We Have to Talk about Gaza
Please don’t look away
Photo from Children Not Numbers
I don’t know what to say. I’m horrified at the unfolding story of war, attrition, starvation - the murder of innocents (children are ALWAYS innocent). It’s appalling that this is allowed to continue, that it is funded even, by western Governments. I’ve written to politicians, I’ve signed petitions, I’ve donated to campaigns. I don’t know what else to do. I’ve tried writing, but it’s not enough. It sounds trite when you have a roof over your head and food in your belly. I don’t understand why so few people are outraged. Are we so inured to suffering because we see it so often? Is it no longer a major headline? Children are starving while aid sits waiting to enter Gaza. How is this allowed to happen?
I know a little of the history of the region, the politics - I used to regularly support an organisation that worked for dialogue and peace in the region, when I had the funds to do so. No one should be banging on about who did what when children’s lives are at stake. No one should be in a position where they can’t feed their children because aid is being withheld, whatever the rights and wrongs. Humanitarian aid must be provided - anything else is unconscionable.
Why am writing this now? Because there are so many appeals and campaigns for children who need urgent medical attention, for families who want to leave, for people who are starving. I see the appeals. I get sent requests. I have no idea if they are all genuine and if I had any money I would give to all of them, regardless. Better to be deceived than let a genuine call for help be ignored. I’m sure some of the funds have been successful and some people have been able to afford food, treatment, or a way out, but it isn’t enough. It can never be enough when a whole generation is on the verge of being wiped out. Let’s call it what it is - genocide- the attempted annihilation of the Palestinian people. If this were happening anywhere else, would we not be doing all we could to halt it? Sending in forces, providing assistance? I don’t understand why Palestinian lives don’t have the same value as Jewish lives - or any other lives for that matter- why we kowtow to a bully state.
Oh, the irony - a state born out of the carnage of an attempted genocide - that spawned the Genocide Convention, adopted by the UN in 1948 - is now itself committing that same act. But the antecedents to this situation have been evident for years and we all know that the roots of this situation run deep; much deeper than October 7th. I’m no apologist for Hamas and Hezbollah and decry any and all violence, but the horror we are witnessing is part of an ongoing oppression of the region, dominated by 100 years of imperialism - dividing up countries between the UK, France and latterly the USA - aided and abetted by undemocratic leaders, prepared to shaft their own people. Politics. It can’t be avoided and there will be no peace in the region without a just resolution for the Palestinian people - a state where all are equal, regardless of religion or race or creed.
Politics. Israel supports US and UK interests in the middle east. The UK and the US support Israel. I simplify, yet this is the equation that has failed to deliver an arms embargo, that has failed to allow aid into Gaza and that has seen thousands of babies, children and young people die. Save the Children figures for October 2024 suggest 3100 children under the age of 5 had died. No one seems to have up to date figures, but the civilian deaths and casualties have been notching up.
I’m sure you know all this. I’m sure you see the news. Maybe you are sick of it, maybe you’re sad, or angry or maybe you don’t care (though I can’t imagine that). I have no magic wand for miracle solutions, but a post by ‘Contented Earth’ on Instagram helped to crystallise some of the things we might consider. Action is key. She suggests 7 actions we can take to better inform ourselves and others: sharing content, emailing and tagging MP’s, signing petitions, donating money, protesting, boycotting, following key accounts for information and learning about the situation. It might not be a magic wand, but it’s something positive. If enough people who cared, acted, maybe enough pressure could be bought to bear. Maybe lives could be saved.
Every sane person wants peace. In situations of conflict, it’s not always clear how we attain it - so much is outwith our control - but staying silent, doing nothing, is surely no longer an option.
_________________________________________________________________
References
Contented Earth on instagram
It is genocide and saying so doesn’t make us apologists for Hamas (whose actions on the 7th of October were truely evil). It makes us decent human beings.
Thanks for this. I share your horror but feel impotent :-(