Two young Melbourne women who felt strongly about the suffering Palestinian (Gaza) civilians decided to wear a traditional Palestine keffiyeh at their workplace. Like many other young people, they had already participated in related demonstrations against large-scale killings in Gaza by Israeli defence forces. They must have been aware of the risk involved but they probably wanted to be true to themselves and do what seemed just and right.
The risk materialised and both lost their jobs (legal process pending). It is important to note, that before their being sacked, they had been told by their employer to take the keffiyehs off, which they did. So, they complied with company rules and yet the next day they were sacked. I leave it to you to imagine what or who was behind that.
Being true to ourselves is not always easy. So, why do it ? The answer lies in another question: What would life be, if everything we do is governed by concerns around possible implications for ourselves? We would lose ourselves in the process of “smooth sailing” through life and that can’t be right.
Over 37,000 Palestinian civilians dead in Gaza at the hand of Israeli military action labelled as “defence”. Over 85,000 injured. If that is not enough reason to demonstrate empathy and show support, then what is ?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker
Dete's Words and pics 