Must We Ration Our Tears and Grief?

By Robin Givhan
The Washington Post
September 3, 2024

"... amid unfathomable horror, some seem to believe that their reservoir of tears must be rationed... there’s no competition in misery or grief, even though so much about this war is rooted in who has the deepest wounds and who has endured the most grievous generational trauma.

"How deep is the human reservoir for tears? For grief? One wonders if it’s bottomless or if, at some point, the weeping simply stops. Not because people cease caring or because they’ve made peace with man-made despair, but because the mind simply can’t comprehend how bad things have gotten...

"Human nature, or at least American nature, means viewing the world in bifurcated form: right and wrong, good and evil, friend and foe. There’s a tendency to highlight the facts that make the lines of demarcation clearer, to believe that any breaches can be repaired through time and money, and that the worst of everything is soon behind us.

"The war in Gaza reminds us that things that are right aren’t always just. And it’s only a failure of imagination to believe that things can’t get worse. It’s important to keep the tears falling freely and fully for all. They’re a reminder that our imagination has not yet failed us. There’s still time to choose."

About Heart of a Nation

Empowering the next generation of American, Israeli, and Palestinian change-makers to embrace better, together.

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.