All proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders and PCRF. I will post receipts for transparency as well. As of right now, November, 1st, over 8,000 Palestinians have died, mostly civilians, thousands more are injured and severely in need of food, water, and medical care, and supplies.

Description:

I am releasing a series of songs that are self-produced that will be going 100% to humanitarian aid for Gazans and Palestinians (I will post receipts of anything made) who are facing tremendous inhumane treatment and injury at the hands of what is being referred to as a “war.” A bit over 2 million people live in the Gaza Strip, more people than in Manhattan, and half of the population is made up of children, far too young to voice their politics in any sort of governing party. I feel that the crying out for “both sides” does not seem to care about the lives and hopes of Palestinian children. If it bothers you that I hope to support Palestinian civilians and children I hope you ask yourself why doing just that makes you feel so defensive, and secondly, I hope to remind people that you are never burdened to follow me and support my music and that long-term my presence as an artist is meant to appeal to people who are rather humane, intuitive and analytical, at least that is my ideal audience who I wish to connect with.

I will follow up with some family history. Part of my family is from Latvia in Eastern Europe, a country that for a long time only knew its identity as an occupied country. I write from this privileged position right now in America, because we escaped the holocaust and were targeted for our slim amount of Ashkenazi DNA and overall not appearing Aryan enough. Regardless of heritage, we were one of the many people targeted by the holocaust and its’ hatefulness and became displaced because of it. Romani people also were targeted and to this day are not treated as equals in the European political landscape. Disabled people were mass m*rdered as the sort of model of what to do to other vulnerable populations, and personally, as someone with a rare genetic disability I have never forgotten this. This is on my mind again, as I reflect on generational pain, war and its consequences for the people and children of those injured. My heart is always with the jewish people because they are my friends and allies, we share this history and heartache and some of them remain the most tireless voices for Palestinian freedom.

From my grandpa, I have heard about the 1948 Nakba, and how he became stateless in the 1967 six days war. As he told me memories of napalm being dropped on Jerusalem when he was only 13, I reflected on the cyclic nature of pain. I thought about how many of my family on that side struggle with indiscriminate chronic pain and how war can cause aching bodies throughout time. I thought of the Palestinian people who are currently enduring years of occupation, apartheid, and merciless violence because they are indigenous to a land where governmental powers seek to erase them. Erasure is one of the most insidious tools of the colonizer. To this day on all sides of my family, a loss of culture is felt as traditions aren’t passed on and sometimes searching for closure and clarity is more confusing than it is revealing.

My Uncle shared with me that one of the biggest concentration camps that was in Latvia was the Kaiserwald camp, that mainly focused on forced labor to produce batteries. It brought to mind what has been happening in Democratic Republic of the Congo where civilians are being forced to mine Coltan without any safety precautions to also produce batteries in modern technology devices. Truthfully, I learned about this situation because of this week and creators who also discussed the freedom of Palestine. The material conditions that creates situations such as these are not the same, but the mythology of colonialization and the language it uses are usually consistent. As people say “Never Again” let that mean in all cases of atrocity, without exception. Let that mean that you learn to recognize when a group of people are being dehumanized and their humanity is being reduced and brought into question while the other side has a right to innocence defaulty. May you fight for humanity in every instance, and not do so selectively and let us not weaponize our struggles as we look at these things in a global context with global repercussions.

I ask those who feel called to storytelling to reflect on why they are drawn to the mediums they are, and the importance of reflecting humane stories and weaving the fabric for non-dystopian futures. Let us also reflect on our pasts and familial histories and how they intersect in the fight against oppression everywhere.