When deaths count
Here is the headline we did not see these past two days: “Seven aid workers died in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”. Instead, headlines and politicians alike condemned Israel’s deadly military strike on the World Central Kitchen team. The difference is telling. We find that human beings with names and faces have been killed. We […]
The Prosthetic Breast of Humanitarian Action
SPARKED BY OUTSIDERS 1. Sometimes I am struck by artists and other creators who seemingly grasp humanitarian action better than I. This realization comes with a modicum of envy. They seem to breathe the human condition rather than analyze it. Humanitarian action is a silo, a sectoral silo that shapes and also stunts our perspectives […]
Resetting our standards
Here is Friday’s Gaza headline: “Israel’s defense chief says military ‘thoroughly planning’ offensive in crowded Gaza border town”. One might ask: What the hell does that mean? I don’t know which is more shocking, the idea that it has not been thoroughly planned (aside from those first few days), or that it has. And that […]
Not in Our Name
[I have been drafting and delaying the posting of a number of blogs related to Gaza. In the small points they make they simply don’t seem appropriate given the latest news. Now over nine weeks in, I’ve lost faith in the idea of waiting for the right time.] Last Thursday, world humanitarian #1 Martin Griffiths […]
The human need to act
Preface. My friend and colleague Sean Healy died last night and it hurts. Too soon, too unfair, and too painful to so many people. A great MSFer, humanitarian and person. You might think that people working in the humanitarian business would be familiar enough with life and death to be more prepared for when the […]
IHL in the Crosshairs
In the wake of my imbalanced reaction to the Ukraine war, I worry that too much of my attention, like this blogpost, is generated by news/social media’s distorted ranking of things in the world. The media also produces a new ordering of anxieties and questions. How can we better articulate the differences and samenesses between […]
Maintaining Standards
While the views expressed below may appear critical of localization, this blogsite is an ally: as local as possible; as international as necessary (see here or here).[1] One particular and necessary strength of the established global humanitarian order has been the production of guidance and standards that govern practice, boost coherence, and safeguard its legendary […]
The Proportionality of Our Attention
Depending on how you look at it, it was Day 4 or Year 8 of the war in Ukraine when I began drafting this blog. It is now Day 145. I recall those early days, the emotions stirred as I saw my younger self in the wire-rimmed glasses and quilted winter coat of a young […]
