By James Pogue, NEW YORK – What type of a global society and what type of an America have we become when those in power insist on editing the actual truth and erasing reality. A recent Atlanta Jewish Times article referenced an international student art exhibition where a ‘pro-Palestinian’ artwork was criticized for not being in line with school policy. It should be noted that the art piece in question was created by a Jewish student to raise awareness about the horrific situation in Gaza. Since when is defending the human rights and decency of an oppressed people not in line with school policy? We have observed quite keenly over the last three years and counting how certain special interest groups and those who would prefer to hide the shame of events in Gaza are promoting a false narrative. Any hint of support for the Palestinian people, for an end to their starvation, for an end to the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is met with disdain, ridicule and shunning. What’s worse is that this is an understatement if there ever was one. Who do you think is out there defending Palestinian rights and an end to what has been labeled the “genocide” in Gaza. Of course, the progressive Jewish organizations, rabbis who understand the authentic tenets of Judaism and who are not afraid to speak out on the atrocities being committed hour by hour, minute by minute in Gaza and the West Bank against a defenseless people.
The Gaza war is no longer about disarming and weakening Hamas as the Israeli government would have the world believe. In actual fact, this is about a systematic annihilation of a people who desire to live in peace alongside their Jewish neighbors and who were doing so for decades with the Israeli government’s full knowledge and permission for Qatar to support Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The question becomes how far are people willing to go to stop the freedom to produce art that reflects the truth of what is going on in Gaza and the West Bank. Artists have always commented on the social issues of the time through their artwork. Just recall Ai Wei Wei, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kara Walker whose poignant and raw work reflect signs of the times whether it was slavery, corporate America taking advantage or China repressing forward-thinking. If we as a free people allow those “in power” to crush such freedom of expression, then we are no better than the ‘yes men’ of yore who were afraid to be singled out or recognized for telling the truth of the times. Without figures like Anais Nin, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, and Abraham Lincoln who abolished slavery – where would be right now?
We, the people of the United States of America, owe our freedom to those who have come before us and those who remained brave enough to refuse the status quo, as Rosa Parks did when she sat at the front of the bus. We cannot afford to move backward in time while society continues to move forward in leaps and bounds. We cannot pretend to see what we don’t want to see, what is right ini front of us on the nightly news, what is our moral responsibility as global citizens in a world that has turned upside down. If we refuse to raise our voices against tyranny, who will do it for us? As Hillel the Elder, a prominent Jewish sage from the first century BCE, said: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when?” This quote expresses the epitome of taking action and responsibility not only for ourselves but for others without delay. What are we doing when we passively sit back watching the horrors of Gaza unfold day in and day out? When will we rise up as a unified voice and say “never again” – “And if not now, when.”
