👁

first comment: “l really hear the hurt and frustration in these comments. When there's so much violence and injustice, silence can feel unbearable. I know how much it stings when artists you love don't speak in the ways you hope for. Fiona doesn't have social media, and for a variety of reasons she's stepped out of the public eye these last couple of years. I know that can look like indifference, but I promise it isn't. She and I talk about Palestine often, and she is devastated by the genocide and the theft of land and life. She also sees the same patterns here in the U.S. - the ongoing attempts at dispossession and cultural erasure of Native and Indigenous Nations, the corruption and cruelty coming out of D.C., the way power keeps trying to erase and exploit. None of this is abstract for her; it weighs heavy on her heart. I can't speak for Fiona, but I can say she cares deeply, and she's heartbroken. And I know sometimes it feels like caring isn't enough, like none of us are doing enough against all this harm. I feel that too. But even in the quiet, please don't mistake her for being absent from this struggle - she feels it as deeply as so many of us do. I'm sure she will speak in her own voice, with her own opinion, when she surfaces again someday. For now, I only wanted to say that I know she cares — and I'm sorry you feel hurt and frustrated.”

second comment: “Let me speak for myself here — I stand with the Palestinian people. I have stood with them since a Palestinian friend opened my eyes more than forty years ago to atrocities I had never been taught about. To think that Israel is attempting to bomb a country out of existence — with U.S. support — is almost impossible to comprehend. And yet, here we are. What do we do next? What do I do next? How do we make a difference when everything we care about feels under attack, not only abroad but here at home? This country has never admitted the ongoing destruction it has caused — and continues to cause to Native and Indigenous Nations, has never reckoned with the exploitation of Black people through slavery, and still upholds the systemic denial of access and justice. And now, we see the criminalization of poverty and the use of forced labor through the prison system. On top of that, the U.S. has destabilized governments across the globe, creating a world where countless refugees are forced to flee from destruction we helped set in motion. Sometimes I don't even know what to say, because it feels more important to act than to just offer up words. I would love to hear what people are doing to make a difference. I've chosen to work very locally - to address what I can, to help who I can, with the resources I have. But let me be clear: I stand with the Palestinian people. I condemn the actions taken by Israel. And I urge every politician with the power to stop our government from aiding this atrocity to do so. Wholeheartedly, urgently, and without hesitation.”