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Unlock the global and historic significance of this moment

Unlock the global and historic significance of this moment

Last updated on: May 6, 2024 at 5:10 pm by Kathryn Shihadah

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Unlock the global and historic significance of this moment 2024-05-06T17:10:45-04:00 Kathryn Shihadah

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Grace-Colored Glasses has experienced a revolution in the past few months.

Maybe you haven’t even noticed, but Grace-Colored Glasses has been on hiatus. While I was away, I thought about you, faith community, every single day.

I started writing exclusively about Gaza on October 7th, when Hamas fighters broke out of “prison” and attacked Israel. By October 8th, I had determined to write exclusively about Gaza until the war ended.

Understandably, much of the world was horrified by the events of that weekend. It was horrifying. And of course, Israel fought back. That was also horrifying.

I asked my family in Gaza to tell me about their experiences so that I could pass them along to my faith community at Patheos – and they did, as painful as it was.

Hundreds, or maybe thousands of other Palestinians have also shared the darkest days of their lives on social media in hopes of influencing someone, anyone.

We all shared the belief that true stories about human beings would awaken compassion in the West.

I never expected that 7 months later, Israel’s onslaught would still be ongoing. I never expected that the International Court of Justice would rule that Israel is plausibly committing genocide against the Palestinian people, or that the Biden administration would deny the genocide and instead break the bank to get Israel more weapons.

Most of all, I never expected that, after 34,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – had died violent deaths, Christians (with a few notable exceptions) would still be indifferent toward Palestinian suffering.

I naively thought that being a believer in Jesus actually meant something.

I thought that children getting their limbs amputated without anesthesia would break our hearts, as it certainly would break Jesus’ heart. I believed that an extended family of twenty, sharing a meal of a single can of beans, might remind us of Jesus’ words, “when I was hungry, you gave me food.” I hoped against hope that a little girl, surrounded by dead relatives and staring down the barrel of a tank, might stir us, or that a young man crying out, “I swear, we don’t mind death!” would move us.

I was mistaken.

For months, I watched as my family members ran for their lives. I was at my wits’ end. What if a bomb landed on them? That sort of thing happened many times every day. How could I live with myself if I hadn’t done everything in my power to help them? What was the magic phrase that would wake the Christian West from its slumber?

I wrote frantically. I tried to amplify my message.

The editors of Patheos told me that “Gaza is no longer trending,” and I should consider writing about something else.

The thing is, well, GENOCIDE.

What matters anymore?

What else really matters when genocide is being committed with the support of our government and our tax dollars? What else matters– to people of faith, to people of no faith, to a faith-based website?

A lot, as it turns out. Everything else matters more than the non-trending genocide of brown people.

If genocide is not trending, I can’t make it trend, and if people don’t care, I can’t make them care.

Realizing this, in March, I took a break from Patheos.

I’m done with asking my family to rehash their trauma, to “prove” they are human and worthy of our compassion. I’m done with ripping out my own soul trying to present the profound injustice they have endured for generations in a compelling way.

I’m done with hoping that Christians will wake up from their coma and start caring. (Those who need to be convinced of Palestinians’ humanity need to check their own humanity.)

What brought me back from hibernation?

Spending at least eight to ten hours reading and reporting the news every single day of this war – over two hundred days – has changed me. I’ve seen too much evil, too much complicity in evil, too much suffering, to remain in hibernation.

I’m back – but not to beg Christians to be Christlike.

I’m back to get serious about the significance of Palestine in this moment to all of us – not in a kumbaya, WWJD way, but in a global and historic way (no rapture talk!).

The issue of Palestine and Israel is first and foremost a human issue, but it is also full of political intrigue, international treachery, media deception, dangerous religious fervor, money laundering, wholesale bigotry, evil in the highest places, and even sex (some days, especially sex).

Bottom line, this issue is complex, fascinating, infuriating, and deeply significant.

And also, a complete mystery to most of us.

More people – especially people of faith – need to understand what is really happening (not what mainstream media tells us) and what to do about it.

That’s why I’m back. I’ll be writing about what is really going on with short, fact-based, eye-opening posts, the kind of stuff you will never hear from CNN or Fox, or any other mainstream source.

I’m back for anyone who cares to have an intelligent conversation about reality, instead of living in a silo of confirmation bias.

I’ve been married to my Palestinian husband for almost 39 years, researching and writing about the Palestinian issue for over ten years. Since the war started (over 210 days ago), I’ve spent every waking minute immersed in the actual news (not what mainstream media tells us). I know whereof I speak.

Let’s become wiser and more vigilant in this extraordinary time, together.

Please subscribe to my newsletter.

If you are interested, here are some of my earlier posts on the Palestine issue:

Posts about my Gazan family (in chronological order):