We at Synergetic Press, an organization dedicated to uplifting changemaking movements in social justice, consciousness, and ecology, demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza in solidarity with Palestinian peoples. We decry the genocidal bombings in Gaza, with tens of thousands of lives taken, many more injured, so many missing, and so many more terrified for their lives. We are mourning the lives brutally taken in Israel on October 7, for the ripples of pain among the survivors, and for the intergenerational trauma this has touched upon for communities worldwide. We call for the release of the Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners who are still separated from their families.
Advocating for a ceasefire is a return to our basic humanity and an acknowledgment of our interconnectedness—we feel the suffering as it comes to us in real time and our hearts are crying out.
We call for an end to Israel’s occupation, which has systematized the dispossession of land, defended the expansion of illegal settlements, and repeatedly violated international law in denying basic resources to the people of Gaza, where two-thirds of the population are refugees from other places in Palestine. As of August 2023, the Israeli government had left 63% of Gazans food insecure with 95% of people lacking access to clean water, living within a militarized border under daily threat of violence and unable to move freely.
We recognize that so many are grieving the actions of their own governments acting with such profound disregard for the sanctity of human life. The Hamas attack on October 7 is no excuse for Islamophobia, nor are the Israeli government’s actions an excuse for anti-Semitism. We condemn religious discrimination and firmly stand against hateful speech of any kind.
Even with the understanding that we are not our governments, some of us live in places where we have the freedom to protest, speak out against injustice, and have an impact on the choices our governments make. We can see ourselves as a part of a bigger whole, envisioning ourselves, as adrienne maree brown might—as part of a fractal in which individual actions are mirrored at a larger scale. As they write, “In fractal conception, I am a cell-sized unit of the human organism, and I have to use my life to leverage a shift in the system by how I am, as much as the things I do.” We can “see our own lives and work and relationships as a front line, a first place we can practice justice, liberation, and alignment with each other and the planet.”
We firmly denounce the actions of colonialist and suppressive entities that prioritize self-interest over the well-being of the people. We believe in amplifying the voices of people worldwide who advocate for a more compassionate and interconnected existence and decry the censorship of those who stand in solidarity with Palestine, who are being shadowbanned online and silenced at their workplaces. As a press that uplifts decolonial perspectives and social justice movements, we see the struggles throughout the world against the supremacy and power of colonizing forces as interrelated. We recognize that war is an intersectional issue: a racial justice issue, a reproductive rights issue, and a climate justice issue. The power of international solidarity in justice movements is the power of peoples seeing themselves in one another. Paying attention to what is happening in Gaza is an invitation to pay attention to multiple other wars and crises around the planet—from Ukraine to Congo to Sudan. It is an invitation to stay with the trouble, to listen with love, and to hold those around you in their complexity as we do this work together. We seek a just solution not only for this conflict, but everywhere where the misuse of power creates trauma and perpetuates cycles of violence.
We move as a collective with love as our motive, animated by compassion and shared humanity, recognizing that our individual liberation is inextricably woven with the world—that we are not free until all of us are free.
For those who want to reach out and help, there are tangible actions you can take:
- Buy e-SIM cards to keep Gazans connected.
- Call your reps at https://5calls.org/ to demand a ceasefire and hold the US accountable for aiding this war
- Follow and support the work of IfNotNow, Breaking the Silence, Jewish Voices for Peace
- Support the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement
- Organizations to donate to:
- Donate to the UNRWA
- Palestinian Red Crescent Society
Resources:
- Tools for moving through grief and coping with hard times
- Resmaa Menakem’s Free Cultural Somatics Course
- Joana Macy’s Free Online 7-week Active Hope Training
- Tending to Our Grief Through Love and Prayer with Lama Rod Owens
- Right to Be’s Bystander Intervention for Islamophobia and Xenophobia
- Right to Be’s Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Semitic Harassment