The Myth of Sisyphus Reimagined

The American-Israeli genocide in Gaza continues relentlessly. Over 2400 Palestinians have been killed since Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire in January and resumed daily bombardments and drone strikes on the defenseless population. For over two months, there has been a total stoppage of food, water, fuel, and medical supplies. Life-saving humanitarian aid at the border has been deliberately blocked by Israel. Using starvation as a weapon of war is a brazen violation of international law. The Israeli government has announced their plans. In the arrogant words of extremist government minister Bezalel Smotrich, all of Gaza will be occupied by Israel, and the starving Palestinian population will be forcibly “concentrated” (his word) in the southern half of the Gaza Strip. The northern half of Gaza will be “empty” and off limits to any Palestinian. Smotrich said Israel’s expectation is that, not very long from now, the desperate population will abandon Gaza for other countries. This is Israel’s “final solution” for Gaza playing out before our eyes. Destroy Gaza, starve its people, drive them out, and steal their land for future Israeli colonies.

As horrific as this is, equally grotesque is the fact that thus far the world has not been able to stop this evil. The pro-Israel narrative keeps cranking out justifications for the unjustifiable. Again and again, Congress does the bidding of Israel and the military-industrial complex. The United Nations has condemned the genocide, rightly indicted Netanyahu and Gallant as war criminals and issued warrants for their arrest. The international community has taken steps to try to hold Israel accountable. Nonetheless, the cruelty and the carnage is unabated. Will Israel get away with genocide? Is Israel’s domination invincible? Are its goals inevitable? Is resistance futile? Empires and their proxies love it if their opponents collapse under the weight of powerlessness and despair. Yet, in reality, there is actually nothing invincible or inevitable about any of this. All of it could stop tomorrow if Israel’s patron and arms supplier, the United States, told Israel to withdraw from Gaza, end the bloodshed, open the borders to humanitarian aid, and return to the long-term truce and exchange of hostages and prisoners Hamas agreed to in the earlier ceasefire accord. A peaceful outcome is still possible. Egypt and Arab nations have put forward a feasible plan for the reconstruction of Gaza. What is needed now is what has always been needed – the political will to build a just and sustainable peace for Palestinians and Israeli Jews. This is the only viable way forward.

The Myth of Sisyphus, from Greek mythology, tells the story of a man who rolls a huge boulder up the mountain, only to see it roll back down. Each time he pushes it back up the mountain, and each time, just as it is about to reach the top, it rolls back down. The philosopher Albert Camus drew on this myth to describe the absurdity of human existence. In this movement of Palestinian solidarity, in these dark and dispiriting times for the Palestinian people, it can seem we are Sisyphus. But Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put a refreshing spin on this task of struggling toward the heights in seemingly impossible circumstances. At a recent conference for judges, the Supreme Court Justice addressed the Trump administration’s attacks on judges, which have included calls for their impeachment, imprisonment, and death threats. Jackson urged them to show “raw courage” to dispense justice without fear or favor, “I urge you to keep going, keep doing what is right for our country, and I do believe that history will vindicate your service.” She went on to say, “I do know that loneliness. It is very stressful to have to decide difficult cases in the spotlight and under pressure. It can sometimes take raw courage to remain steadfast in doing what the law requires.” I couldn’t help but think of her words as a powerful encouragement to keep doing what we know is right in our movement for Palestinian solidarity and our work for a just peace. She also inspired me to reimagine the myth of Sisyphus. In the myth, Sisyphus is always alone. What if a multitude of courageous souls joined him in pushing the boulder up the mountain? What if they succeed in getting the boulder to the top, and together they are not defeated? What if the growing chorus of sympathy for the Palestinian cause became an undeniable force demanding justice and accountability? What if the voices disgusted by the violence and clamoring for peace grew so strong and insistent that they could no longer be ignored?