One of the first things I learned when I started taking linguistics courses was that linguists are uniquely qualified to document and preserve the languages of marginalized and threatened communities, who are often under immense pressure to assimilate to the majority culture.

In the last two decades the Middle East has witnessed unprecedented levels of displacement and ethnic cleansing, and every time this has happened previously linguistic traditions and culture have been irrevocably lost.

There is tremendous linguistic diversity all over the Middle East, so I said to myself that part of my goal in pursuing a career in this field is to help document and preserve local varieties of Arabic and Aramaic.

I know it's not much, but it felt like using these skills that I have could possibly counteract the erasure and destruction that comes with displacement.

But watching what's happening in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem, I ask myself what's the point of anything I'm doing?

The unadulterated violence of ethnic cleansing is so much bigger than anything we can imagine, and you're helpless to stop it.

I just watched a video of settlers dismissing and disrespecting an elderly Palestinian woman who was telling them that they stole her home. What's the point of anything I'm doing? These families don't want their language to be preserved. They want their goddamn homes.