Wit(h)ness

*All proceeds from the SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA series will go to Gift of the Givers and other aid organisations offering humanitarian support in Gaza.

For 103 days I have been sitting shiva, being wit(h)ness - I am grateful to Neil Coppen who shared this excerpt from Youssef Rakha with me:

“Romanized without diacritics, the Arabic words for ‘witness’ and ‘martyr’ are identical. Shahid. شهيد. In its original sense, the first translates to ‘one who knows,’ the second to ‘one who knows the truth!’

I suppose you only really know the truth when you die, but there are those who know more than they otherwise would because they saw it happen.

That is the only thing that makes up for my current helplessness: I am the shahid and, before the ascension of the shahid, the one who watches.”

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To be witness is to be with. Wit(h)nessing is where most of us find ourselves, being present with and holding vigil. For many of us, it is within the most horrific moment for humanity to witness -to become with - in our lifetimes.

If you were to steal yourself away from the din of the media, and still yourself to an inner truth, become shahid - you will feel what is happening in Gaza is inherently wrong, utterly unjust and must end immediately.

Do not weaponize the customary storying of martyrdom, how tragic that for over 70 years martyrdom has had to become a part of customary life in Palestine.

Reject the rhetoric around it within the west, particularly western media. For those actually on the ground, who are really witnessing the reality of missiles and phosphoric air, and the constant sense of dread coming from above. The loss of family.

They know, they are shahid. Stay with them, and their experience. It requires little imagination to be with them, and realize that a ceasefire is vital

wit(h)ness

 Mixed-Media archival print

Hahnemühle Fibre Matte Paper

297mm x 420 mm

*Available for Pre-order