There have been plenty of hot takes and opinions about the horror that's been unfolding in Israel and Palestine. No one's really been waiting for mine.
But needless to say, a massacre at a music festival was one of the most sickening acts of terrorism in recent years. Like the assault on the Bataclan or on Charlie Hebdo, this felt closer than it was. If hte victims were not people I know, they were certainly the kind of people I know. A friend would go to Tel Aviv to go clubbing, close family have been in Israel and Palestine several times. People I know will have family and friends there, on either side of the security fence. The world is a smaller place now than it ever was.
And so the second chapter begins; the war on Gaza. I have no doubt that Israelis have the right to live in peace and security, as we all do. And those responsible for the terrorist atrocity deserve to be punished.
But the deaths of the innocent shame us all. The only side we should back unequivocably in a conflict is the side of humanity.
Perhaps the Russian invasion of Ukraine unleashed the idea that absolute barbarism is now an acceptable face of conflict. It's not and it never will be.
Zebda released Une Vie de Moins in 2012, a song telling the story of a young life in Gaza. At the time it provoked the anger of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France, who said it promoted hatred toward Israel, but it gives no credit to extremists and doesn't defend the likes of Hamas.
Instead, it focuses on the life lived by young people in Palestine, from their point of view, where wanting a peaceful existence and wanting to leave isn't an option as the conflict too often comes to them with fatal consequences.
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