Amplifying Palestine and changing the discourse

One of the big moments for Palestinian solidarity this spring came when the Harvard Crimson endorsed BDS as a “living breathing movement of great promise” for the “liberation” of Palestine. Not the kind of language you associate with American elites! The newspaper even apologized for its earlier staunch opposition to BDS, saying that it had failed to listen to Palestinians.

We wrote a lot about that editorial because it was an important sign of where the American establishment will inevitably turn over what the Crimson called Israel’s policy of  “indefinite statelessness” for Palestinians—boycott and divestment that have worked to break up other injustices. 

It was a victory that Mondoweiss played a role in. 

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As the Crimson editors said, people lose jobs in the mainstream media for advocating for Palestinians (as I did). And therefore the American awakening to Palestinian human rights has happened online: younger people turning to alternative news sites and social media for their information. We’ve been online for 16 years for a good reason! And we’ve grown because of your support and because we were supplying a vital need in the American media landscape. 

I wrote about the Crimson editorial for personal reasons, too. I got my foothold in professional journalism at the Crimson nearly 50 years ago. I remember a friend telling me that I was a member of a “Jewish boys club.” And I remember the discomfort Palestine created in that newsroom back then. Now I am proud of the Crimson.

There’s an important lesson about diversity in that. I was once a happy member of the Jewish boys club at the Crimson, but that era is over. In the last twenty years progressives have insisted that public policies should not be created by the privileged and white. Our website has been an active participant in that discussion. We’re thrilled to see Muslims and Arabs finally begin to have a seat at the table.

We’re building a newsroom for all of Palestine – funded by the people who care about this work the most. Will you chip in today?

Yes, no doubt, we have a long struggle in front of us. But when Rashida Tlaib buttonholed Joe Biden in Detroit in the midst of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza last year, and Biden then called for a ceasefire after 11 days of slaughter—many of us sensed a difference in the power map. The people who have most at stake are finally getting to be stakeholders here. 

That goes for Mondoweiss too. This website started as a (navel-gazing!) blog where I talked a lot about American Jewish life. I’m sure you saw our announcement this week of our Palestine bureau. Today we’re a multi-racial, multi-ethnic staff that considers a lot of viewpoints. You helped make that possible.

I feel excited about these steps partly because of how much I’ve grown myself in that process. I once exhibited some of the same xenophobia that other privileged Americans expressed when dealing with foreign cultures. Our community has made me a more worldly, thoughtful writer. And I see the same transformation happening all around me. (And btw, The Israel lobby is freaked out.)

We’re grateful to readers and supporters for your faith in our work. We have promised again and again to amplify the Palestinian voice in the American discourse, and we’re following through. And we know we’re having an effect. 

Please, help us reach our urgent summer fundraising match today and support Palestinian journalism from every corner of the global diaspora.