The Problem of Solidarity

 

THE PROBLEM  OF SOLIDARITY

 

Standing in solidarity with people to protest and critique issues we deem unjust has a long, politically attractive history.  How does solidarity begin?  How does it end; does it either assume new forms of being supportive or become inert and silent?  There is no single response to these questions, no consensus of response. We move forward, dragging hopes and promises behind us.

 

I became more than a little concerned when I got an email this morning from SAMIDOUN. NET.  This organ of the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network requested  that I take action, May 15 to May 22, and express support for the Palestinian resistance.  I was invited to check out

https://wolpalestine.com/resources/rally-toolket

for a list of options .I did not access that site, because I am uncertain about the immediate value of my marching in the streets of New Orleans and chanting "Defend Jerusalem.  Defend the Palestinians."  If I march in the Crescent City, I will be chanting "End political corruption, end the hegemony of people who have no-color, end  the stealthy  genocide that pretends to be gentrification."

 

 I  know the long-term value of protest, but several hundred years of protest against America's systemic racism has not prevented the agents of the State from killing innocent children, women, and men, from criminalizing people who possess color. But I am living a short-term life and want action beyond protest that would prevent Israelis (neo-Hebrews) from murdering Palestinians under the pretext of creating more Lebensraum for themselves. If I  truly wanted to defend Palestinians, I would have to put on combat gear, take up arms, and die fighting their enemies in the Middle East and in the USA.

 

I will, of course, sign petitions and express my outrage as will many thousands of people around the world. I will not commit solidarity suicide.  My time is better spent  in advocating social justice in New Orleans. If I must die, I prefer to do so on a street in New Orleans rather than in the alien land of Gaza. Palestinian Lives Matter equally with African American Lives, but I refuse to delude myself about the limits and uncertainties of solidarity.

 

Jerry W. Ward, Jr.            May 14, 2021

 

 

 

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