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What It Means to “Speak Out” about Atrocities, by Keith Kahn-Harris – 23 June 2025

From Prospect

Often, my first reaction to news coming out of Israel and Palestine is a narcissistic one—making it all about me. When I hear about the latest horror in Gaza, I wonder: “Is now the time to speak out?” When I see settlers rampaging through West Bank villages, I wonder: “Do I say something now?” And when Israel struck Iran on Friday 13th June, I immediately worried: “What should I say about this?”    

This anxious sense of an imperative to speak is a reflection of the temptations of an easily accessible public sphere. Like anyone else, I can instantly emote and express my precious thoughts on any number of platforms. Many of the people who populate my feeds are constantly reinforcing the expectation that when one sees something unjust, oppressive or abusive, speaking out is the only moral reaction. From whatever perspective, my timelines are full of tributes, denunciations, expressions of solidarity and J’accusing. Social media transforms us into issuers of press releases on behalf of ourselves. There is no issue more likely to provoke public statements than Israel/Palestine/Gaza, and now war with Iran has added a new layer of outrage and fear to this combustible discourse.

So should I speak out? It’s almost as though I have the question the wrong way round: why would I not speak out? After all, what is happening in Gaza is intolerable, the suffering horrific. Adding conflict with Iran to the situation is terrifying.

I almost have spoken out on Gaza on many occasions since 7th October 2023. And I have even posted tangentially on the subject. My reluctance to go further is partially self-interested, since I occupy a very delicate professional and personal position which requires me to maintain good relations both in the mainstream (and pro-Israel) Jewish world and in other worlds, Jewish and non-Jewish, where pro-Palestinian politics is normative. But it’s also because the desire to speak out is somehow polluted by the constant pressure to do so. If I did speak out, how would I even know I was being sincere?

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Dr Keith Kahn-Harris is a sociologist and writer, based in London. He is a senior lecturer at Leo Baeck College and a senior research fellow at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research. He has a broad range of interests, including particular expertise in researching metal music scenes and the UK Jewish community. The author or co-author of eight books, editor of several collections and many articles and reviews, his career bridges academia and multiple other worlds. His work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, New Humanist, Prospect, Haaretz, The Forward, New Statesman and more. His most recent books are The Babel Message: A Love Letter to Language (Icon) and What Does A Jew Look Like? (in collaboration with Rob Stothard).

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