MARC

During an open discussion, Marc shared how what is happening in Palestine has deeply affected him. He spoke about the sadness of not having anyone to talk to about it. Living with anxiety has always made attending protests alone feel overwhelming, so he has often stayed away. I told him that the next protest I attend, he is more than welcome to join me, and that voices like his are sometimes the most important precisely because they’re not expected. We need more Marcs in the world.

Stereotypically, “Marcs” are often imagined on the other side of a counter-protest, but hearing how he truly felt gave me more hope than anyone else I’ve spoken to before. Football is a working-class game, and it offers an outlet for emotion among fans who are all carrying their own struggles. In Marc’s case, that struggle was a passion for a cause he felt unable to share with anyone else. When a shared passion like football—and Chelsea—gives you permission to shout in the stands, it can also create space for that same pent-up anger and hurt to be released in a protest, surrounded by people you feel comfortable with.

Marc said that every shout for Chelsea at the protest that day felt like a shout for Palestine. It’s a beautiful parallel.

Like me, although we are different in many ways, Marc has struggled with his mental health. With no one he felt comfortable opening up to, he still recognised that, even in his suffering, he is privileged compared to the young, unaware, and dying in places like Palestine. That sense of hopelessness can make an individual want to give up entirely. But the mutual understanding we found through conversation—sharing our emotions over a pint—was enough to restore hope. To know you are not alone, and that together our hopelessness can turn into something powerful enough to demand change.

For Marc, a shout for Chelsea is a shout for Palestine when he feels too anxious to attend a Palestine protest alone.

See yourself in those who may seem different from you. When we come together as people, we are capable of powerful things.