Continuing genocide

Almost 40,000 innocent Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s brutal siege and invasion of Gaza. In these nine months and counting, the Israeli armed forces have inflicted the worst collective punishment that humanity is capable of. Entire neighbourhoods and towns have been reduced to rubble, schools and hospitals targeted to deny the Palestinians a future, entire generations wiped out and the civilian population intentionally starved. Yet the world keeps watching, mostly in silence. While many Muslim countries have issued ‘sincere’ statements of regret as the violence continues, countries with a stronger sense of conscience, like South Africa and Nicaragua, are actively working in international forums to halt this genocidal brutality. However, Israel shows no regard for the law and is emboldened by unflinching support from the United States and some European countries. It seems that the Netanyahu-led government is not satisfied with Gaza’s destruction and wants to expand the conflict to Lebanon, witnessed by an increase in airstrikes in Lebanon. Such a move carries many risks for the region.

Many rounds of peace talks have taken place, but no ceasefire has been achieved. At this point, one can argue that Tel Aviv is not sincere in retrieving its captives and is using the current conflict for ethnic cleansing on a scale not seen since the Second World War. The war has laid bare the hypocrisy of the West and shown the world how shallow the imperialist narratives of freedom of speech and human rights are. The only humane thing to do is to end this devastating war against Palestinians and commit to peace talks. The region’s peace will remain elusive until the Palestinians achieve a separate state. Palestine must be free. The alternative is a region embroiled in never-ending bloodshed.