Tomorrow, at a Palestinian solidarity speak-out and march that many caring hands in so-called Asheville have been busily organizing for the past six days, we’ll set up our fourth public grief altar since October’s genocide began. They’ve all felt remarkably beautiful and painfully necessary—and not nearly enough to hold the tragedy and horror of so much loss.

But it feels impossible—if one has a heart—and disrespectful—if one has any humanity—not to mourn the dead as much and as often as we can, and as intimately bound up in our dogged resistance to the fascism that knows no boundaries.

Two essays, both mourner’s prayers in their own way, by two Palestinians and a Jew recently spoke to me. Both short pieces felt as if they’d be sacred offerings/gifts on or near our altars. So thanks to the design acumen of @beheldritualarts, they are now 4.25x5.5 zines, borrowing powerful illustrations from @erikruin, @wendyelisheva, and @land.of.sky.art.

Here’s a glimpse of each—via an extract and also my photo of the front and back covers of these zines, set on a grief altar of autumnal leaves.

From “Grief beyond Language by @nickikattoura and Nada Abuasi: “Language cannot communicate what the mind cannot process. Maybe we do not need to write. Maybe we weaponize our chants as eulogy, turn our marching into prayer, transform the streets into a funeral procession.”

From “Kaddish for the Soul of Judaism” by @agelender: “Can you hear me recite the Mourner’s Kaddish for every soul killed in Gaza? It may take me a moment, I have to say thousands of prayers, and each person has a name. I will sit Shiva for a million lifetimes. I leave a stone on each martyred grave to root the dead back into the earth, but I can still hear the screaming. … I want to turn back the clock.”

For downloadable imposed (print-ready) PDFs of these two, paired zines for your public and collective spaces of rebellious mourning and Palestinian solidarity actions, email me at cbmilstein (at) yahoo.

#MourningOurDead
#WeMustOutliveZionism
#WeMustOutliveFascism
#WeMustOutliveStates
#FightingForTheLiving
#UntilAllAreFree