“You Are Also That”: A Hindu Reflection on Faith, Solidarity, and the Fight for Palestine
At the 2nd Annual Interfaith Action for Palestine, convened to counter the CUFI (Christians United for Israel) conference, Hindus for Human Rights Organizing and Advocacy Director Pranay Somayajula offered a deeply personal meditation on what it means to act as a Hindu in solidarity with Palestine.
Speaking from a place of moral clarity and spiritual conviction, Pranay reminded those gathered that the genocide unfolding in Gaza did not begin in October 2023. It is rooted in over 75 years of occupation, displacement, and violence. “This is not just a desecration of human life,” he said, “it is a desecration of the divine.”
Drawing from a story in the Chandogya Upanishad, Pranay recounted a teaching from a father to his son about the unseen essence that animates all life—a presence invisible to the eye but powerful enough to grow into a great banyan tree. “You are also that,” the father tells the son. “Tat tvam asi.” This central idea—that the divine exists in all of us—became the basis of Pranay’s urgent call to recognize Palestinian lives not only as human, but as sacred.
“We take inspiration from our anti-Zionist Jewish siblings,” he noted, “who have shown us the spiritual courage it takes to stand against religious nationalism, even when our own communities tell us our safety depends on it.”
This second annual action brought together people of many faiths—Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus—united by a common purpose: to confront religious institutions that stay silent in the face of genocide, and to proclaim, by word and action, that solidarity is sacred.
As Pranay concluded:
“You could spend your whole life studying scripture—but if you're not willing to stand up for the dignity and divinity of every human being, you're not practicing faith. You're just performing it.”
Learn more about the action and how you can support:
🔗 https://www.interfaithforpalestine.com/
🕉 To stand with us as progressive Hindus committed to justice, visit:
🔗 https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org