It takes incredible resilience to continue showing up every day in the face of discrimination and hate. As a Palestinian and a Muslim who has recently taken on an advocacy role in both the political and non-political arena, I’ve had to develop some very thick skin. When I face hate in my own advocacy work, I think about the kids who continue to show up to schools where they are told that any reference to Palestine is a political statement, or workers who are harassed by having their personal information shared online simply because of their support for Palestinians.
For me, I’ve heard “f*** Palestine” too many times to count while out advocating for Palestine since October 2023. I’ve made the decision to take these comments in and not fight back, because I’m not trying to persuade racists and bigots to see the truth about Palestine. In fact, I often feel bad for them. Anyone who says “f*** Palestine” clearly harbors hate within them towards another group of people. Rather than argue with hate, I want to educate those who have compassion and empathy.
I’ve also had to deal with a political system that seems unshaken by the fact that they are contributing to the biggest humanitarian crisis we’ve seen in our lifetimes. Our elected officials in Washington State talk about a “two-state solution” while Israel massacres starving Palestinians as they wait in line for food. Our President sends bomb after bomb to an Israeli government that has shown no remorse to the Palestinian people. Sometimes, it’s not the comments I get in the streets that scare me the most, but the people in power who contribute to the death of innocent children and believe that they are doing it in the interest of our country.
There are many people who have compassion and empathy who are able to recognize that what’s happening in Palestine is a disgrace to the U.S., and who can understand that something needs to be done. Fighting for the rights of Palestinians abroad has been about finding and connecting with those people. Having connective experiences with people who are willing to join the fight for justice helps me remember to focus on them, rather than on those who perpetuate hate and bias.
However, it hasn’t been easy for me and those around me to develop the thick skin needed to hear insults day in and day out. It takes an emotional toll. It’s scary, and I often feel unsafe in my own city, in my own country. This CAIR-WA report shows that feeling unsafe more often is correlated with voting less often, and that women and visibly Muslim people feel unsafe more frequently. Not only is it not fair that some people, based on their personal characteristics, feel unsafe where they live, but feeling unsafe is correlated with less civic engagement, meaning that bias and hate may be effectively suppressing the democratic processes we value so much. In addition, many of our elected officials, from the local level all the way to the President, are not listening to our voices. Over the last year, over 52% of Muslims in Washington felt their freedom of speech had been limited.
It is not fair that some people, based on who they are, feel unsafe in their own country. But how can I, a Palestinian, feel safe in a country that supplies weapons which have killed upwards of 40,000 Palestinians in the past year? Some estimates of how many Palestinians have been killed are as high as over 200,000, when considering direct and indirect causes of death by war.
What drives me to continue every day is knowing that there are Palestinians who struggle more than I do, evidenced by images and videos of kids whose daily lives are beyond what any human should have to bear, that are many orders of magnitude harder than what I have to face and fight. Children are orphaned. Parents lose their children. Everyone starves.
I wake up every morning and I take a moment to remember the Palestinians who are struggling. I try to be their voice here while they struggle there.
We have a responsibility to stand up together to protect ourselves. Together, our voices are stronger than they are as individuals. Together, we can build the power we need to enact lasting change and spread compassion.
Yazan Kader is an Uncommitted WA leader, registered nurse, and was an uncommitted delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2024.
2024 Democratic National Convention
This piece was written before the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the Uncommitted movement was denied a brief speaking slot to address the convention. Afterwards, Yazan added the following comments about his experiences as an Uncommitted delegate at the DNC: “Seeing discrimination of Palestinians at the highest level of the Democratic party left me disheartened. Historically, the Democratic party has been driven by human rights and equality, not silencing people who are advocating those values. This should not be tolerated by the party’s base.”
CAIR Washington is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization and does not endorse or oppose political candidates or parties. Views expressed in guest essays are the views of the authors.