Silence Is Complicity
Aaron Maté! Daniel Maté! Pastor Munther Isaac! Audre Lorde!
Hello Beloved,
How are you? I’m sending each one of you love and peace and hugs and all the good shit one needs to continue giving a damn in this crazy world of ours.
A few days ago, I attended a gathering at The Riverside Church with Pastor Munther Isaac. Munther is from Bethlehem in Occupied Palestine and is the pastor of Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church and is the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College.
Before Pastor Isaac spoke, two artists performed — The Brooklyn Nomads and Mona Miari. The second song Mona performed was called Mawtini — a poem by the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Tuqan and the unofficial anthem of Palestine. Click below to watch her perform this gorgeous song.
Back in 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous Beyond Vietnam speech at The Riverside Church. After Mona finished performing, Pastor Munther Isaac stood on that very same stage and gave one the most profound speech I’ve heard regarding the genocide in Gaza since said genocide began 317 days ago.
Here are a few of the quotes that stood out to me:
“We’re not simply calling for a ceasefire. We’re calling for the world to humanize the people of Gaza.”
“How many more need to be killed before the world agrees enough is enough? How many families need to lose everything? How many more pictures do we need to share of children being pulled from underneath the rubble before the world sees us as human?”
“We cannot stop talking about Gaza. We owe it to the people of Gaza. We owe it to their courage. The least we can do is continue talking, continue advocating, continue with our actions, and to continue not only calling for a ceasefire but for those who commit war crimes to be help accountable.”
“We live in a world in which those who commit war crimes are welcomed like heroes in the Congress of the Empire. We must call for justice and accountability.”
“76 years ago, Israel was not created on empty land. How many times do we have to repeat this? At least 800,000 Palestinians were displaced — were ethnically cleansed when Israel was created. In fact, when we talk about Gaza, 80% of the people of Gaza are Nakba survivors. Israel was literally build on the ruins of the towns and villages of the people of Gaza. Why isn’t anyone talking about this?”
I could share dozens more quotes from his talk. Instead of me continuing to read quotes from Munther’s talk, I recommend pouring yourself a drink and spending an hour watching the talk for yourself. His talk goes from 40:45 - 1:43:15.
When the event was over and I was walking back to my apartment, I felt deeply sad and very fucking angry. It’s mind-boggling to me that we are still here 10 months later. It’s mind-boggling to me that most of our politicians are bought and paid for. It’s mind-boggling to me that some of our politicians call for a ceasefire yet don’t do anything about it as we continue to send billions of taxpayer dollars to Israel so they can continue slaughtering newborn babies and their mother while their father is out getting their birth certificates.
And yet, I still have hope. Despite the genocides in Palestine, Sudan, and Congo, despite the lack of healthcare, despite the abundance of unhoused folks, despite the fact that foreign nations own our politicians, despite the fact that we live in a police state, we must have hope. We must. For our sake. For the sake of the children. For the sake of the future of our planet and the generations of amazing humans that are to come.
As James Baldwin said, “I never have been in despair about the world. I’ve been enraged by it. I don’t think I’m in despair. I can’t afford despair. I can’t tell my nephew, my niece — you can’t tell the children there’s no hope.”
I can’t tell my children there is no hope. You can’t tell the children there’s no hope. So, let’s not. Let’s spend every waking moment spreading as much hope as possible and building the world we want for ourselves and for our children and for their children and for all the children.
Moving on, friends. Here are a few things I think you should read, watch, listen to, and consider as we begin this brand new week:
🎧 PODCAST TO LISTEN TO & WATCH
Don’t miss the latest Let’s Give A Damn podcast conversation. Last week, we released my conversation with anti-Zionist Jewish brothers, Aaron Maté and Daniel Maté.
Daniel is a composer, lyricist, and playwright for musical theatre. He is also a mental chiropractor. And he is one of the hosts of Bad Hasbara - The World’s Most Moral Podcast. Lastly, he coauthored a book with his dad, the great Dr. Gabor Maté, called The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture.
Aaron is a terrific writer and journalist. He hosts the show Pushback with Aaron Maté on The Grayzone and is a cohost on the Useful Idiots Podcast. Watch Aaron in action on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
During our conversation, we discuss what it was like growing up with Gabor Maté as a father, going to Jewish summer camp, the genocide in Gaza, the fascinating work they do, and so much more.
Click here to listen to our conversation on Apple Podcasts or click below to watch it on YouTube.
Oh, before we move on, during our conversation I asked them what, if anything, is giving them hope right now. Here’s their answer.
🗞️ ARTICLE TO READ
The great Mehdi Hasan’s news organization, Zeteo, shared a Substack post the other day that perfectly captures the truly insane moment we are in right now. Read Everyone Is Hamas (Or So Say Israel and Its Supporters) now.
📺 VIDEO TO WATCH
A few weeks ago, I was scrolling on TikTok and I came across these artists called The Neighborhood Kids. The first lyrics I heard in that TikTok video were “They always try to cut you off, when you speak the truth / So, what’s the truth? And what’s a lie? Why the U.S. always funding genocide?” A few days ago, they released the full music video for that song, BIDDI BOMB, and you’ve gotta check it out.
THE KIDS ARE GONNA BE ALRIGHT. I’ve never been more sure of this.
🧠 QUOTE TO PONDER
“What we must do is commit ourselves to some future that can include each other and to work toward that future with the particular strengths of our individual identities. And in order for us to do this, we must allow each other our differences at the same time as we recognize our sameness.” — Audre Lorde
👋🏽 GOODBYE!
That’s it for this week, Thank you for reading. I'm truly grateful. Consider forward this email to a friend? Or send them this link so they can sign up. And you can always email me about anything. I’ll be back next week with good news and steps we can take together to build intentional community and to make our world a much better place. We have a lot of work to do. Love y'all.
Keep giving a damn,
NICK LAPARRA
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