You know me. I write about vegan pizza, social events, and eating snacks on trains.
I bang on about tofu like it’s going out of fashion and tell you when your local supermarket has added another fake meat to the shelves. I’m all about helping people feel celebrated in their compassionate choices.
But I don’t yell about not eating animals for the hell of it. I do it because I want to reduce my contribution to unnecessary suffering. Because I think kindness is political.
And that’s why I’m writing today.
Read more below.
Imade of Palestinians at market in Gaza strip in 1956 (Moshe Marlin Levin/Meitar Collection/National Library of Israel/The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection)
What is happening in Gaza is not just a headline. It’s not just some faraway tragedy. It is a humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in real time and the world is watching. Thousands upon thousands of lives have been lost. Families obliterated. Children buried under rubble. People denied food, medical help, clean water, electricity, and basic human rights.
And the bombs keep falling and the population is being starved to death. Shot dead as they beg for help.
If our veganism is about compassion, it cannot stop at our own dinner tables. As vegans we care about lots of things on this planet and we have to extend that caring to the children of Gaza. If we are heartbroken by suffering, we cannot look away when that suffering is inflicted on people.
I know some people reading this will say, “I come here for food, not politics.” But this is about food. It’s the absence of food. It’s the targeting of aid workers. It’s famine being used as a weapon. It’s politics that determine who gets to eat, who gets to live, and who gets ignored or left to die.
We can’t be silent for Palestinians.
I can’t share every new vegan snack while pretending not to notice the bloodshed funded in part by the governments under which we live.
So what can we do?
I’m not going to pretend posting a blog fixes this. But silence definitely doesn’t. Here are a few ways we can take action:
Contact your MP
The UK continues to sell arms and arms components to Israel. If that makes your stomach turn, tell your local MP to demand an end to UK arms sales. You can:
- Find your MP and email them directly via: https://www.writetothem.com
- Ask them to support an immediate ceasefire and end the UK’s military support of Israel
- Tell them that your vote is influenced by their stance on this issue
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be said.
Speak up
Social media can feel like shouting into the void, but your voice matters. Speak about Gaza. Share the truth. Break the silence in your friend circles. Don’t wait for others to make it safe. Every person who speaks makes it safer for the next one.
Support organisations doing urgent work
Whether you donate, share their work, or learn from them, consider contributing to organisations helping on the ground or advocating for justice including Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). There are many other major and grassroots groups to investigate and support.
If you’re not sure where to start, just start small. A conversation. A donation. An email. A post.
Because compassion without action means nothing.
As a vegan, you already have the heart for this work. You already know how to care deeply.
Now’s the time to widen that circle of compassion. No justice without a free Palestine.
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