The anniversary pieces are here. There will be many of them, one year after October 7, 2023, written in magazines and journals, turned into videos and segments and performed as ceremonies as well. To fixate on this date, however, is to fundamentally misunderstand its genesis and its meaning; and, perhaps most importantly, is to inevitably welcome more horrific versions of it in the future.
The temptation to reflect in this moment is tremendous. After all, this has been the bloodiest and most destructive year in the Middle East in some time, and, for Palestinians in particular, the bloodiest ever. The stories of victims from one week of the past year are enough to shatter you for a lifetime. At the same time, to focus on this year as a unique period is to separate it from the historical context that produced it and to sacrifice an understanding of how we got here and where we are going. If you are looking to read such a piece, I am sure there will be many, but this will not be one of them.
This op-ed was published on October 7, 2024, by The New Republic. To read more, click here
