I’m trying to think of the best way to start this. I can’t just write about the demo yesterday, because it’s not just about the demo yesterday. Every time I think or do anything about Palestine / Israel, it is always connected to my visit. In Culture in the Plural, Michel de Certeau notes that unless a group can convince wider society of the importance of its stance, it is doomed to merely be a ‘cultural’ issue forever. A folkloric and marginal matter that does not affect (or has no importance for) wider society, and is therefore politicly impotent. The group will remain at best a curiosity, always marginalised, with its voices mainly unheard. Of course, de Certeau was talking about the Bretons and the Basques, but his point is relevant for all those outside of mainstream hegemony who are trying for some kind of political impact. As I previously said, I
Going to Palestine in 2006 changed my life. It was an innocently motivated trip to see the ‘Holy Land’, as I was studying religions and had chosen to focus on the Abrahamic three. In this way, I was utterly unprepared for what I saw and experienced. Prior to going, I had taken only a passing interest in the horrendously difficult mess that is the Palestine / Israeli conflict, as it all seemed so politicised. I tend to shy away from politics, since it all feels like lies. But what I saw changed all of that. I came back promising myself that I must do something more to help the Palestinians than just writing about it and telling people what I saw. Largely, I suppose, I have failed that promise, aside from a half-hearted boycott of Israeli goods (I’m not entirely sure it is the right thing to do since many Palestinians