"Stay strong, Ms. Habash. We will one day see a liberated Palestine, and this long struggle will finally come to an end."
November 19, 2024
To:
Mashiyat Ahmed, Opinion Editor, The Medium
Dana al Habash, Journalist, The Medium
Dear Ms. Ahmed and Ms. Habash,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) to express my sincere thanks for your recent op-Ed titled, "A reflection on digital activism in an era of publicly broadcast global suffering," published on November 18, 2024.
Ms. Habash, thank you for your courage and honesty in sharing such a moving and thought-provoking reflection. Your words deeply resonated with me, particularly when you wrote that in the fight for justice, “you may find yourself sacrificing pieces of yourself: your safety, stability, and even relationships.”
Like you, I often feel the weight of this work. While I would love to wear the keffiyeh proudly in public as a reminder of the ongoing fight for Palestinian liberation, I am often held back by the fear of harassment. The mental toll of reading daily news about Israel’s atrocities—its massacres, war crimes, and genocidal actions—has also been so hard. I’ve found some solace in accepting the reality of these injustices as they are, as seeking explanations left me helpless.
However, we must find the strength to remain resilient, as resilience itself is a powerful form of resistance. As you beautifully expressed, we will continue to fight for the basic human rights of our people until our last breath.
On a related note, I’d like to bring to your attention an invaluable resource. J-Source runs the Canada Press Freedom Project, which maintains a database of press freedom violations and offers tools for media workers, organizations, educators, and students to address such challenges. Recently, they announced support for journalists, including student journalists, who face online threats after being targeted by campaigns such as those from Honest Reporting Canada (HRC). I recommend bookmarking this resource as a precautionary measure.
Stay strong, Ms. Habash. We will one day see a liberated Palestine, and this long struggle will finally come to an end.
Warmest regards,
Lynn Naji
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East