Peace begins when we remember we are not enemies, but partners in humanity.
After I published my recent piece on trauma, embodiment, and the sacred reclamation of the feminine and masculine, a reader wrote in with a question that we discussed in our inner circle:
“I’m wondering how you see working with the systems, the systematic reinforcement of patriarchy and trauma …? Our historical narratives, our religious institutions, education system, our parenting approaches, our media, our governments… How do we acknowledge and transform what our systems are doing to us? How do we stop them from watering the very seeds of trauma?”
It’s a question I’ve been carrying for years. Because trauma isn’t just personal. It’s political. It’s systemic. And the systems we’re living in? They’re not broken. They’re functioning exactly as they were built to:
To keep us afraid.
To keep us apart.
To reward obedience over aliveness, control over compassion.
And nowhere is that more visible—or more urgent—than in Palestine and Israel right now.
Systemic Violence Fears a Nervous System That Can Feel
Just this week, Meta suspended the official Instagram and Facebook accounts of Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) in Palestine—a project that documents settler violence, military raids, and land seizures in the West Bank. Their “crime”? Sharing the truth.
Not hate speech. Not incitement. Just evidence—the kind that belongs in courts, and in our collective conscience.
Trauma is easier to sustain when the world isn’t watching, or if it is watching, it is not speaking up or it is silenced...
Domination needs disconnection—from our bodies, our communities, and our capacity to feel what’s real.
But the truth doesn’t vanish. And the body, sooner or later, remembers.
The War Isn't Just About Land. It's About Consciousness.
With Gaza bleeding and the West Bank burning, it’s tempting to fall into binaries: oppressor vs. oppressed, villain vs. victim. But the story is more complec than that.
Even within Israel, there are families, organizations, and activists risking everything to speak out against the violence.
Groups like Standing Together, Breaking the Silence, Combatants for Peace, and Women Wage Peace are calling for ceasefire and for an end to occupation, and the beginning of something truly just.
Families of hostages are marching, not only to bring loved ones home—but to end a cycle of violence that’s claiming everyone’s children.
Protesters are being arrested, brutalized, and silenced—just for chanting “ceasefire” or refusing to serve in the military.
These people are not the enemy.
They’re part of the resistance.
They’re part of the healing.
Domination harm also the "other." It erodes the soul of those who uphold it.
It suffocates empathy. It punishes dissent.
It sells the lie that safety comes from separation—not solidarity.
What’s Happening in Gaza Isn’t Separate From What’s Happening in Us
Whether it’s Meta’s algorithm or a military checkpoint, these systems don’t just control movement—they control meaning.
They tell us:
Whose grief is valid.
Who gets to be seen.
Who is “innocent enough” to mourn.
But the nervous system knows better.
It knows grief is sacred.
That no child should die for ideology.
That the trauma of occupation and the trauma of war are connected, not competing.
We don’t heal domination by picking a side.
We heal it by rejecting its logic altogether.
The Real Battle Is Between Two Paradigms
What if this isn’t a war between two peoples but between two ways of being?
Between:
Domination and interdependence
Fear and feeling
Control and care
Silence and truth
And what if those paradigms aren’t just out there?
What if they’re inside all of us?
Every time we collapse into helplessness…
Every time we numb instead of feel…
Every time we confuse control with love… we’re inside the trauma field.
But every time we choose to feel, to breathe, to stay present… we reclaim territory from it.
Systemic Healing Starts Within And Between Us
Yes, we need international law.
Yes, we need accountability.
Yes, civilians must be protected.
But that’s not enough.
We also need nervous system literacy because a regulated body is harder to manipulate.
We need relational healing because connection dissolves polarization.
And we need cross-border solidarity because politics divide, but grief can unite.
We must remember:
Peace isn’t passive. It’s brave. It doesn’t look away. It has the courage to see and listen, to honor the grief and the humanity of ALL.
Activism without integration can become performance.
Justice without empathy becomes vengeance.
This is not the time to go numb.
It’s the time to feel more, not less.
Because the systems trying to control us—spiritually, politically, emotionally—rely on our disconnection.
Let’s choose aliveness instead.
Let’s grieve.
Let’s protect each other.
Let’s keep telling the truth—even when it’s hard.
Support Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine
“Civilian protection is not a violation. It’s a necessity.”
Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) is a grassroots initiative working on the ground in the West Bank to document violence, protect Palestinian communities, and resist occupation through nonviolent presence and solidarity. Palestinians, Israelis, and international civilians are working together—shoulder to shoulder—to create safety where states have failed to do so. This is what real peacebuilding looks like:
Cross-border. Trauma-informed. Courageous. Human.
How You Can Support:
1. Follow Their Updates:
Instagram and Facebook suspended UCP’s accounts for sharing on-the-ground truth. Until they're restored, follow their live updates here:
👉 @UCPinPalestine on Twitter/X
2. Donate to Support Civilian Protection:
UCP works in partnership with Nonviolent Peaceforce, a global organization training and supporting unarmed civilian protection in conflict zones.
Your support helps fund training, protective presence, and international accompaniment:
nonviolentpeaceforce.org/donate
3. Help Restore Their Voice:
Speak out against censorship. Amplify their message. Demand truth be seen.
Use and share these hashtags:
#LetPalestineSpeak #ProtectTheProtectors #MetaCensorsPalestine
Protection is possible. Peace is possible. But only if we protect the people risking everything to create it. 🕊️ If you believe peace begins from the inside out—share this. Speak this. Stay HUMAN.
https://linktr.ee/ucpinpalestine