the counting of the omer is an important annual practice for me AND engaging in an introspective jewish practice while a genocide is being perpetrated by jews didn’t feel right. as someone who supports palestinian liberation, approaching that struggle from within a jewish framework felt increasingly fraught. i want an end to zionism, but the end of zionism and the liberation of palestine – though connected – are two different things. palestinians did not choose jews as their oppressors, and we shouldn’t be centering jews or jewishness in their struggle for liberation. and even though i feel heartbroken that the majority of jews have been supporting what is happening in gaza, my feelings aren’t what’s important here. all eyes on gaza.
so after months of not being sure how i would/could count the omer, i decided to watch a different palestinian film every day for 49 days and posting about them daily on instagram. above are the screenshots from each day. my hope was that it would be a meaningful practice for me, but more importantly that it would direct attention to the palestinian struggle.
all films are listed in this spreadsheet (including links for watching, when available). i wrote about each film when posting on instagram, and you can find the posts in my omer 5784 highlight.