article titled “Don’t Equate Anti-Zionism With Anti-Semitism” in The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/anti-zionism-not-anti-semitism/675888/). While Serwer’s article does not adequately reflect the dissemblances of those who make the claim that they are anti-Zionist to shield themselves from justified allegations of their anti-Semitism, it does reflect the spirit of so many of us who want to see justice, peace, and a dismantling of empire for all. And though the article leans into the possibility of a single state solution that many have abandoned, most helpfully, it invites us to a broader imagination of the possibilities of just peace. However, another true reason I cite Serwer is that he names the fears that have silenced me.

 

I only regret not saying more, not saying it stronger, and not saying it sooner. Let us leave regret behind