In Our Thousands, In Our Millions

Yesterday, as I was scheduling today’s post — a lighthearted follow-up to my nutrition scams post — I noticed a quiet discomfort rolling around my body. What started as a murmur had grown overnight into a road that couldn’t be ignored, finally waking me up long before the sun rose.

Everything about ‘life as normal’ is wrong when we are witnessing genocide.

So today I am ‘striking’ in solidarity with Palestinians and their call to disrupt global economies - particularly those who are complicit in upholding and supporting the brutality taking place in Gaza. I have paused billing for paid subscribers and will not be posting my usual content this week (more on this below).

If you are unfamiliar with the call, I wouldn’t be surprised; it’s not being covered by the mainstream media (BBC, shame on you). It comes from a Palestinian journalist and filmmaker named Bisan Owda who has been reporting from inside Gaza. Daily she broadcasts updates to her 4 million followers, documenting the horrific conditions her people are being subjected to, begging the world to help, not knowing if she will be here tomorrow. Last week, she sent out a plea for us to disrupt economies, strike, protest, do absolutely anything we can, however small, in a week of global action from 21-28th January. It will not make a dent in Substack or Stripe’s (the payment processor) bottom line — in fact the person who will feel this the most is me — but that is not the point. The point is solidarity and resistance.

I have been quiet about Palestine in this space, not sure how to show up or connect the dots. But it has been weighing so heavily on me for the past 109 days. I have been, as much as I can in my private life, attending marches, rallies, and assemblies. I have wept with mothers in Gaza as they bury their children (they are all our children). Felt their pain so viscerally it could be my own. Felt hopeless. Felt anger. Felt white hot rage at the apathy of our leaders and people in power. If what is happening in Gaza isn’t splitting you open, you are not paying attention.

We cannot stand for body liberation, children’s liberation or women’s liberation while Palestine remains subjugated. We cannot claim to be working to end racism, anti-fatness, ablism, sanism, agism, or any other form of systemic injustice while not actively pressuring our government to call for a ceasefire and liberating Palestine. If you have ever worn a ‘Strong Girls’ Club’ or ‘This is What a Feminist Looks Like’ t-shirt, then this is on you. If you have ever ‘Marched for Mummies’ or been ‘pregnant then screwed’, then THIS IS ON YOU. Our activism does not, can not, end with flexible working and 30 free hours of childcare. If you are vegan or anti-capitalist, or care about environmental justice - THIS IS ON YOU.

It is on you to get out into the streets, to boycott, to divest, to email you MP in your droves (Meg Hiller, shame on you). It is on you to tell Kier Starmer and Rishi Sunak (waste-man, so much shame etc…) with your vote in the general election that you will not be bamboozled by a puffed up childcare bill. That you do not support selling arms that kill children and innocent civilians, that you do not support the apartheid state, that you demand a ceasefire. No ceasefire, no vote.

To my fellow Substack writers - I, individually, cannot make an iota of a difference here, but collectively we can. 1 I invite you to join me in striking (no new writing that isn’t about Palestine) and turning off paid subs for this week. Flood Subtack with Palestinian writers, thinker, activists. Post links to organisations locally, nationally, and internationally. Share details of protests, marches, actions, rallies. Tell people where to donate.

To the nutrition community - I want you to raise hell. Dehydration and starvation are being used as weapons of war. There cannot be any business as usual - no ‘here’s what I keep in my cupboards as a dietitian’ or ‘what this nutritionist buys my kids at Costco’. No. Stop. It’s time to apply pressure to your professional bodies. Sign this letter. Organise in your local networks and specialist groups. Read and share this work from

Readers - I encourage you to also pause your paid subscriptions for a week across all the newsletters you subscribe to (I will be doing this today to all of mine). And take a moment to contact the writers and tell them why you’re doing this and encourage them to strike (if possible - trust me - I get how precarious it is to be a writer on Substack!). Paid subscribers, I have paused your subscription as of this morning (23rd Jan) and will restart them next Tuesday 30th Jan. This means your next payment will be delayed by one week. Please reach out if this is an issue.

Since paid subscriptions are off, the comments section is open. I’m inviting you to, in good faith, share links to local, national, and international relief organisations, activist communities, marches and rallies. I will continue to add them to the following list as the day and week goes on. I will not tolerate anti-semitism, Islamophobia, or Zionism in any shape or form and will report and remove anyone who violates this condition of commenting. Further, I will not hesitate to shut down the comments if I need to, to protect my own wellbeing or that of my community. I know people sometimes don’t say anything for fear they inadvertently say something anti-semitic - I too want to keep Jewish people safe in this conversation - so I found this a useful primer on how to have this conversation without perpetuating harm. And, please remember, that fighting for the freedom of Palestinians and calling for their liberation does not in anyway mean condoning violence towards Jews or Israeli’s. We all want the safe return of hostages and are holding all Jews with care and tenderness after the atrocities they have witnessed.

I see the ways that calling for Palestinian freedom gets weaponised as ‘anti-semitism’ - a fundamentally Islamophobic, racist, and zionist perspective - you can read about this here.

I understand that many of you will unsubscribe - you don’t need to announce it - it’s OK. But I hope that you will give thought to how the liberation of Palestinians is tied to liberation for everyone.

For those of you who stick around and participate in this weeks’ Global Strike Week - thank you. It’s a small contribution, but a contribution nonetheless.