Start with the rockets fired into Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and not with the illegal occupation of Palestinian land by Israel and the blockade of Gaza since 2007, and you have an entirely different story.A heartfelt and thoughful challenge to single story narratives, ending in a call to be minful of each other and put in practive the values that will lead to a just world peace. Read the full statement.
October 11, 2023
“The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with, ‘secondly.’ Start the story with the arrows of the Native Americans, and not with the arrival of the British, and you have an entirely different story. Start the story with the failure of the African state, and not with the colonial creation of the African state, and you have an entirely different story.” -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “Danger of a Single Story” TEDGlobal, July 2009
We are horrified by what is unfolding in Palestine/Israel. We recognize the pain, loss, and humanity of Palestinians and Israelis and are in touch with family, friends, and colleagues in the region as we are able. There is still so much that is unknown and unfolding.
What we do know is that single story narratives are dangerous…
Statement from the Leadership of Religion and Public Life (Harvard Divinity School)
