I survived the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. Writing these words from exile, I carry the uneasy privilege of still having a voice while more than 56,531 Palestinians — including at least 227 journalists — have been killed since October 2023.

My colleagues who remain inside Gaza continue to file dispatches amid unrelenting bombardment, a suffocating siege, frequent electricity blackouts, and repeated internet shutdowns that sever them from the outside world for hours or even days at a time. 

Writing as a Palestinian has never been neutral. It is always political: not because of what we say, but because of the conditions under which we are allowed to speak.

For years, speaking out has meant navigating a hostile media environment, shaped by pro-Israel bias and corporate funders. In my own work, I’ve been asked by editors to replace the word “occupation” with “conflict”, or to remove “apartheid” in favor of euphemisms like “cycles of violence.” 

Other times, this hostility is the absence of space altogether: the quiet rejection, the silence after submission, or the feeling of being visible only as victims, and invisible when we try to explain the causes of our suffering. Our voices are often only tolerated when we don’t disrupt power too directly.

This is why +972 Magazine matters. It’s one of the few platforms where Palestinians are not just written about or quoted. We are among its contributors, analysts, editors, and decisionmakers, and we shape the coverage.

I have written for many outlets. Most have asked me to adjust myself — to soften language, to explain the basic facts of the occupation to an audience assumed to be neutral. At +972, I am able to speak with clarity and complexity. There is no pressure to “both-sides” genocide, or to reframe our experiences to cater to political sensibilities. And in this landscape, that’s rare.

But being published isn’t enough. Being heard is what gives my words weight. And that part is in your hands.

When you read my work — or the work of any contributor at +972, including those still writing from inside Gaza — you are doing more than staying informed. You are interrupting the machinery that prefers we remain voiceless. Your attention not just for headlines, but for the details we gather and the context we provide is what makes this journalism possible.

+972 is not a large outlet. It doesn’t have corporate backers. It doesn’t take funding from the U.S. or Israeli governments, two of the most influential players in shaping media narratives about Palestine. It doesn’t adjust its language to keep donors comfortable. It publishes what most outlets won’t, not because the facts are unclear, but because the truth is too politically inconvenient.

Thank you for reading our stories and for choosing to pay attention, when so many would rather simply look away. If you’ve ever read something here and thought, “This needs to exist,” I’m asking you to help keep it going. By supporting +972, you help ensure that Palestinians continue to have our voices heard — and without filtering the truth.