A Statement of Solidarity
“The will of the people can’t fail. If we can’t shape the world we live in, if we can’t stop a genocide so miserable is our life.”
To our friends, communities, and readers:
While the genocide of the Palestinian people began even before Israel’s 1948 inception, Israel’s violence has escalated in intensity and outright cruelty during the past four months. For the past one hundred and six days, we have witnessed horrors in Israel’s relentless bombing of Palestinian hospitals, schools, places of worship, civilian homes, and cultural heritage sites. Israel has cut power and resources to Palestine; they have starved and displaced millions of Gazans. As many as 70,000 have been injured and 30,000 killed, countless others missing.
As an arts publication whose stated goals are to centralize the narratives of historically disenfranchised communities and to uplift, enhance, and maintain archives, Sixty finds we must stand in solidarity with Palestine. Israel’s genocide is an attack on life, culture, and justice. We support and believe in Palestinian sovereignty and indigeneity and their right to defend themselves against the Israeli state. Israel has no ancestral right to Palestinian land, where Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and many other spiritual and cultural communities co-existed peacefully for millennia before the Israeli occupation.
We will not be silent nor will we ever censor marginalized voices.
On January 17, 2024, the Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda called for a worldwide strike, beginning on Sunday, January 21st. Though this is not the first time Owda has called for a strike, this is the first time we as an organization will participate, and we invite you to join us. Between the dates of January 21st and January 28th, Sixty Inches From Center will not be publishing any essays or articles on our website. We will only use social media to amplify Palestinian voices and the message of Palestinian liberation. On the same token, we will no longer platform articles, reviews, and essays about organizations such as the Poetry Foundation or Indiana University, both of whom have censored Palestinian and anti-zionist Jewish artists. You won’t find these institutions in our monthly Art Picks either, until they call for an end to the genocide and occupation.
We encourage you to practice solidarity with the Palestinian people. Do not work between the days of January 21st and the 28th if you can. Minimize purchases. Call your representatives at all levels of government; share your thoughts that over $14 billion dollars from our government—an amount which includes tax payer funds—financed the systematic destruction of Palestinian society, instead of paying for our healthcare, housing, or other social services. Join the Dissenters and start organizing your communities. Donate to e-sim funds for Palestinians’ phone services. Connect with your local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Educate yourselves on Palestinian and Israeli history with any of the excellent books, podcasts, and other media and art about and by Palestinians.
If nothing else, witness this genocide aided by a flailing American government in the name of a squalid, apartheid state. See how you are called to act after watching video upon video of children dying. As Owda posted to her Instagram on December 11th, 2023, “The will of the people can’t fail. If we can’t shape the world we live in, if we can’t stop a genocide so miserable is our life.”