Beyond Fear and Tears

By Ray Suarez
The Nation
February 27, 2024

Ali Abu Awwad is a Palestinian activist who has been an advocate of nonviolent action for 20 years. In 2023, he was awarded the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. Afterwards, he shared these thoughts, which still resonate years later.

“We need a strategy that is not focused on what we’re against, but what we’re for. And we have to be for ourselves, for taking responsibility for ourselves… 

“We need to build a new political reality that can speak to both sides… We need to guarantee that these two identities can be practiced in a fashion that no one has to pay the price of his dignity, land, rights, or nationality… 

“This way is not easy… it’s easier to be pro-these or pro-those. But the acknowledgment of my humanity, of this political vision, of the recognition that both identities in this land have to be our top priority…

“My advice to everyone is that when the world is dark, be a visitor to your pain—don’t be a resident of it. You can grieve; you can cry. But don’t stay there, because the purpose of life is much more meaningful than tears and fear.”

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אנחנו מכנסים הוגים מובילים, פעילים חברתיים, ומחוללי שינוי לעתיד, אמריקאים, ישראלים ופלסטינאים, המחויבים לשיפור החברות שלהם.

نحن أمريكيون وإسرائيليون وفلسطينيون نبني ونكوّن روابط من أجل التعلم والتفكير والمشاركة معًا حتى نشجع الحلول التقدمية بشأن القضايا التي تهمنا جميعًا.