My Selfish Need To Feel Less Helpless and My Appeal for Prayer Since my interest in Gaza took off with the escalation of violence this time round, I have been on Facebook a lot. This was noted by a number of friends who have remarked about my sudden flurry of activity. I had a couple of conversations too about what would be good to share and if sharing information and opinion is good at all. I was even warned by a caring soul to be careful in expressing my point of view given that I live in a place that is not-so-Palestine-friendly. Perhaps at the end of it all, I am just doing this for my selfish desires to make my stand known and to feel a little less helpless. Perhaps all that I would accomplish is to ruffle a few feathers and (hopefully) inspire a few prayers. I hold no illusions that a post of mine would influence someone in a position to make change and certainly, no words of mine could stop the war. If the people protesting on the streets, laying their bodies on the line to shout out loud and angrily, if the NGOs that work tirelessly to raise awareness and collect aid, if the governments of Chile and the like who have made clear of their opposition to the way Israel is conducting what it calls self-defence, if all these people cannot seem to make anyone budge, I have no illusions that I can. I read an article last night that talked about how social media has distorted the realities of war. It called for us to stop fuelling hate by expressing our stands. I read other commentaries that accused many of us, and rightly so, of being obsessed with Gaza and forgetting about Syria and other parts of our world where injustices are constantly being carried out. I read posts calling for a stop to the sharing of the horrible photographs of the dead and injured to stop the desensitizing of violence. And I have engaged in good debates on how taking sides could deepen fault lines in our society. And I asked myself if continuing to speak my mind here is a good idea. But then last night I found out that Shayma died. Shayma, the ‘miracle baby’ who they managed to rescue from the body of her dead mother, was to many a symbol of hope, a symbol of life coming from death, a symbol of the hoped rebirth of Palestine. Or maybe, forget what she symbolizes. We should think of Shayma as what she was – a baby. One who did not know any better and could not live except for the incubator, which lost power as bombs fell on the only power plant in Gaza. Because of Shayma, I cannot go back to being silent. Because of Shayma and the other innocent children, I will not be silent. Sure, social media is a noisy place. Sure, we can all be more careful to think through the sensitivities of what we say. Sure, there are repercussions to letting the world know what we think. But surely, if it is okay to post daily experiences, share articles on education and health, update others of trivial acts by checking in at places and putting up photographs of food we eat, surely there is plenty of room for Shayma’s story. Surely, Shaymas story is exceedingly important. In the big picture, I do not believe that my role in sharing her story and the plight of the Palestinians is of much significance. But I believe it is important to keep the conversation going and I hope that my sharing will aid that. I believe it worthwhile to keep Gaza in our consciousness. Because I believe in the power of prayer. I am not here to argue with anyone. I might be here, selfishly, to make myself feel better. I am certainly here to ask you to remember Gaza and keep her people in your prayer. No matter who you think is wrong or what you think the solution is, surely you can spare a prayer for Shayma and for the others like her. So, if you do read this, all I ask is for you to pray. Pray that for the victims of this tragedy, there will be blessings that follow the pain. And if like me, you have been sharing and are beginning to wonder if what you say matters, then pray too. Pray that He will grant us the ability to be tactful while staying true to calling for more prayers for Gaza. And if you disagree with me, and the many people who share about Gaza and what will feel, also pray. Pray that He will help us all find a way to make some kind of positive difference in a better way.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 23:03:09 +0000
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