In Speaking up Against Evil, I Remain True to my Siblings and my Childhood Self

A very personal and biographical addition to my 'Leaving Israel' series

5 year old me

This post contains personal, intimate biographical details about my life. I choose to share these details with people interested in my work and my story, with the hope it may inspire others to explore their motivations and deeper reasons for political action (or inaction) of every kind.

This is about stuff that took place some decades ago, but it is also about the present day for me as an individual, and who I became and always wanted to be.

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I am writing this not unaware that it is dangerous to think you know the explanation to something as dynamic and fluid as a human self (after all, we’re bound to make our biggest misconceptions when we are sure we got something fully figured out). You’ll have to believe me, though, that I know myself quite well, and have been in possession of my gaze, politically and emotionally, from a very young age. I am made of some very sound materials.

Finally, a very recent and current realization hit me a few days ago in real-time, one which I never had before; it colored my last day in Israel (hopefully for a very long time) in a different, beautifully urgent color I had never seen before. I’ll say what it was at the closure of this post, and you’ll see what I mean.