I have very complicated views, rational and emotional, about what's going on in Israel and Palestine. I won't detail them here. I'm not ready to. Instead, I offer advice for those who advocate for the Palestinian cause:
Dedicate the October 7 anniversary to mourning the victims of Hamas's attack. Set aside, for one day, all talk of why Israel is in the wrong. Set aside, for one day, all talk of why the US response is insufficiently pro-Palestinian or too much pro-Israeli. The day before and the day after the anniversary--discuss your critiques. But dedicate the day to mourning the violence that set off this round of the conflict.
I advise that because it's the right thing to do. We should acknowledge and mourn victims.
But it's also tactically wise. Doing what I suggest demonstrates that the activists are not guilty of the blood lust they're so often accused of. Dedicating the day to flipping the narrative of "I don't approve of what Hamas did, but...."* to "It's wrong what Hamas did" and "The people who were murdered and kidnapped were human beings of intrinsic value, loved by others, and capable of all the good and bad anyone of us is capable of"--doing that centers the humanity of the activists and underscores the sincerity of their wish to establish a peaceful solution.
If the activists can't do that, then one might doubt their sincerity. To be clear, some lacking sincerity doesn't mean all or even most lack sincerity. And lack of sincerity doesn't necessarily mean the insincere are wrong.
*For the record, I don't necessarily criticize people for saying "I don't support x, but...." because talking any morally complicated problem sometimes requires us to say "but," "however," and "nevertheless."
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