Brene Brown's Israel-Palestine Statement

Last week, Brene Brown made her first statement on Israel’s most recent invasion and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the one that began on October 27th.

The statement is an unmitigated disaster. It perpetuates and compounds the harm Israel has committed and that Israel has voiced the intention to continue committing. It upholds Zionist propaganda and with it, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia.

Moreover, the statement comes at a time when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that there was “plausible cause” for genocide on Israel’s part, and as the ICJ begins its 30-day review of Israel’s conduct since its first hearing.

Several creators took to social media to deconstruct Brene’s response; I’ll link my favorite from Instagram below.

I took some time to reflect about whether my take would offer added value.

Ultimately, I decided to write this for three main reasons.

First, I’d like to offer you a framework that focuses as much on the container and context of Brene’s position as it does on the content. (More about container and context in a moment.)

Second, I hope this piece gives you the boost of courage needed to speak out if you haven’t yet done so, while illuminating the social justice lens that explains why it’s so important to speak out.

The worlds I engage in—mindfulness, embodiment, yoga, psychology and mental health, contemplative research, even social justice—are bursting with people who have been alarmingly silent. Perhaps they’ve put up one or two Instagram stories, shared a meme, or reposted someone else’s call for charitable donations to a charity. But few in these fields have acted in ways that Brene might say “dare greatly.”  

As this ethnic cleansing progresses, and many of you are speaking up for the first time and encountering pushback, I wanted to give you tools to discuss this untenable catastrophe with those who seek to quiet you.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve received messages and comments from many of you here on Substack, sharing that you’re flummoxed by the circular talking points and propaganda of Zionism.

(For additional resources, you can refer to my Instagram page, where I often deconstruct these arguments and the psychology behind them. Weeks back, I created an initial Talking Points Guide on Israel’s War on Palestine to ferry you through any pushback you receive. The good news: disappointing as it is, the propaganda machine spits out the same tired tropes; once you get the routine down, it gets easier.)

First, I’ll discuss the container and social context of Brene’s letter. Then I’ll highlight some of its key points, and indicate what she’s missing. And we’ll finish with a little more social context, making this a context-content sandwich.

Keep in mind that this is far from a thorough exposition of all the important issues with Brene’s piece.

Why The Container Matters

In my training as a psychologist, one of my supervisors taught me something that has proven valuable in nearly every line of work I’ve undertaken.

His advice: to reflect on a situation from two vantage points. The first involves the often-literal content of what’s being said, the part that most of us focus on first.  

The second and often more important element is the essence or container of what’s happening, including what we think of as its social context.

To begin, let’s consider the container of Brene’s work, beginning with her impressive bio.

Brene received her Ph.D. in social work from the University of Houston, where she is a research professor. Her work culls from over two decades of research on the largely untouched topics of shame, empathy, vulnerability, and courage.

Brene is also a visiting professor at the Austin McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. She is also a sought-after leadership coach who does leadership development and culture-change work with Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies under the umbrella of Brave Leaders, Inc.

Her 2010 Tedx talk on shame is one of the five most widely viewed Ted talks in history; she followed it in 2010 with a Ted talk connecting her work on shame to vulnerability. Brene has six number one New York Times bestselling books. She hosts two podcasts, Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead. She has two television specials, The Call to Courage (Netflix) and Atlas of the Heart (HBO Max).

Brene also conducted an evidence-based training and certification program for helping professionals designed for individual, couples, family, and group work. The program focused on cultivating courage, shame resilience, and vulnerability.

Brene has established herself in the public eye as a researcher and clinician who specializes in emotional well-being. And she has done so in the often-murky, difficult areas of shame, vulnerability, and courage.

But that’s not all. There’s another factor to consider regarding Brene’s container before moving on.

I know Brene’s work primarily through her podcasts, and came to respect her indomitable spirit and social justice literacy. She tackled difficult subjects in a volatile, rapidly changing world. I grew to admire her. And I witnessed the way many others did, too, and the contributions her work made to theirs.

Brene has long signaled to her extensive audience in multiple ways a decades-long social justice and anti-racism lens.

She has hosted many brilliant Black women on her podcast with whom she claims deep friendship, among them Tarana Burke (my personal hero), Dr. Yaba Blay, Ashley C. Ford, Sonya Renee Taylor, Roxane Gay (together with her wife, Debbie Millman), Attica and Tembi Locke, Oprah Winfrey, Viola Davis, Laverne Cox, Austin Channing Brown, Sarah Niles (of Ted Lasso fame), and Alicia Keys. She co-edited a book, We Are Our Best Thing, with Tarana Burke.

She has also hosted amazing Black men, including Ibram X. Kendi, Clint Smith III, Emmanuel Acho, Jayson Reynolds, and Hanif Abdurraqib—and those conversations, she has conveyed an understanding of her responsibility as a white woman advocating for racial justice and equity.

Back in 2020 in the aftermath of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Brianna Taylor, and George Floyd, Brene wrote this on Facebook:

“The system is more complex now and supported by policy. One thing remains at the center: We, the white folks, are the conduit for the system. It was built to serve us. When we do nothing it surges through us. To end racism, we have to break the system. We have to see it and fight against it - we have to be anti-racist. There are many ways to break and rebuild. But here’s what I know for sure:

The most important anti-racism work I’ve done over the past 20 years and that I’m still doing (every single day) is taught and led by people with the lived experience of racial oppression—NOT white people. This includes my professors, writers, activists, bosses, and mentors. For me, it’s also about seeing, sharing, and honoring the lived experiences of my friends whose realities are/were clearly different than mine.”

This signals an awareness of the dynamics of racial and social oppression, and a willingness to stay the course. It signals commitment to racial justice.

As Ijeoma Oluo recently pointed out on Instagram, Brene has profited from the scholarship and labor of Black women and men. Her proximity to them has burnished her reputation and amplified the reach, meaning, and reputation of her work. And she knows the responsibility she incurs for that, which is to maintain and refine the social justice lens she brings to her work.

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Brene’s words on racial justice in 2020, and her extensive series of interviews with Black thought leaders on her podcasts, imply that Brene will always center the most marginalized group in any discussion of social justice.

And yet, her position statement on Israel-Palestine is deeply harmful, anything but courageous, and devoid of the social justice lens she brings to her other work.

Let’s dive into its content. I won’t review every single sentence. Instead, I’ll highlight the arguments that many of us encounter with colleagues, loved ones, and people on the interwebs, and explain the issues behind them.

A Facebook post written by Brene Brown on May 31, 2020

Unpacking The Statement

Brene begins by calling her statement, “Thoughts on the Israel-Hamas War.” While it may be semantically accurate to call this “Israel’s War,” it is not a war against Hamas. It is, quite clearly and demonstrably, a war against Palestinian civilian men, women, and children. By framing the current catastrophe as a war, Brene neglects to acknowledge the history of Israel’s longstanding settler-colonial occupation of Palestine. As a clinical social worker who specializes in systems dynamics, she fails to speak to the dynamics of oppression and the vast power differential between Israel as the oppressor, and Palestinians in the condition of being brutally oppressed.

Shortly thereafter, Brene continues, “And, please don’t conflate supporting non-violence with neutrality. It often takes more courage to wage peace than to wage war—that’s why it’s so rare.” In some ways, this might be one of the most innocuous sounding, yet harmful parts of her piece.

If Brene had dipped even a toe into the history, she’d have seen several key things. One, Palestinian non-violent resistance to occupation and injustice dates as far back as the Ottoman period (between the 1600s and 1917) and the British Mandate (from 1917 to 1948).

The First Intifada, or uprising, began in December of 1987 and ended in 1993. It consisted overwhelmingly of nonviolent civilian acts of civil disobedience. For more on this history, see this pdf.)

And to name just one other nonviolent protest, The Great March of Return was a mass resistance movement that began in March of 2018 and continued until December of 2019. Protestors marched every Friday to protest Israel’s land, air, and sea blockade and against the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The movement initially had a positive impact on community mental health and gave Palestinians a sense of agency, hope, and community mobilization—that is, until it was met by violence from Israel, including tear gas and live ammunition, and many Palestinians were killed.

In fact, both Haaretz and the Times of Israel documented how, in this peaceful march, Israeli Defense Forces shot at the knees of Palestinians, leaving many permanently disabling many. Soldiers even bragged about their “knee count.” The Middle East Monito also documents this, as do Amnesty Intenational and other human rights organizations. (Let’s attribute the “sadism” Brene talks about to all its rightful sources.)

Israel is an apartheid regime. (I define apartheid in this article.) This means that by the Geneva Conventions, Palestine has the right to resist occupation, and to resort to violence in doing so.

Finally, as Brene would know given her experience with matters of racial justice, there can be no peace without justice. That insight comes from Martin Luther King, Jr., and it’s where the Black Lives Matter slogan, “No justice, no peace” comes from.

With the above statement, Brene is telling her considerable followers (over 5 million on Instagram alone) that her “neutrality” (which isn’t really neutral, but panders to Israel) is a state of enlightenment. And this, to me, is unconscionable.

I’ll end with the Romanian-born writer, scholar, Nobel laureate, Holocaust survivor, and activist Elie Wiesel’s thoughts on the dangers of neutrality:

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.”

― Elie Wiesel, The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, The Accident

Photo from an Instagram post of Juliet DIaz

“I’m deeply connected to the Jewish community, and I want the people I love and care about to know that I see their fear and hurt and that I support them. As a fierce supporter of human dignity, I want the Palestinian people who are also in pain and fear, and who continue to struggle for basic freedoms and self-determination, to know that I support them.” With this statement, Brene initiates a pattern of both-sidesism that at the same time centers Jewish trauma, and that she continues throughout the post.

She puts as #1 her wish to support the people she loves in her Jewish community in their pain and fear. She follows that by saying that she wants the “Palestinian people” (she seems not to know any personally) to know that she sees their “fear and hurt’ and supports them. Her statements about her Jewish friends are replete with love and care, while every statement about Palestinians is rendered in an impersonal way.

Let’s say it straight out: One reason all eyes are on Palestine in this moment is because they are suffering far more than Israelis in this moment. Palestinians aren’t suffering “fear and hurt.” They are facing imminent death, starvation, maiming, the death of their families (often entire family lineages), the killing of their children and with them their future, assaults on their cultural heritage, a destruction of their sacred olive trees, and the complete annihilation of their land and its ecosystem. In the absence of flour, they are making bread from animal feed. They are facing imminent starvation, mass bombardment, exile, and genocide. There’s so much more I could say. But the bottom line is that there’s no equivalency here between Israel’s situation and Palestine’s.

Brene has long championed her social justice lens and her fight against racial apartheid in the U.S. How, then, can she now endeavor to uphold such an apartheid system in Israel? She has only to look at the same Black, Brown, and Indigenous leaders to whom she owes so much to see how they’re landing on the human rights of Palestinians. And they are unquestionably in favor of Palestinian rights and humanity. Epic fail on Brene’s part.

The tie between Black liberation and Palestinian solidarity is long and unbroken. Nelson Mandela famously wore a keffiyeh.

And in a commencement speech in 1990 at Oberlin College, Audre Lorde said,

“Our federal taxes contribute $3 billion yearly in military and economic aid to Israel. Over $200 million of that money is spent fighting the uprising of Palestinian people who are trying to end the military occupation of their homeland. Israeli soldiers fire tear gas canisters made in America into Palestinian homes and hospitals, killing babies, the sick, and the elderly. Thousands of Palestinians, some as young as 12, are being detained without trial in barbed-wired detention camps, and even many Jews of conscience opposing these acts have also been arrested and detained.”

Audre Lorde. Photo: Jack Mitchell, Getty Images

Here, Bene betrays the faith, good will, generosity, scholarship, and labor of the Black women and men who have supported her. Just as insidiously, she is upholding a long history of white women fighting for their own rights and safety first at the expense of rather than in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color.  

And this good faith, generosity, and scholarship, dear readers, is exactly why each and every one of us should speak out against this ethnic cleansing and genocide.

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Let’s continue.

“At the foundation of my beliefs is this simple truth: I see God easily and fully in the faces of Israelis and Palestinians, in Jewish faces and in Muslim faces.” Brene contrasts Jews and Muslims here, which betrays her lack of adequate reading about the situation. This is decidedly not a conflict between Jews and Muslims.

For one thing, Israel does not represent all Jews, including myself. For another, many Jews (and for that matter, Israelis) believe that this is an ethnic cleansing, and want it to stop. For a third, most Muslims have no enmity toward Jews; they simply believe that the nation state of Israel is an apartheid state that has been oppressing them for decades. (True.)

This is a conflict not between religions (Jews and Muslims), but between nation states (Israel and Palestine, along with the U.S., the U.K,. and other countries with a vested interest in arming Israel.)

“Terrorism—which by definition targets civilians and is perpetrated to instill terror and trauma in groups of people—is never acceptable, not even when perpetrated by members of groups who have been marginalized.” I can’t over-emphasize how offensive this statement is, and in so many ways. I’ll pick just a couple.

First of all, Palestinians aren’t “marginalized.” Palestine and its citizens are occupied by a hostile state. (This is a vast difference in scope of oppression.) They have lost their land, their dwellings, their trees, whole family lineages, their lives, their sacred sites, their hospitals, their means of sustenance, their healthcare.

Here, Brene overlooks the well-documented history of terrorism Israel has committed and is still committing toward Palestinians: The Nakbas (yes, plural.) The blockades of water, food, medicine long before October 7^th. The establishment of 750,000 violent settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. Their prevention of Palestinians from moving about at will. The snipers. The bombings. The arrest of children and civilians without charges. (See the article that defines apartheid, linked above.)

“I believe Hamas is a terrorist organization, and their actions consistently and predictably pose extreme threats to peace in the region. They continue to put the Palestinian people in danger by using civilians as shields.”

At this point everyone, myself included (will there ever be a time when we can move on from this declaration?) has condemned the actions of Hamas. To do so 4 1/2 months into this conflict is hardly an act of courage.

Some might want to debate whether or not Hamas is a terrorist organization. This is an Israeli and Western definition; many Palestinians and their allies would call it a resistance group.

Nonetheless, it is well-established that an occupied group has the right to resistance, even if that resistance takes violent forms.

On the Lex Fridman podcast episode, Imam Omar Suleiman asked, “Is it only terrorism if it’s a non-state actor? If terrorism is to be assigned only to non-state actors, then it’s a word without function.” I encourage us all to meditate on this inquiry. (Disclaimer: I’m not recommending this podcast here—it is not a fave—but this particular episode, and anything with Imam Omar Suleiman.)

But to employ the “Hamas is using civilians as human shields” defense has become a trope. Israel has not satisfactorily proven this, despite assurances (now unverified by mainstream media) that Hamas has hidden in, for example, hospitals. In contrast, there is considerable documentation, widely reported in Israeli media sources, that show the IDF using Palestinian civilians as human shields.

And finally—I’ve said this in many previous articles—Netanyahu and his cabinets have, since the 1980s, allowed billions of dollars in funding to go to Hamas in order—and it’s this part that is particularly insidious—to undermine the Palestinian authority and with it, Palestinian solidarity. Netanyahu himself has said publicly that he has done so. Here’s just one article from the New York Times that covers the topic.

“I believe the sadistic violence perpetrated on October 7 against innocent Israelis and the taking of hostages is unjustifiable and indefensible, and all hostages should be returned.” It is correct to call the violence perpetrated by Hamas sadistic, although we’ve already established their legal right to violent resistance.

Here, though, Brene positions Israel’s current military campaign and ethnic cleansing from an ahistorical perspective. Those of us who have done any reading at all understand that this “conflict” did not begin on October 7—that in fact, the atrocities Hamas committed on October 7 have their inception in decades of occupation and atrocities toward Palestinians.

Brene also overlooks the fact that Israel’s cabinet has voiced genocidal intent toward Palestinians. (That’s sadistic.)

Furthermore, the IDF has filmed themselves forcing Palestinian men and boys to strip down to their underwear, naked, and sit blindfolded in the cold, and much more. (That’s not only sadistic; it’s a war crime.)

Israeli citizens have blocked aid trucks from entering Rafah when people are starving and dying of cold and disease. (That’s beyond sadistic; it’s genocidal.)

This brings us back to Imam Suleiman’s inquiry: If we define Hamas actions as indicative of a “terrorist organization/state,” wouldn’t we do the same with Israel?

Brene discusses the need to return the hostages; this is something all of us can agree on. (Again, doesn’t that go without saying?) But she omits the facts that the primary way to get Israeli hostages back is through negotiation, that Netanyahu has angered his citizens by refusing to negotiate, and that the IDF has killed its own hostages, even when they emerge from a building shirtless, waving white flags, and speaking Hebrew—not to mention those killed during the last 4 months of bombing.

In addition, Brene omits the tens of thousands of Palestinian children, women, and civilians that Israel has detained for decades, many without charges and without a trial. She neglects to mention the abuse they suffer while in detention, which is widely documented. This is a denial of Palestinian humanity, and it’s clear to even the least-informed among us.

“I believe in the evidence that demonstrates that all human atrocities across history start with dehumanization. I believe that antisemitism in all forms is dehumanizing, and I stand passionately against it. I believe that Islamophobia and anti-Arab language in all forms is dehumanizing, and I stand passionately against it.” This would have been fine, except for the fact Brene dehumanizes and diminishes Palestinians in both subtle and obvious ways throughout the piece. (See the above points.) And she does so shortly after this very line.

“It seems to me that there are several governments in the Middle East that are significantly influencing the geopolitics of that region and benefitting from the brutal violence in Gaza, especially Iran (again, not to be confused with the incredible people of Iran).” This statement stopped me in my tracks. Saying that “several governments in the Middle East” are benefitting from the violence implicates the Arab states such as Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and “especially Iran.” Yet Brene completely overlooks the astounding benefits that the U.S., the U.K., Europe, and Canada receive—in “security,” natural resources, the information trade, campaign donations (particularly from AIPAC) for supporting Israel. Who has influenced the geopolitics of the region more than the United States (and the British—you’ll likely have heard of the British Mandate that ended in 1948) ? As President Biden has said many times, “If there weren’t an Israel, we’d have to invent one.”

“If language is a tool of dehumanization and violence, when do we intervene? I don’t believe Jewish students should feel afraid to go to class or walk through campus. I don’t believe Muslim students should be subjected to demeaning remarks and other forms of violence.” This statement is disingenuous. It compares Jews throughout the diaspora to Palestinians throughout the diaspora. But here, Brene weighs the burden of Jews “feeling unsafe” walking across campus (a feeling, not a reality) to Muslim students being subjected to actual demeaning remarks and other forms of violence. There’s no comparison. It would have been more accurate for her to compare the rise of antisemitism to the rise of Islamophobia.

Furthermore, Brene doesn’t acknowledge the way that Israel uses the themes of “feeling unsafe” and the “right to defend” as justifications for violence against Palestinians. If Jews throughout the diaspora tacitly condone this genocide so they can feek safe, that’s a racial dog whistle, and Brene’s considerable study of racial apartheid in the U.S. should have signaled that to her. “Feeling unsafe” has long been used by white people in the U.S. to justify violence toward Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The people who are actually are unsafe—who are subjected to genocide—in this situation are the Palestinian people.

This column is already long. (No surprise there, LOL.) And I’d like to apologize for the way it sacrifices many important points for the sake of (relative) brevity. ‘

At the same time, I hope it helps convey the dangers of “neutrality,” and the connection between the fight for liberation in the country you live in and the fight for Palestinian liberation.

Let me say that it takes just a couple of hours of study to see white supremacy at the heart of this terrible, near century-long series of atrocities. Brene’s piece omits Israel's systemic oppression of Palestinians, perpetuates a colonial approach to this tragedy, and encourages her massive following to do the same.

Brene’s call for a ceasefire nearly 120 days into this ethnic cleansing is a kind of “activism lite,” and hardly courageous.

What we now want to be doing is calling for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and an end to apartheid.

As mindfulness tradition says, if we want to end suffering, we must examine (and stop) the causes and conditions that created it.

I hope this gives you the courage to speak out against this ongoing apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

In Conclusion

I’m not at all into call-out culture. But I am into call-in culture. Along with many others, I call Brene in to alignment with her stated anti-racism values, to an equal and unbiased wielding of empathy, to the vulnerability of acknowledging her colossal mistake, and to a course of reparation and repair.

There’s one bright spot in Brene’s otherwise blemished piece: the comments section. There are nearly 1,000 comments so far on her blog; most point out the errors in Brene’s piece in firm but loving ways. They reason with the few Zionist commentors. They come back time and time again to encourage Brene to do the work. They communicate their faith in her doing so.

In January, 400,000 people Marched for Palestine in Washington, D.C. Mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, the Guardian, and CNN did not cover this peaceful protest, of course.

That, along with the comments on Brene’s piece, tells me that those of us advocating for Palestinian liberation are so much stronger than we think.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the driving force behind people who uphold Israeli propaganda is not just the fear of losing friends and followers, but losing income. It’s clear that Brene knows which side the money flows to. Here, again, is a gross manifestation of socioeconomic privilege: If yoga and mindfulness teachers and solopreneurs whose income has already taken a huge hit from Covid’s decimation of these worlds can risk the loss of income and other forms of support, I have a tough time empathizing with someone of Brene’s social and financial status failing to do the same.

Here’s my favorite take on Brene’s position piece, from Micheline Maalouf on Instagram. And a note that breaks my heart: At one point, Micheline says, “…and if you don’t trust Arab sources,” and gives Israeli sources for what she’s citing. I’ve done this—cited Israeli sources or mainstream Zionist-adjacent media like the NYT or The Guardian—numerous times myself in anticipation the skepticism of Zionist and Zionist-adjacent responses to these atrocities.

May we reach a place where we are equally anti-racist to all forms of racism and oppression. May we reach a place where we want anti-Arab and Islamophobic thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes to cease in equal measure to our deside to combat antisemitism.

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A post shared by @micheline.maalouf

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Thank you for being a beloved part of this community. Bodies of Knowledge is a reader-supported publication. Given my specialty in long-form journalism, each column takes about two days to research and write. This resource will always be offered for free.

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If you’ve missed my other pieces on the conflict, check out the following:

My piece on memoricide, Israel’s Assault on Collective Memory

My stance on the Israel-Palestine Conflict

A “Talking Points” guide to the Israel-Palestine Conflict

An article about the children of Gaza

A stunning interview on the Israel-Palestine conflict with Gabor Mate and his daughter

A piece on Israel’s indiscriminate destruction of Palestine’s olive trees

A column on the making of refugees

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