Opinion piece by Ana Susin For most of my life, my social circle consisted of white people. People from the West, people whose countries are known as “developed.” People, who often only had one type of contribution to conversations about politics and social justice: why should I care? That usually ends conversations very quickly, because alas, you cannot make people care about things they don’t care about. So, for most of my life, I actually didn’t have an answer for it. But maybe now I do. The majority of the West suffers from one fatal flaw: individualism. The belief that you should always put yourself first. The philosophy that independence and self-reliance take precedence over the interests of the society. Individualism centers the realization of an individual’s goals in the struggle for liberation. This belief leaves the West bereft of consideration for collective interests, for collective liberation, for collective safety, for collective well-being. Take care of yourself first. Ensure safety and well-being for yourself first. It’s easy to say that politics and social justice is something that’s better left to the domain of political science students and social sciences experts. And is there some truth in the matter? Yes. I do not believe it is a good idea for electrical engineers to write academic essays on the influence of Confucian thought in the educational policies of South Korea and policy briefs on the implications of universal basic income. I also do not believe it is a good idea for political science students to be allowed to design a bridge and oversee laboratory experiments with liquid silver. Academic domains are there for a reason. But the conversations about freedom and liberation cannot and should not be left to those academic domains. Some conversations are not political. They are simply conversations about what it means to be human. Safety, well-being and freedom is not something you give yourself. It is something people provide to each other. It is something that is sustained and ensured through a collective. That’s been true since the beginning of hunter-gatherer societies, when one part of the tribe slept while others guarded their homes. The Western paradigm of individualism goes against our very core: our solidarity, our compassion. Our humanity. We have spent the last 66 days scrolling through genocide. It is being live-streamed to our phones 24/7. That is not normal. Israel is murdering a Palestinian child every 10 minutes. Social media has become a large-scale digital graveyard for Palestinians: posting “If I die, tell my story” one minute, their remains being collected in plastic bags the next. That is not humane. History books our children will read in schools one day are written every time we open social media. And while the world takes to the streets, tying their bodies to ships carrying weapons to Israel, connecting Palestinians through large-scale eSim buying campaigns across the world; while people are mobilizing at the Egypt-Gaza Rafah crossing with trucks’ worth of humanitarian aid, ready to leave their lives in Palestine, blocking public transport and traffic roads, protesting in countries where protesting is virtually impossible, the Western leaders are cracking down on free speech on campus, arresting people at protests for carrying Arabic signposts, evicting people for raising Palestinian flags in front of their homes, firing employees for using social media to express murdering children is bad and censoring politicians for speaking out against the genocide of their own people. All while showing their commitment to “human rights” through performative Twitter posts. The Western push towards apathy in the face of unprecedented Palestinian suffering will strip us of our humanity if we let it. As Western leaders pay no regard to the demand of their constituents, killing children before they have even seen the light, it is not a well-paid job and a good retirement plan that will provide the safety and well-being you are looking for. As Western politicians are so willing to massacre children for profit, dogmatic individualism separates you from the communities that would have watched over you while you slept late at night. As Palestinians use their last moments on this planet to ask for their stories to be told, for their cries to be heard, it is on us to listen. It is on us to replace individualism with global solidarity, rooted in communal acts of love. It is collective liberation that will save you. It is Palestine.
A world where 8000 Palestinian children were slaughtered by Israel, bombed by European and American weapons, is not a world where your children can grow up in peace. A world where hospitals and schools and holy places of worship are destroyed is not a world where you can ever find refuge and safety for yourself. A world where international law is blatantly disregarded, where international institutions, meant to provide stability and cohesion and humanitarian organizations meant to take care of the citizens of the world, are dismissed, terrorized, intimidated, persecuted and even killed, is not a world where any of us can live in peace. A world where the Israeli genocide of Palestine is not only allowed, but supported, justified and funded by Western leaders is not a world where any of us are safe. But it is a world we live in. It is our world. It is your world. So why should you not care? a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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