Dust and Tribe is not a political organization. We are Muslims who get people outside and do our best to sacralize the experience.

And it is through this work that we continue to witness patterns, among them the territorial habits of various creatures and their response to interruptions such as displacement and captivity. A mountain lion slinks about unseen and unheard, taking the occasional deer, eating what it can and caching the rest. The deer instinctually recognize this possibility and they are wary, holding to their herd, lifting their heads up frequently as they graze, bolting at the slightest sound.

Predator and prey. It’s an unsavory and necessary tension that exists to maintain the balance of finite resources in the wild.

We see these same dynamics among people, though the distinction of predator and prey is much more fluid and is most often understood in terms of shifting power dynamics. But once those dynamics have settled, it’s always the same: a few people managing the affairs of many.

So long as the few govern the masses with a semblance of justice and equity, this may become a sustainable arrangement, though it will never be entirely comfortable. Nobody assumes power without some blood on their hands.

There are no unsullied regimes. The lion will still take the occasional meal in the form of taxation, conscription, or judicial abuse. Such are the privileges of power, and so we remain wary but generally content to go about the business of establishing our herd.

Enduring peace is, in most cases, unrealistic. An uneasy balance is more probable.

Occupied Palestine fails on both counts. It is neither peaceful nor balanced. It continues to be managed as a Zionist apartheid state by the Israeli administration. That is not sustainable.

The lions are displaced. The deer have lost their pasture. Only chaos and starvation will follow. This is what the wilderness teaches.

The headlines are not the story.

The story is the radical instability of the arrangement, a truth that has been apparent since the 1940s. The demoralizing psyops of legacy and social media would rather we focus on the immediate and inscrutable details of the moment. Neutered by the showcasing of purported atrocities on all sides, we throw up our hands, condemn violence, and pray for peace.

That’s not entirely bad, but stopping there we miss the point.

Over the last nearly 80 years, the Israeli administration has clearly and consistently demonstrated their selfish and destructive incompetence. The incremental usurping of Palestinian land and resources coupled with the overt racism and violent subjugation of the Palestinian people has outed the regime as thoroughly unfit to rule.

If the Israeli administration is unwilling to abandon its apartheid tactics and philosophy, then it must be overthrown as an act of humanitarian conservation.

Insofar as this is the goal, we stand with Palestine.

The deer are not without their defenses. God has created them with horns, hooves, and the delightful ability to move in silence and leap tall fences. But the deer are perhaps most formidable when they simply stand together.

The lion, even with its teeth and claws, still lies in wait for the stray.

What follows are some practical measures Muslims might take to undermine Israeli power.

Speak with your tax specialist about minimizing federal withholdings. Our money is used by the American government to support the Israeli Zionist apartheid regime. This is an outrage. Consider all potential tax shelters including cryptocurrency investment.

Offer financial support to organizations doing humanitarian work in Occupied Palestine.

Register to vote and contact your elected representatives to communicate your intolerance of Israeli oppression.

Have babies. The reproductive strategies of prey animals are an instructive foil to the reality of predation. There simply needs to be more of us to shift the balance of power.

Recognize that legacy and social media are instruments of control and manipulation. Reliable information will instead be found in books. Read up on the history of Israeli occupation to build conviction and confidence in the notion of Palestinian resistance.

Find opportunities to engage your non-Muslim brothers and sisters in work that improves your local community. We need to give our neighbors a strong sense of who we actually are as a counter to targeted disinformation campaigns.

Sign up for one or both of our D&T Grind backpacking experiences. All profits will be forwarded to organizations providing relief to the besieged Palestinians. What’s more, you will have the personal experience of centering adversity in your own life and forming lasting connections with other men and women engaged in the shared struggle of backpacking over 30 miles in the chill of winter’s embrace. You will build physical, emotional, and spiritual resilience, all important considerations as we cultivate Palestinian empathy and hunker down for what will be a very long fight.

The Israeli administration has declared war. Only the innocent or ignorant will imagine that what is happening in Palestine will stay in Palestine.

We need to prepare ourselves.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Comment below or jump into the D&T Chautauqua Discord where we can continue the conversation, God willing.

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