Why Palestinian Liberation Is Disability Justice

Hello hello! 👋

This week, we discussed the article, “Why Palestinian Liberation Is Disability Justice”, by Alice Wong (she/her), a disabled activist, media maker, and consultant. Please feel free to view more of her work here. In this article, she speaks on her journey in educating herself on the issue and describes her concerns when communicating with her Jewish friends within the disability community. Despite possible risks, she realized it was time to take action. Alice expresses the importance of defending humanity and dignity, which includes Palestinian liberation and its ties to disability justice. She shares that we must have collective liberation and solidarity to foster collective access and community care between one another.

The importance of including alt text or captions in videos to ensure everyone has access to information on current issues is also mentioned. The hashtag #AltTextPalestine, created by her friend, Sarah Blahovec, encouraged others to make accessible content, which included a toolkit on how to get involved. It is clear that social media has become a powerful tool for disability advocates speaking on this topic.

We must defend the lives of Palestinian people - disabled Palestinian people, whose lives matter just as much as disabled Irsaeli’s lives. Hospital bombings are destroying the basic essentials many people need to survive and forcing people to evacuate. The trauma and lack of mental and health care have been a significant issue. Palestinian people are being “dehumanized, rendered disposable, and oppressed”. Ultimately, if you care about advocacy for disabled people’s rights – this is the moment we must act in solidarity with the people of Palestine. In a time where hope may feel useless, Alice encourages the practicing of hope and dreaming of liberation and justice to move forward.

Notable Quotes:

“If you have ever advocated for disabled people’s rights to access emergency preparedness, housing, health care, home care, transportation, and/or believe in the principles of disability justice, this is your time, this is our time, to act in solidarity with the people of Palestine.”

“I know that genocide is a mass disabled event and a form of eugenics.”

“As a person dependent on electricity for my ventilator and numerous machines to keep me alive, it was particularly triggering when I saw a photo of a nurse manually ventilating a child because Israel cut off electricity and targeted attacks on entire regions in Gaza including numerous hospitals.”

Discussion Questions:

1. After reading the article, how has your understanding of disability justice — specifically in the content of global liberation movements — evolved? Has it influenced your approach to activism and advocacy?

2. What are some other ways beyond what was discussed in the passage that disability justice and Palestinian liberation intersect? How does this tie into the idea of cross-movement solidarity?

3. Did this article spark any other related conversations? Feel free to bring them up now!

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