Love for Palestine Is All Around Us
The visual landscape everywhere has changed, reflecting a world that demands a free Palestine.
The situation in Gaza right now is beyond dire. People are starving to death, and Israel will not end the blockade of food, water, and vital medical equipment. This, on top of nearly two years of relentless violence. Mass famine is a real threat, and the already diminished population of journalists covering this day by day is at risk of disappearing, too.
It’s been 21 long months of genocide, and yet it’s perhaps never felt quite as calculated or cruel as it does right now. There is little to say that we haven’t already said about the horror, but the fact remains that Palestine will be free. I know this, in part, because I see declarations of it everywhere.
I’ve seen it at home in Los Angeles time and time again, and I’ve seen it elsewhere too, in cities around the world since the start of the genocide. I’ve seen countless, unflinching pronouncements that tell me that despite the heinous actions of the governments of Israel and the United States, humanity at large wants peace in Gaza and a long, healthy future for Palestinians.
I started collecting evidence of these signs—graffiti, posters, bumper stickers—as soon as they started appearing, but initially I felt silly doing it. It was tingling a part of my cynical self, worried that even though I wasn’t posting them, it was somehow a form of Instagram activism. But as time went on and things got worse and worse, the signs appeared more frequently and loudly. My mind started to shift. I now see these statements as part of something much bigger and more important.
Part of the tragedy of what’s happening is that so many people around the world want the atrocities in Gaza to end and have no power to make that happen. But these mini manifestos are altering the fabric of our literal collective worldview—separate from marches, demonstrations, and encampments. We can all create bubbles to live in online and in our homes, but you can’t control what you see when you leave the house. And what many of us are now seeing is this: Free Palestine.
It’s a small thing, but it’s also an indication of something much bigger. There are many, many people who are angry, passionate, and putting those feelings into action. They are making sure that even those who want to look away can’t entirely. It’s a message that isn’t going away, and it’s a powerful one. Even as so much feels lost, and as I’m sick with grief and fury, I’ll hold onto that. Minds are changing, people are talking, and the world is changing. Viva Palestina.
In no particular order, here are a few of the images I’ve collected, along with some contributions from other Discourse Bloggers. Ever an Angeleno, I must start with a bumper sticker:
If you have some of your own, reach out at caitlin@discourseblog.com. I’d love to share even more in a future post.
I was in Berlin last week, the captial city of a country that is (predictably) so fucking weird about Israel that there is an Israeli flag flying next to the German one in front of it's city hall, and the amount of pro-Palestine graffitti I saw easily matched the amount i see in NYC. If that isn't a sign that no one outside of the people in power executing it want this genocide to continue i do not know what is.
When governments block aid, the streets declare solidarity
In the absence of justice from above, declarations from below keep multiplying — graffiti, posters, and scrawled stickers making a citywide chorus that cannot be embargoed.
📌 You can blockade aid, but not conviction.
⬖ Smuggling hope through barricades at Frequency of Reason: bit.ly/4jTVv69