Let’s be Human

Another scroll on my phone, another post on my feed. 

This time, it was a family of nine. The al-Bashiti family, in Gaza. 

I have no right to pick sides in this situation, no right to speak on this matter. I’m not affected, or am I? At least over 100 innocent people are killed on a daily basis, yet I’m one of the lucky ones who managed to live safely. It’s okay for me to not care. I manage to feed, clothe and shelter myself without worrying about whether or not I’ll have enough food for the next day. Without worrying about a bomb or a missile landing on my house, burying me under rubble I cannot escape.  

 I question: In 2014 how did Israeli forces mistake four ten-year olds as dangerous people and kill them. Ahmed Bakr by the age of ten, witnessed the death of his brother Zakariya and three of his cousins, Ahed, Mohammad and Ismail.  

Did those children seem like dangerous civilians? Children leaving their houses with their names written on their palms for their parents to identify their bodies after death. Is this the childhood children should live in?  

Dahoud al-Shobaki, A doctor who was forced to uncover a patient’s dead body, only to discover it was his own son, after saving him seven times through his entire life.  

 As a Palestinian out of the country, I often get asked this question a lot. “Why not just live in peace?” In 1917, the Balfour contract was made. Jews and Palestinians would live in peace, and both had their rights. And they did, Palestine welcomed Jews with open arms as a nation. Yet greed took over them and they began to colonize the country, resulting in a war. For over 70 years, Palestinians were peaceful and didn’t fight back Israelis, yet they were still getting killed and shot.  

 But when you poke a beehive you should expect the bees to sting! Is that not so? 

 After 75 years of terror, Palestinians finally fought back. After their women got raped, babies were murdered and men shot for being in the wrong place in the wrong time, they stood for their country.  

The media twists our stories and makes us seem like villains. Seven decades of being colonized and brutally murdered, yet the media claims that we are the killers when we fight back? Celebrities and reporters claim that Hamas beheaded babies, yet are unable to back up their words. Ben Shapiro posted an image of a burnt baby on the application X, yet later on it was proved that the image was AI generated. Another situation—- The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed that children were beheaded by Hamas, yet later on the Government said that it cannot be confirmed?  

 Let us say those weren’t intentional, for the sake of the ignorant. What about Wadea Al Fayoume? A six year old boy stabbed 26 times by his family’s landlord, simply because he was a Palestinian-American muslim. 

 “To take a six year old child’s life in the name of bigotry is nothing short of evil.” said Pritzker in a statement. Crimes are committed on a daily basis against Palestinians, but are hushed down by the news. Israel warned Palestinians to move southwards, yet bombed them there knowing full well that they had fled to the location for their lives, only to lose them. 

 It is sad to see so many people uneducated on the history of Palestine, unaware of their years of struggle and loss. Palestinians who aren’t involved in this conflict are being harassed. Women, such as a lady in canada being told that she “should be raped in front of her kids” for having a Palestinian flag on her car. Children, Wadea Al Fayoume who still hadn’t lived a quarter of his life. Men, like Ahmed Kahla who was killed in his car in front of his son for no reason. Inhumane atrocities against Palestine is  a daily occurrence. 

 Let us spread awareness of this cause. Let us educate ourselves in understanding what people are experiencing. Spread the word! Every little action counts, even if it seems insignificant. Not just for the sake of Palestine’s civilians, but for the children as well who can’t do anything but live  in fear, wondering when their last breath will be. You don’t have to be Muslim or Arab to feel empathy for them, just human.  Let us reveal our HUMANITY. The time is NOW. 

 Raghad Zakaria, class 10H.