Mike C

“It must be so sad to die, to feel yourself miss out on everything that will come after, even if there are still bombs and diseases and disasters, even if people do get murdered and beaten, if they die in unspeakable pain, if it is still a fact that some live with their damaged bodies, or simply their aged bodies, bodies that were once beautiful and now are not.”
― Patrick Nathan, The Future Was Color

“I also explained to this activist how ironic it was that Abu-Seif and I, as queer Palestinians, were being asked by a non-Palestinian to censor a film about queer Palestinians because of the solidarity activist’s belief that the film is pinkwashing and does not “properly” capture the experience of queer Palestinians. The empire of critique has reached a point at which activists feel entitled to serve as arbiters of which queer Palestinian voices should be considered the most authoritative and archetypical.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“Boycotts have served as a form of discursive enfranchisement and political empowerment that queer Palestinians have, in many ways, used to globally reclaim their voices from the Israeli state and its satellite institutions and their formidable resources. In turn, boycotts have become a primary form of transnational queer Palestinian solidarity activism. Augmenting them with openness to differences in ideology and strategy is critical for movement growth. Radical purism has created conditions in which activists often wind up just preaching to the choir. Avoiding this trap requires a commitment to deep listening, the formulation of means that mirror the ends we seek, a generosity of spirit, and a fierce kindness toward ourselves and others. Such steadfastness is essential, even in the face of cruelty, if the movement is to achieve peace and justice.”
― Sa'ed Atshan, Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique

“The thing about education,” her father told her the day of her college graduation, which coincided with a sharp increase in Israeli settlement construction on confiscated land in the West Bank, “is that no one can take it away from you. Everything else can be stolen. Everything else can be lost.”
― Zaina Arafat, You Exist Too Much