In light of the ceasefire deal, I expect to see comments to the effect that a lack of defeat is a win; or worse, that the genocide was worth it because of some abstract moral victory for Palestine.

Those of us raised in Christian environments too easily see virtue in suffering. We want to believe that suffering is productive, that even if we suffer materially, we are raised spiritually or in our moral constitution. Of course, this could be true in certain cases, but most of the time, suffering is traumatic and bad with no upside. It’s okay to say that. You don’t have to find a silver lining.

If you aren’t Palestinian or know people directly affected by the genocide, you shouldn’t opine about whether it was morally or emotionally worth it. Only Palestinians, the ones directly suffering and therefore capable of evaluating the real cost, get to determine that.