There is no longer beauty or consolation except in the gaze falling on horror, withstanding it, and in unalleviated consciousness of negativity holding fast to the possibility of what is better.

Adorno wrote that during the 1940s, but today it could easily stand as a translation of the Palestinian concept of ‘Sumud’, connoting steadfast perseverance, rootedness, the hope that grimly endures. This issue’s cover, painted by Sofia Sabbagh, affirms that same spirit in protest and solidarity.

Friends, we desperately hope that this is the worst thing we ever see, and not a horrifying prophecy of the new moral standard. Witnessing genocide, we share the same awful sense of powerlessness we’ve heard so many of you describe, and the same compulsion not to avert our gaze. The act of witnessing acquires a terrible significance when it’s all that can be done, and despite the harassment we’ve received for our stance we’ve never been prouder to work at Overland, or, given the disturbing speed with which culprits have been rebranded as victims in major newspapers, more convinced of this journal’s importance.

We are grateful for the support of our board members who refused to be cowed by the disingenuous campaign against us, and for the support and solidarity that so many of you have shared with us. We’d like to republish and reaffirm this section of our board’s recent statement:

We believe that it is wrong to turn away from the suffering of Palestinian people. We believe that Overland should not shy away from criticism of the extreme violence of the Israeli military forces and the collective punishment of civilians in Gaza. We fear that we are witnessing a genocide unfold in plain view, and believe that Overland and the broader community have a moral responsibility to call attention to this horror.

As we write this the IDF prepares to launch a ground invasion of the southern city of Rafah, to which half of the population of Gaza has fled, 600,000 of whom are children, and a quarter of whom are starving. We find nothing more to say.

Solidarity, and sumud

Evelyn Araluen & Jonathan Dunk