People this is but the tip of the iceberg!
Friend,
For 365 days we have watched unspeakable horrors unfold in front of our eyes. It is hard to believe that one year later, the same atrocities continue unabated, not only in Gaza but across Palestine and the Middle East.
On this day last year, I was in the occupied West Bank, watching incredulously with millions of others as the Hamas attacks unfolded in real-time. As the barrier around Gaza came crashing down, and the aftermath and implications of that moment began to come into focus, the realization that Israel’s response would be unlike anything we had ever witnessed before, quickly started to set in. Six days later, well into its bombing campaign which at that time had killed around 1,500 people, I wrote that Israel was preparing to commit genocide. Nothing could have prepared me for the next 359 days.
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"If you could send a message to anyone in the world, who would it be and what would you say?" Mohamad Qassas in Gaza asked the children.
“If I could send a message to anyone in the world, it would be to my mother. I miss you and I wish I could see you one more time." Malik Yasser
This tragedy did not begin on October 7. Today marks one year since the start of the genocide in Gaza.
Today, we mark one year since the profound impact of this genocide that has affected countless lives. Families have been torn apart, infrastructure diminished, and communities devastated. 902 Palestinian families have been erased from the civil registry in Gaza.
Over the past year, Gazans have endured unimaginable hardships. Access to essential resources—food, clean water, and medical care—has been critically compromised. The psychological toll on the population, especially children, has been devastating, many grappling with trauma and loss.
Live on camera, we have witnessed horrific war crimes unfold through the eyes of journalists like Bissan Odeh, Motaz Azaiza, Hind Khoudary, Plestia Alaqad, Saleh Al Jafarawi, and as young as Lama Jamous (just 9 years old). The world has seen the atrocities committed by Israel; yet, these acts have gone largely un-condemned.
Israel has bombed schools where civilians sought shelter, targeted people simply trying to obtain food from UN trucks, and inflicted unimaginable suffering. Hind Rajab, a name that will forever be etched in history, was tragically shot 355 times by an IDF tank while hiding inside a car next to her murdered family members.
As we reflect on this painful tragedy in Palestine, we must not remain silent. It is crucial that we amplify the voices of those affected and advocate for justice. We call on the international community to hold those responsible accountable and to support humanitarian efforts that provide aid to those affected on the ground. Together, let us work towards a future where justice and dignity prevail for all oppressed peoples.
In 2018, 234 Palestinians in Gaza, including 46 children, were killed, and over 33,000 were injured by Israeli snipers and military whilst taking part in a peaceful protest entitled the "Great March of Return". It symbolized a collective expression of the longing for freedom and the right to return to ancestral homes.
Two-thirds of Gaza’s population are refugees as a result of the 1948 Nakba, along with their descendants, many of whom come from villages and towns surrounding Gaza. For decades, the Palestinians have used nonviolent means to draw attention to their plight. However, the Israeli military has consistently used violence to shut down any means Palestinians have employed to shed light on their suffering.
The Israeli military has perpetrated horrific acts against the Palestinian population in Gaza that constitutes genocide. Reports indicate the use of illegal weapons like white phosphorus which burns flesh to the bone and long-term effects from the slightest exposure causing cancer. Civilians have faced unimaginable horrors, including the kidnapping and beating of individuals, burning families alive, bulldozing over bodies to the point that human flesh was mixed in asphalt, and the gang raping of Palestinian men.
This systematic violence not only inflicts physical pain but also aims to obliterate the very essence of the Gaza strip, raising an urgent question: Israel has evaporated bodies, decapitated babies, burnt Palestinians beyond recognition, while Israeli soldiers document and happily post their war crimes on social media, as the world sits idly by- what more do we honestly need to witness that will be enough for the international community to call for an end the genocide?
Join Eyewitness Palestine on October 30th, 2024 at 12 PM EST for a special edition webinar featuring a video with messages and interviews directly from Gaza including Palestinian children, journalists and healthcare workers. They will discuss the death, destruction, and trauma they have witnessed just in the past year. We will also be joined live by Husam Zomlot the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Pain by Tim Veater.
Tonight my eyes are heavy
I don't know why,
Perhaps the stress of MoT,
Or down-pour from the sky?
Or was it that half-hot breakfast,
Those sausages or beans,
The pile of dried up mushrooms
That never light had seen?
Or was it headline in the Times,
That said a year had passed,
Since bombs began to rain
Upon a certain caste?
Apparently they do not deserve
Our pity for their pain.
With just a corrupted word
They just deserve distain.
And now a pain runs up my neck,
It's not the same as theirs.
But still I wonder if it warns
(Whilst coming down the stairs)
Something they call a stroke?
Though stroke of luck
It quite definitely is not.
No just another false alarm,
Like every twinge and ache.
Reminder of the passing years,
Of every past mistake.
Yet still my thoughts are eastern bound,
To when I flew above,
A peaceful Lebanon far below
And thought I was in love.
How I despise their wicked wars
And all their wicked ways,
See how they mangle love and truth
To set a land ablaze.
How I despise their insolence and pride,
Their inhumanity to man,
Amidst destruction all around,
Simply because they can.
For dust-caked child who cried,
Amidst the ruins there,
Lost and abandoned by the world,
Left nothing but despair.
Whilst in the West this sickening anniversary,
Is skillfully portayed to massage guilt away
From them and us, washing our dirty hands,
To turn on the TV to wash our minds
With their false reality and normalise insanity.
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