Building Communities of Love, Care and Solidarity
We’re living in testing, defining times. Times of genocide and rising fascism. Power and impunity. Bigotry and dehumanisation. Militarism and expansionist greed. Misinformation and divisive politics. Intimidation and fear.
Over two years of genocide in Gaza and against the Palestinian people, live-streamed on social media platforms, has undermined a rule-based world order. International human rights and humanitarian law, born out of the ashes and horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust, is at serious risk of collapse.
Governments have been complicit in genocide. Their citizens have not. For months, ordinary people around the world marched in their millions demanding accountability and an end to genocide. In defence of people’s right to a life with dignity, equality, and safety.
Building communities of love, care and solidarity is our response to these testing times. Refusing dehumanisation and asserting our shared humanity.
Since December 2023, with the support of my local community, I’ve proactively and independently curated, organised, and led a series of well-attended cultural events, in Hackney and beyond. These included: Film screenings, music, dance, exhibitions, community meals, bike rides, Q& A with filmmakers , Palestinian and anti-zionist Israeli academics, writers, creative practitioners & medics who have been to Gaza. The main objective behind the events, some of which were multigenerational, is to create a safe space for people to come together, learn, reflect, share and exchange. Decolonise the mind and the heart. Learn that Palestine is a universal cause. The very character of our societies. That justice and liberation for the Palestinians is justice and liberation for everyone. Liberation from all forms of oppression. To create a shared humanity built on equality, dignity and safe living for ALL.
Key to the successful events has been building partnerships/alliances with grassroots communities, artists, actors, filmmakers, cinemas, local venues, art galleries. With the help and generosity of the community, events raised funds for medical education and psychosocial support in the occupied Palestinian territory (The Hanoon Foundation, MSF, Right to Play).
These events help rebuild the much needed medical capacities in Gaza and the West Bank. But they also bring us together. They restore hope when it’s most needed. They send a message of love, care and solidarity.