This is a superb post. Clear-eyed and empathic reporting, attendant to history, and beautifully written. Brava Helen Benedict. AFI cinemas have been showing No Other Land — an unprecedented and deeply important film.
Powerful! Brava! I recently read Ta Nehisi-Coates's book "The Message" that has a powerful section about Gaza that is very much in line with what you wrote in this post. Tragic and horrific and so hard to understand how people can do this to each other and how so many in the United States are blind to the horror in Gaza. What so many miss is what you said here - that this isn't about faith, Jewish or Muslim, it's about power and greed and land.
I agree with all the comments here. Helen, a friend, has been writing for such a long with such empathy about Gazans.. and other refugees from "humanity" we might say, and Helen your voice is more important than ever here. I would recommend her "A Map of Hope and Sorrow" for those who might want to read more. The tossing of "others" and families we saw in the first Trump administration as he and Netanyahu are joined at the hip, we must keep a light especially on his treatment of Arab or Muslim backgrounds. The essay also reminded me, once again, that the human spirit can truly be indomitable. These mothers, wow. Something to hold onto! And thank you for the beautiful work Helen!
Bravo, Helen! The description of the event in the park is so warm and real, and heartbreaking. The whole piece is very important stressing the humanity of people living with terror. Thank you.
It’s a compelling account— so many difficult sad stories contrasting a joyful afternoon in a park. What we want for any child is a carefree childhood, without the fraught underpinnings inherent in Benedict’s essay.
Can you imagine being the American in the room at the literary salon later? “What does the American think?” What an untenable position to find yourself in! I could say, with certainty: Trump and Netanyahu are criminals; war is bad; I would not want to be an Israeli soldier (from the award-winning film) acting on orders; my heart bleeds as we bear witness to trauma inflicted on innocents. Easy answers to put forward from the comfort of my life.
A meeting like the salon must be purpose-driven (to discuss literature) but instead devolves because there’s an American in the room. Benedict may have intended she would be an equal partner to a discussion of literature. Hopefully she was also prepared to instead answer for the West.
So, as ‘the West,’ what is our answer? I don’t know how to provide anything besides a personal opinion— I haven’t been alive long enough to provide an informed response. Based on media I consume, for a broader reply, a two-state solution seems the only way to go. But we’re def not headed there. .
There is an unbridgeable chasm between Benedict and the women who brought their kids to the park that day. And apparently also between her and others who attended a literary salon. In my mind the stark contrast between these realities out-weighs any value added by travel to the Mideast and/or attendance at the events she poignantly writes about. Moral injury accrues being in the midst of that dissonance, and even from this distance reading about it with an open heart. As ordinary civilians having no mandate, no personal means to relieve their suffering, no political purpose or solution, it might be best to stay home.
This is a superb post. Clear-eyed and empathic reporting, attendant to history, and beautifully written. Brava Helen Benedict. AFI cinemas have been showing No Other Land — an unprecedented and deeply important film.
Powerful! Brava! I recently read Ta Nehisi-Coates's book "The Message" that has a powerful section about Gaza that is very much in line with what you wrote in this post. Tragic and horrific and so hard to understand how people can do this to each other and how so many in the United States are blind to the horror in Gaza. What so many miss is what you said here - that this isn't about faith, Jewish or Muslim, it's about power and greed and land.
Please make it possible to share this post. It's important.
You can share by copying the link or clicking restack. Glad you enjoyed!
I agree with all the comments here. Helen, a friend, has been writing for such a long with such empathy about Gazans.. and other refugees from "humanity" we might say, and Helen your voice is more important than ever here. I would recommend her "A Map of Hope and Sorrow" for those who might want to read more. The tossing of "others" and families we saw in the first Trump administration as he and Netanyahu are joined at the hip, we must keep a light especially on his treatment of Arab or Muslim backgrounds. The essay also reminded me, once again, that the human spirit can truly be indomitable. These mothers, wow. Something to hold onto! And thank you for the beautiful work Helen!
Please read my friend Helen’s beautiful, heartbreaking piece. Thank you!
https://writersforda.substack.com/p/displaced-palestinians-and-other/comment/102061504?r=olaa9&utm_medium=ios
Bravo, Helen! The description of the event in the park is so warm and real, and heartbreaking. The whole piece is very important stressing the humanity of people living with terror. Thank you.
Helen, good to read this from you, via Askold. It's startling and poignant, and thank you.
It’s a compelling account— so many difficult sad stories contrasting a joyful afternoon in a park. What we want for any child is a carefree childhood, without the fraught underpinnings inherent in Benedict’s essay.
Can you imagine being the American in the room at the literary salon later? “What does the American think?” What an untenable position to find yourself in! I could say, with certainty: Trump and Netanyahu are criminals; war is bad; I would not want to be an Israeli soldier (from the award-winning film) acting on orders; my heart bleeds as we bear witness to trauma inflicted on innocents. Easy answers to put forward from the comfort of my life.
A meeting like the salon must be purpose-driven (to discuss literature) but instead devolves because there’s an American in the room. Benedict may have intended she would be an equal partner to a discussion of literature. Hopefully she was also prepared to instead answer for the West.
So, as ‘the West,’ what is our answer? I don’t know how to provide anything besides a personal opinion— I haven’t been alive long enough to provide an informed response. Based on media I consume, for a broader reply, a two-state solution seems the only way to go. But we’re def not headed there. .
There is an unbridgeable chasm between Benedict and the women who brought their kids to the park that day. And apparently also between her and others who attended a literary salon. In my mind the stark contrast between these realities out-weighs any value added by travel to the Mideast and/or attendance at the events she poignantly writes about. Moral injury accrues being in the midst of that dissonance, and even from this distance reading about it with an open heart. As ordinary civilians having no mandate, no personal means to relieve their suffering, no political purpose or solution, it might be best to stay home.