We prefer darkness. We are not hiding from unpleasant realities. The dull glows from our tablets and phones produce sufficient illumination for all that we need to see for the lives we choose to lead.
On June 23, the United Nations Human Rights Council issued a report that opened:
“Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank.”
We have withdrawn from our gardens, leaving our orange and purple irises to contend with the invasive hemlock. Its delicate, deadly white florets provide an appropriate reminder of our constant somnambulistic state.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission. “Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law.”
Self-exiled from the outside world’s beautiful blossoms, butterflies and bird songs, our estrangement includes family, friends, neighbors and strangers.
The eyes of the Middle East have long been on Lebanon, Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz, but this does not mean that the situation in the Gaza Strip has improved. In fact, Israel is intensifying its attacks in the Palestinian territory, and during a bombing raid on Monday night, a mother and her one-year-old baby were killed. – La Sexta [Madrid], June 30
We tolerate no distractions from the inviolate isolation that allows us to fully concentrate on the glorious minutiae of our lives.
“On May 21, 13-year-old Jude Muhammad Dweik was playing soccer with his friends in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza when his family says a quadcopter drone dropped a bomb on the group. Jude was killed and two of his friends were injured.” – CBC, June 23
Pray tell, how can it be our concern what might happen thousands of miles away in broad daylight beneath a baking sun when we refuse to view the moon and stars that try – and fail – to beckon us beyond our dark, screen-illuminated rooms?
“As the world focused on the war with Iran, Israeli forces steadily took more territory in the Gaza Strip and killed more people last month than at any time this year, according to Gaza health records. More than one thousand Palestinians have been killed in the eight months since President Trump declared the war there was over.” – NPR, June 26
We value our quietude, our solitude’s pristine sterility devoid of any intrusive infections that might threaten our serenity.
Starvation imposed by Israel through blockade and siege have further caused the death of Palestinian children and severely impacted the health of many others, depriving them of essential nutrition and increasing disease risks amid reduced immunization, food insecurity and destroyed health services. – UN Human Rights Council
We’ve never fired a shot or dropped a bomb besides those in our video games. They certainly leave no bloodstains for some Pilate to try to wash away.
A nine-year-old Palestinian girl was killed on Thursday by Israeli army fire inside a school tent in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources reported. – Xinhua, April 9
We value our privacy. Self-contained and content, we need no interlopers disturbing our autonomic existence while we contemplate absolutely nothing absolutely.
Israel’s Security Cabinet on Thursday approved the construction of 13 new settlements in the central West Bank, a move critics slammed as the latest effort to “fracture” Palestine and cement Israeli control over the illegally occupied territory with the goal of annexation. – Common Dreams, July 3
Good people, we value good things – decency, peace, prosperity. We do not lie or cheat or steal and abhor such deplorable behavior.
Since October 2023, the West Bank has witnessed an escalation carried out by the Israeli army and occupiers, killing 1,175 Palestinians, injuring 12,919 others and leading to the arrest of around 24,000 people, according to official Palestinian data. – Anadolu Ajansı, July 8
Our hands are clean – if you could only see their shadows skimming the surfaces of our warm devices in our cool dark rooms.
