Nadia Abu-Shanab on solidarity, and the collective memory of resistance that empires are so afraid of.
"My friend says they’ve always been suspicious of people who say they can accurately count a protest crowd. Day 14: I watch the stingy slivers of coverage of nationwide marches to end the genocide in Gaza that make the 6pm news that Saturday. TVNZ reckons “hundreds” in Tāmaki. Staring back at me from the channel’s own footage is a crowd of thousands, all soft fabric, pointed cardboard and resolute faces.
Day 19: Biden says Palestinian numbers of the dead can’t be trusted. We are weary, but we are practised at arguing over the maths of occupation. The maths of land loss. Sixteen years of humanitarian crises. Ten thousand political prisoners. Every aspect of our lives, and even deaths, is contested. We dabble at being statisticians. Repeat: “Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on earth. Home to 2.3 million residents, 50% are children.” Check: was it 70% or 80% of Gaza’s population that are the displaced descendants from hundreds of villages destroyed in the creation of Israel?"
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