Diya Moushahwar /
Mada al Carmel Arab Center for Social Research /
Haifa, Palestine /
I write this in the wake of the ceasefire in Palestine (1948 boundaries) and the occupied territories, following eleven long days of the State of Israel’s bombing of Gaza. More than 250 people have been murdered, and thousands were injured. According to the UN, more than 74,000 Palestinians are now homeless.
Residential buildings and international media offices were affected, along with hospitals and the Gaza Health Ministry. Doctors and patients were impacted as well, including the murder of 11 children seeking care for trauma with their families.
Unsurprisingly, the ceasefire has not ended Israeli state-sponsored repression of Palestinians. Within hours, Israeli settlers and police attacked worshipers at Al Aqsa, while protesters were targeted with mass arrests.
In the face of this mass death and destruction, there is room for hope. Palestinian resistance these last few weeks has been historic, including amongst Sheikh Jarrah residents, who continue to fight against their forced displacement. Palestinians have organized their first general strike since 1936.
Additionally, hundreds of thousands of people have protested in solidarity with Palestinians across the globe, including an Italian port workers union and the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union. Critically, the conversation within U.S. empire and abroad is shifting: we are moving from a narrative of conflict to an analysis of settler-colonialism, occupation, and apartheid. People who live in the U.S. are realizing what the annual four billion dollars of aid to Israel pays for.
From medical neutrality to these mass debilitating events, the Israeli state has continued to violate Palestinians’ human right to health. In my activist work, I fight in solidarity for a free Palestine and for liberation everywhere. In my academic work, I aim to historicize and politicize science, medicine, and care, examining how harm is reproduced and examining what revolutionary care looks like.
In the coming weeks, I will work with Mada al Carmel, an organization whose colleagues produce absolutely necessary social research to advance Palestinian human rights. As an intern at Mada, I will write and edit research reports, write grant reports and proposals, conduct international public relations and outreach, maintain and update the organization’s English-language website, and assist with research. At Mada, I hope to learn intimately how to work in solidarity with people on the ground.