The cost of conscience: I lost friends for defending Palestinians

Writing in defence of Palestinians – of their humanity, dignity, and rights – is not meant, nor can it be dismissed, as a polemical provocation. I refuse to qualify what has happened and is happening to Palestinians as “complex” to provide readers with a convenient and comfortable ethical exit ramp. Writing about Palestinians in this blunt, uncompromising way invites all sorts of replies from all sorts of quarters. Still, one of the casualties of writing about Palestinians can be the loss of the reassuring constancy and tender pleasure of valued friendships. I insist that Palestinian children, like our children, have the chance, again, to play, to learn, and to thrive.