Ramy Youssef Instagram – these are some of the most beautiful artists i know. i’m scared for them, and i always have been. we were in palestine together when Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered— an american journalist in a press vest, killed by a soldier. some of our crew had worked with her. i remember the panic in their faces. i remember how there was never any legal recourse for her murder. there never is. they have witnessed decades of human-rights violations and children killed. i am horrified at what has happened to palestinian lives. i am horrified at what has happened to israeli lives. i have spent so much of my adult life praying for everyone in the region. praying for my PTSD-filled muslim and jewish sisters and brothers around the world— as well as christians there and beyond.
this past week has broken the heart of all in my life – muslim, jewish, christian, atheist. we fully condemn the death of civilians. we always have. and now we are witnessing the latest inhumane chapter of a story that desperately needs to end. it serves no one.
here we are helplessly trying to figure out foreign policy on instagram— because leaders have failed us. it is to the benefit of totalitarianism and capitalism above humanity, when we turn to hate speech and in-fighting. i refuse to be distracted. there are hostages and dead bodies and gaza is on the brink of being destroyed. entire generations of families. these are civilians with no recourse and nowhere to go. a million people are being asked to evacuate to nowhere. the people of gaza do not deserve to pay the price for our failings. if gaza is erased, history will see we stood by. that we failed to find our humanity.
this is an incomplete post that will never encapsulate all that I hold in my heart or give anyone all they need. still i am posting these photos because I want you to see these faces. i thought what if your only images are of devastation? i share these photos because these artists have so much to share about the human condition. i want them to have a livelihood, to feel safe, to flourish, to have freedom. and i want the world to see their art. | Posted on 14/Oct/2023 05:14:39
