What is this actually achieving?
Almost invariably, conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict devolve into pointless battles over terminology: genocide, apartheid, whose description is right, whose suffering is prioritized.
Words of course are so important. But winning an argument does not change what someone in Gaza is living through or help an Israeli family feel safe.
We need to ask what these conversations are actually achieving.
Palestinians have been dehumanized
Within Israeli discourse, Palestinians (Gazans in particular) are often reduced to a threat, a hostile population, a faceless enemy.
To change that we must show what an ordinary person in Gaza is experiencing: fear for their children, grief for their family, the struggle to survive.
Those experiences deserve to be heard and acknowledged by Israelis and their supporters without the reflexive “yes, but…” response.
Israeli fears cannot simply be dismissed
October 7 left Israelis with profound fear and trauma. A conversation that dismisses those experiences will struggle to persuade them that a different future is possible.
Recognizing Israeli grief and fear does not require overlooking Palestinian suffering. It means taking seriously what people have lived through and understanding why promises of safety may be difficult for them to trust.
Israelis need to hear, unequivocally, that their safety matters, and that October 7 must never be allowed to happen again.
Compassion cannot be selective
In the current discourse, acknowledging one people’s pain is treated as denying the other’s. That leaves very little room to listen, reconsider or recognize another person’s experience.
Both peoples are hurting. Recognizing that does not mean every action is equivalent or every claim is justified.
We can condemn Hamas and still care about Gazans. We can condemn Israeli government policy and still care about Israelis.
A new discourse
We need language that brings the conversation back to lived experiences, and that makes room for practical solutions.
What would allow a Palestinian family to live with dignity and freedom? What would allow an Israeli family to feel secure?
What decisions are preventing those things?
Help people hear each other
At Realign for Palestine, part of our work is helping Israelis and Palestinians recognize each other’s humanity. That means bringing experiences into view that people may have dismissed, avoided or never encountered.
Someone who feels their own suffering has been ignored may struggle to hear anyone else’s. Acknowledging that pain can create room for a different, more hopeful and humane conversation.
The conversation must lead somewhere
People living through this conflict are not helped by angry internet debates and protest slogans that caricaturize the conflict and leave their circumstances unchanged.
We need conversations that help protect lives, confront harmful decisions and create the conditions for coexistence.
That requires empathy, honesty and practical steps. The test is whether our words help Israelis and Palestinians move towards greater safety, freedom and dignity.
Almost invariably, conversations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict devolve into pointless battles over terminology: genocide, apartheid, whose description is right, whose suffering is prioritized.
Words of course are so important. But winning an argument does not change what someone in Gaza is living through or help an Israeli family feel safe.
We need to ask what these conversations are actually achieving.
Palestinians have been dehumanized
Within Israeli discourse, Palestinians (Gazans in particular) are often reduced to a threat, a hostile population, a faceless enemy.
To change that we must show what an ordinary person in Gaza is experiencing: fear for their children, grief for their family, the struggle to survive.
Those experiences deserve to be heard and acknowledged by Israelis and their supporters without the reflexive “yes, but…” response.
Israeli fears cannot simply be dismissed
October 7 left Israelis with profound fear and trauma. A conversation that dismisses those experiences will struggle to persuade them that a different future is possible.
Recognizing Israeli grief and fear does not require overlooking Palestinian suffering. It means taking seriously what people have lived through and understanding why promises of safety may be difficult for them to trust.
Israelis need to hear, unequivocally, that their safety matters, and that October 7 must never be allowed to happen again.
Compassion cannot be selective
In the current discourse, acknowledging one people’s pain is treated as denying the other’s. That leaves very little room to listen, reconsider or recognize another person’s experience.
Both peoples are hurting. Recognizing that does not mean every action is equivalent or every claim is justified.
We can condemn Hamas and still care about Gazans. We can condemn Israeli government policy and still care about Israelis.
A new discourse
We need language that brings the conversation back to lived experiences, and that makes room for practical solutions.
What would allow a Palestinian family to live with dignity and freedom? What would allow an Israeli family to feel secure?
What decisions are preventing those things?
Help people hear each other
At Realign for Palestine, part of our work is helping Israelis and Palestinians recognize each other’s humanity. That means bringing experiences into view that people may have dismissed, avoided or never encountered.
Someone who feels their own suffering has been ignored may struggle to hear anyone else’s. Acknowledging that pain can create room for a different, more hopeful and humane conversation.
The conversation must lead somewhere
People living through this conflict are not helped by angry internet debates and protest slogans that caricaturize the conflict and leave their circumstances unchanged.
We need conversations that help protect lives, confront harmful decisions and create the conditions for coexistence.
That requires empathy, honesty and practical steps. The test is whether our words help Israelis and Palestinians move towards greater safety, freedom and dignity.
