Time to Lay Low

 Till yesterday, I was reassuring people spooked by Trump's crackdown on Palestine activists. I told a friend that Mahmoud Khalil was targeted for his high-profile activism, for being Palestinian and because he is at Columbia. You are not going to get detained for attending a rally at UMass. But, yesterday, I joined the ranks of the spooked. An Indian PhD student at Columbia who was not even an activist, just a sympathizer, had her visa revoked and fled to Canada to avoid the ICE dragnet. Those of us who imagined ourselves quite low in the list of potential targets are scared because that list has now been scrambled, which was probably the intention of the powers-that-be at ICE. Although I realise my odds of being targeted are still quite low, I can’t take any chances, and I have already taken some evasive action. Now is the time to lie low and let the fascists juggernaut barrel on towards more powerful people and wait for the inevitable backlash. Because there doesn’t seem to be any method to this madness, and capitalism has little tolerance for prolonged madness.

Till yesterday, I admit I looked at people who had stayed silent on Palestine with judgemental eyes. But, now they have been proven right. Or rather, their collective silence has allowed the situation to deteriorate to such an extent that silence now seems the most judicious course of action. And, I will not tolerate any “told you so”s from them. That said, I must constantly guard against feeling sanctimonious because of the little activism I have done for Palestine. I have been a scab before, and I can’t guarantee that I will never scab again (although, I hope I won’t ever be in such a desperate situation). My motto is do whatever makes you sleep better at night.  

And, there is plenty that one can do without taking on a very visible role in activism.