We support Palestine

Statement of protest and solidarity with the Palestinian people from the mentors of We Are Not Numbers in acknowledgement of the general strike in historic Palestine and the diaspora.

By We Are Not Numbers  | May 18, 2021

I am on the board of We Are Not Numbers and I have been working with mentors in the program to craft this statement to express our outrage and concern for the massive Israeli assault on Gaza. Our job is to support and uplift voices from the region. This statement only has power if it is read and discussed. Please send to friends, family, colleagues, use your social media, call your local newspapers. SPREAD THE WORD. THE MASSACRE IS EVER MORE CATASTROPHIC. I just received an email stating that the Ministry of Health offices were ruined, the only biological and covid testing facility destroyed, 6 hospitals and 9 primary clinics are damaged to ruined, drinkable water is short and non drinkable absent for many. The Israelis bombed the street leading to Al Shifa Hospital. Two schools that are now shelters for the dispossessed have been told they are bombing targets. These are war crimes against medical workers and innocent civilians.
— Alice Rothchild, board member

We the undersigned are mentors for the We Are Not Numbers youth storytelling project. We work with Palestinian writers 18 to 30 years of age to develop their writing skills and share their stories, poetry, and graphic art with the English-speaking public. In this capacity, we have each gotten to know a number of young people, most of whom are living in Gaza, who want to be heard and understood, who have powerful stories to tell, and are rendered largely invisible by the world. Despite the wars, the besiegement, and the relentless attacks they have faced, they braved their experiences and crafted their narratives in ways that humbly allowed us to catch a glimpse of being young, born under siege, and living with intermittent electricity, water, fuel and internet, a drastic lack of employment, drones buzzing overhead and no access to basic public services.

We began to understand the realities of having family and friends injured or killed in their sleep, at home, in daily life, the consequences of Israeli colonial dispossession, violent bombardment, and deliberate attacks on civilians and infrastructure.

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