By Mosab Abu Toha (above), a Palestinian poet from Gaza. Follow him on Twitter here.
I’m sick of journalists who keep asking us if we have “hope after the ceasefire.”
Stop calling it a ceasefire.
It is not a ceasefire when thousands of Palestinian bodies, many of them children, remain buried beneath the rubble for months, while Israel continues to block the entry of the heavy equipment needed to retrieve them.
It is not a ceasefire when the Rafah border crossing remains sealed.
It’s not a ceasefire when reconstruction materials are blocked, when even basic necessities like tents, mattresses, blankets, and clothing are not allowed in for displaced families.
It is not a ceasefire when thousands of critically ill and wounded people are trapped in Gaza, unable to be evacuated for treatment because of Israel’s ongoing, brutal siege.
I’m watching the news footage of Israeli hostages being reunited with their families, and something about it stops me cold.
Now, these are people said to have survived the unimaginable but their faces don’t tell that story.
No bruises.
No hollow cheeks.
No trembling hands or vacant eyes.
They look fed, rested, almost untouched by the devastation we’ve been told they endured. They’re able to focus their attention, stand up and give interviews for the press.
On June 4, 2025, Leqaa Kordia wrote this statement in Arabic from her cell at Prairieland Detention Center in Texas. Her loved ones translated it into English. #FreeLeqaaKordia
Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of God. Peace be upon you, O Palestine. Peace be upon Gaza, the steadfast and proud.
Peace be upon a people who taught the world the meaning of patience, dignity, and resilience.
Peace be upon the mothers who buried the remains of their children on street corners—and still chose to keep living.
Peace be upon the fathers whose eyes wept for the first time—and oh, what a brutal first time it was.
Peace be upon the wounded, tending to their own wounds with the soothing remembrance of Allah, the Almighty.
Peace be upon our noble martyrs, precious and beloved.
Peace be upon our free, glorious prisoners who are charting the path to freedom.
Peace be upon the sleepless, exhausted doctors—the architects of miracles.
Peace be upon those who pull the living from beneath the ruins, from the darkness of rubble to the light of afar where relief is within reach.
Peace be upon the teacher who truly understands the command of god to “Read.”
Peace be upon you, a people purified through your patience.
To you, the free people across the world, the rebels, the defiant, the unwavering—peace be upon you and my deepest respect.
I write to you from a cold place, hoping my words may carry a little warmth amid the tragedies, the suffering and the unimaginable stories I witness here.
Still, I write with full certainty that we will all be freed from this cruel injustice.
And I believe, with all my heart that I will meet you soon as a free woman—God willing.
From me—a granddaughter of the Nakba—to you, the generation of return and the makers of freedom. Accept my greetings and reverence.
Leqaa Korda Daughter of Gaza, Granddaughter of Nakba survivors from Yafa June 4, 2025 Prairieland Detention Center
This ceasefire agreement brings some relief to Palestinians in Gaza. We pray that, against all odds, it will be permanent – and that it will lead to the end of the occupation.
Israel and the West have assassinated more than 250 Palestin1an journalists since October 7, 2023. Despite their best efforts, there are still heroes like Abdulruhman Ismail (above) bearing witness from the ground in Gaza. In this fragile moment, let’s meditate on his words:
This time, joy is incomplete, not like the celebration of the previous ceasefire. Our people suffer from a deep and painful anguish, for this enemy has proven to be more brazen, vile, and despicable than we ever imagined. Every tear of joy that falls from one eye, is met by a tear of sorrow on the opposite side. Therefore, we believe that the global political struggle must begin and intensify after the ceasefire, not before. A worldwide popular coalition must be formed to halt the war, and to support the people of Gaza with humanitarian, psychological, financial, and material aid. Every free person must feel a debt upon their shoulders toward Gaza and its people, a debt that can only be discharged by the complete removal and dissolution of this occupation. May God have mercy on our righteous martyrs…
From Palestinian writer Susan Abulhawa, the author of many great books like Mornings in Jenin. Re-posted from social media.
one of the most overlooked and underestimated forms of resistance is memory.
we must all remember, because, Israel is banking on their zionist tentacles in tech to scrub their crimes from the internet;
on the tentacles in media to justify, obfuscate, spin, and mystify their crimes;
on Hollywood and entertainment tentacles to brainwash another generation;
on political tentacles to criminalize the truth and truth-tellers;
on academic tentacles to promulgate another invented history;
so make sure you remember everything you’ve seen in the past two years. believe your own eyes and ears. believe your own heart that knows evil, because everything around you will gaslight you into believing you didn’t see what you saw, that you didn’t hear what you heard, that your heart is wrong, that conscience is bad and the wholesale slaughter of children and defenseless families was necessary. remember, and save the files, organize and categorize those files, date them, and geolocate them.
memory is our revenge. truth is our revenge. and eventually, the laughter of our children in a liberated Palestine is our revenge.
Shanah Tovah to all our Jewish comrades out there doing the holy work of tikkun olam. This is from our friends at Jewish Voice for Peace.
This year, may the shofar be a wake-up call for all. As we enter 5786, our commitment to justice is greater than ever.
This sacred time of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur demands that we recommit to the work of tikkun olam, repairing the world. That means doing everything in our power to end the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinians and build a future of freedom and safety for Palestinians and all people. And as we work collectively to build Judaism beyond Zionism, we know that the high holidays offer potent rituals to fortify us for the long haul.
This is a moment of collective atonement. As you read this, the Israeli military is starving over two million Palestinians in Gaza to death. We call on the US government to end its support for the Israeli government’s genocide, and we call on all people of conscience to divest from death and speak out in defense of life.
Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word ‘love’ here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace—not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.
An excerpt from Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley’s sermon last Sunday. Listen to whole thing here.
Charlie Kirk did not deserve to be assassinated. But I’m overwhelmed seeing the flags of the United States of America at half-staff calling this nation to honor and venerate a man who was an unapologetic racist and spent all of his life sowing seeds of division and hate into this land. And hearing people with selective rage who are mad about Charlie Kirk, but didn’t give a damn about Melissa Hortman and her husband when they were shot down in their home, tell me I ought to have compassion for the death of a man who had no respect for my own life. I am sorry, but there’s nowhere in bible where we are taught to honor evil. How you die does not redeem how you lived. You do not become a hero in your death when you are a weapon of the enemy in your life.
Radical Discipleship 