Navigating the Ethical Boundaries in Researching and Writing about Wartime Mutual Aid

Abstract

When the forcibly displaced and researchers are living amid explosions, constant ambulance sirens, the hum of Israeli drones, and sweeping evacuation orders, how can we build trust when collected data is feared to be used in wartime? How do we disseminate knowledge on mutual aid initiatives while protecting them as Zionists target communities of resistance? And how can we ethically center collective voices without endangering them or (re)producing concentrations of power and wealth in the mutual and humanitarian aid industry? I will share my experience of researching mutual aid and solidarity initiatives in Beirut among and for the displaced during the escalated war on Lebanon in 2024. As an engaged scholar committed to unpacking and dismantling the structures of power, and centering marginalized and oppressed voices, I will describe my own positionality and dissemination decision of writing in a completely anonymized way, even when some initiatives wanted to be recognized by name, and the editor of a journal was pushing to reveal names of known initiatives for better analysis. For political and security reasons, I have not named any formal or informal groups involved in mutual aid organizing under the shadow of well-established and NGOs, either to benefit from their experience and social network, or to protect the displaced people from any possible reprisal, especially in the context where Israel attacked communities and people affiliated with the resistance movement. Additionally, the most established NGOs tend to dominate media coverage, even when their own personnel rarely operate alone, but in coordination with volunteers, smaller NGOs, and informal grassroots groups. Highlighting only the most visible organizations reinforce existing power hierarchies and contribute to the concentration of resources, recognition, and funding in the hands of a few actors- contradicting the principles of solidarity and mutual aid that such efforts are meant to uphold.