The general public is often told to rely on their governments, or authorities, to speak out for them on their most pressing matters. So, what happens when it seems like the powers that be appear to actively ignore or suppress the people they are supposed to represent?
There’s no better example that encapsulates such apparent apathy and or even hostility, than the reactions to Gaza, and Palestine as a whole.
What exactly is happening, you may ask? We should first know what’s at stake. Palestine is a nation geographically in West Asia, home to over five million people. It has history dating back to before the birth of Christ, its name derived from ancient Greek term dated to the late second millennium BCE used to refer to the general area. It has been ruled over by the Romans, a multitude of Muslim dynasties and the Ottoman Empire, to being under British control through the British Mandate for Palestine in 1920.
Today, Palestine is officially a Muslim-majority nation, though its sovereignty remains in question by a minority of UN member states (156, or 80.8% of UN member states do recognise the territory as the State of Palestine to date). The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is typically acknowledged as the representative of the Palestinian people.
On October 7th 2023, the world came to know of a Hamas-led attack – a militant group operating within Palestine – against Israel, its neighbour. It is reported that approximately 1,200 Israeli civilians were killed and over 200 were kidnapped.
What is Israel? Israel is a Jewish-majority nation, one that declared independence from the British Mandate for Palestine in 1948. While Israel could be considered to share common threads with Palestine in its prehistoric history due to being in the same region, there remains debate about the earliest existence of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, and the extent of their influence. For much of its modern history, there has been ongoing conflict between Israel and the Arab nations.
Following October 7th, Israel has since launched an extensive military campaign in Palestine, the bombing meant to eradicate any and all militants in the immediate vicinity, and for the hostages to be released. The campaign has extended to blockades in Palestine, and strikes on the other neighbouring nations, including Lebanon and Iran. With regards to Palestine, the United Nations, Amnesty International, experts and human rights organisations have concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Knowing this, you might think it all started on October 7th. However, that is a deceptive narrative. As mentioned, much of Israel’s modern history has involved conflict with the Arab nations. At inception, Israel was built on war – 1948 saw the Nakba (Arabic for ‘catastrophe’), where around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs were often forcefully displaced from their homes by Israeli settlers, who see it as a defining moment of reclaiming their sovereignty. Palestinians continue to be denied the right to return to their homes to this day.
Perhaps the argument is that the 1948 Nakba is an old story and doesn’t justify October 7th, that we should focus on the current issues. Then, what if you knew that this entire exercise has been Israel merely looking for any excuse to embark on their campaign of carnage? We have accounts from Israeli soldiers telling the world how they received commands explicitly ordering them not to protect the border they share with Palestine, a border so dangerous that even soldiers were meant to stand down until the situation that day was assessed.
“If there’s a sniper threat, how can it be that I, who am only 200 meters from the fence, don’t know about the threat? How can it be that my friends are fighting without a vest, in their underwear and socks, and nobody knows that something is happening [sic] we’re only 200-300 meters from the fence.”
A soldier’s account, identifying himself as part of the Golani Brigade Mortar Platoon, 13th Battalion
One must also consider: if they want the hostages returned, how is bombing supposed militants meant to get them home safe?
And yet, on the global stage, any condemnation against Israel is either rare, or non-existent. Israel almost seems like some rogue entity, having endless supplies of weapons to throw around and strike whatever they see fit. There are crucial questions we must ask: who is supplying Israel, and why? Does it come down to money and the power it holds, that nothing else matters?
“She died of forced starvation by the Israeli blockade. Four days before she died, some American doctors I know came into Gaza. We’d contacted them, saying, We need some formula feed to save these lives. […] At the Gaza border, the Israeli border guards removed every single bottle of formula feed. Nothing else, just the formula feed.”
Professor Nick Maynard, speaking in Cork about the genocidal situation for patients in Gaza
In the 21st century alone, Israel has responded to Palestinian resistance with extreme violence no less than five times leading up to October 7th 2023, and these are only the ones that have been reported on. How many more incursions have occurred, and successfully covered up? What could be so important about Israel that it is worth pretending the protests against the genocide aren’t happening?
Because there are protests. There are people who see the genocide, who have gone to Palestine, to Gaza, to offer what they can and to speak out against those who continue to turn a blind eye. The global news may not give these people the spotlight, but you can find grassroots coverage who continuously try getting these voices out. The most you might hear from mainstream media are about the arrests made against these people – oftentimes the common folk or even Holocaust survivors, and their next of kin – because they are being “disruptive”.
In addition to protests and rallies, people have been consistently taking affirmative action to truly halt the war machine where they can. Dockworkers in Genoa, alongside teachers and public transit workers, led a general strike across Italy in solidarity with Palestine and the Global Sumud Flotilla, the latter being a fleet of mostly small vessels aiming to deliver much needed aid to Palestinians.
“From Genoa, 14-15,000 containers transit to Israel every year. With our blockade, we said that if they touch the flotilla, and something serious happens to our colleagues who are in the middle of the sea, obviously we block everything and do not allow anything to transit to Israel.”
Dockworker in Genoa, speaking to More Perfect Union
The people want answers from the apparent elites who would rather the world remain ignorant, and do anything in their power to keep the status quo. It is not merely a “Muslim against non-Muslim” crisis – it is a humanitarian one. If it is up to the global elites to decide who is worth saving, and who can be erased, then who is safe? Is the rest of the world doomed to dance to the tune of only a select few? As of February 2025, there are at least over 64,000 deaths that must be accounted for, a number no doubt higher at time of writing.
All this for what can only be taken as a blatant, violent land-grab by non-natives, because what native people willingly destroy their homeland with no regard for life? Seeing as there’s also untapped oil and gas reserves – worth an estimated US$524 billion – it is clear that this genocide facilitates naked greed. Again we must know: if not the Palestinians, who have a rightful claim to the resources on their land, who are those so desperate to ethnically cleanse a nation of sovereign people to fatten their wallets?
The people must ask questions and demand answers. The elephant, the mammoth that is the Gaza, Palestine genocide, needs to be addressed. Humanity must triumph, and the people will continue to rise to demand it.
Main image credit: Enas Tantesh via The Guardian
