Mummy Debra and I saw a comment recently on one of our Facebook posts, where we had put a yellow ribbon for Israeli hostages in a prominent public spot.
An assumption may have been made by the commenter (name withheld to avoid their possible embarrassment).
They said something like…What about Palestinian babies? But the words before that, which I cannot find now, suggested a one-sided take, even if it wasn’t.
We realise that putting a token of support for one group of people might signify (to some people) disregard for another group.
However, would people assume that if someone wears a Taylor Swift T-shirt, it should not be taken as an indication of being against Lady Gaga! Of course not, that would be recognised as an absurd assumption!
Mummy and I are members of Jews for Justice for Palestinians. So, I do support Palestinians. And, before people make the assumption…we don’t support Hamas!!
We are also against the conflict, supporting neither side in it.
That post was particularly done as part of the Yellow Ribbon for Israeli Hostages campaign.
We use the yellow ribbon as we don’t want to use the Israeli flag, which has become ultra-politicised, just like the Palestinian flag has been.
Mummy and I are not Israeli anyway, and to fly the Israeli flag simply because we are Jewish feels wrong. It feels supportive of the type of Zionism that displaced many Palestinians and its laws, which see Palestinians continue to live a life of injustice, with restricted services.
Mummy and I are against such injustice. So the Israeli flag is not representative of me as a Jew.
The yellow ribbon is apolitical. It is in support of hostages. It is not against Palestinians or for Israel as a nation.
Humans, please endeavour to think more and assume less.
Don’t blindly take sides because it is trendy to and, as such, neglect to think deeply enough about all sides of situations. Silly humans!
When we place yellow ribbons, we are also considering Palestinians, as we see the yellow ribbons as not being seen as anti-Palestine, in the way the Israeli flag has become.
We cannot find any apolitical non-national ribbons that represent the Palestinian civilians. All we see are national flag ribbons, which is not what we are looking for to show support for Palestinian civilians, as well as the Israeli hostages.
If anyone, and particularly my commenter, knows of an apolitical ribbon, or another token of support for the Palestinian civilians that does not indicate hatred of innocent Israeli hostages, or support of Hamas, then please let us know. We will gladly place suitable ones alongside the yellow ribbons!
Your peaceful teddy bear, Bearsac x
Bring Them Home Now – Israeli hostages and innocent Palestinian civilians alike.