Do Palestinians have the chance to mourn? But more importantly, are they granted the right to mourn? Not only to mourn their losses, but to mourn with a purpose; to channel mourning towards justice and action. At a time when Palestinians are experiencing unprecedented levels of intense and profound loss — the CBC previously reported that Israel’s bombing campaign on Gaza is the most destructive of this century — their capacity to grieve collectively and without condemnation has been consistently curtailed. As Palestinian researcher and professor Devin G. Atallah writes, Palestinians struggle to find space for personal grief, as the need to move forward forces them to focus on survival. After all, how can people mourn in a space of constant horror? From the grief of the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre to the ongoing Gaza war, grief stretches endlessly across time and history. Before they can fully process one loss, another tragedy rises above it. “We cannot grieve our dead. We are obligated to steal our present to fight for our future,” Atallah articulates poignantly. Yet, grief can also act. Palestinians have channeled their grief into organizing and finding…
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