The Work of the Witness

In the face of death and destruction in Gaza, a reflection on what it means to witness. I learned that what often gets translated as martyr, the Arab شهيد (shaheed), actually means witnesser. «It is a word with many folds of meaning and history. It carries connotations not only of seeing, but of presence and proximity. To be a witness is to make contact, to be touched, and to bear the marks of this touch.»