AS WE ARRIVE AT 50 YEARS of Israel’s occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, and as some of the most extreme right-wing, hate-filled voices take the helm at the highest levels of office in Israel, the United States, Europe, and beyond, we’re all being called to ask: what propels us forward? As a Palestinian, Korean, American queer woman who has had her sundry identities questioned and sometimes disparaged, my motivation has always been clear: to uphold the inherent freedom, dignity, and equality of every human being. If we are to change the historical tide in Palestine and Israel, we must start by finding expressions of those values and amplifying them around the world.
Just Vision, the organization I lead, is charged with doing just that—putting up a media megaphone to the Palestinian and Israeli activists, journalists, and human rights defenders who put their bodies and lives on the line to demand change in the face of inequality and injustice. This work is vital because the extent of grassroots activism and the degree of exposure it receives simply doesn’t match up, a result of the mainstream media’s too frequent emphasis on sensationalist violence at the expense of movements for values-based change. Moreover, on the rare occasion that outlets do cover these stories, they are too often riddled with misrepresentations and render communities’ concerns invisible.
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Tikkun 2017 Volume 32, Number 2:56