“History is watching, and the next generations will not forgive us for inaction.”
By Abeer AbuGhaith
We invite diverse voices to contribute to our blog. The opinions in this blog reflect the personal views of the author and not One Young World.
Q: How does the current situation feel to you, and what, if anything, is helping you to deal with it?
A: There are no words to describe dealing with genocide and war crimes. There is darkness everywhere.
We are seeing our families, team members, and friends dying in groups, over and over, due to constant Israeli air strikes. This targeted bombing directly impacts over two million civilians, living in the most densely populated part of the world. half of these are children seeking refuge in schools, hospitals, churches, and mosques, none of which are safe.
They now have to drink seawater and have no access to basic needs. They are under siege.
There is no time to mourn, no time to grieve, no time to think. Every night for the last three weeks, I have gone to bed listening to the roaring jet planes and explosions.
Every morning, I have been texting my team members and friends to see if they are alive. I lost my beautiful friend Nadia and her children. One day a friend tells me he has lost his entire family, all 22 members. Another has lost her beloved husband after just one year of marriage.
I have images in my mind of a woman crying while she tells everyone that her starving children were killed.
Every day I watch pictures of terrified children, shaking and crying. A man holding two bags, not carrying food, but the bodies of his children.
How can anyone deal with this? The only thing that I have is my voice and how I choose to use it.
Q: What examples have you seen of effective peace promotion?
A: The solution is when Palestinian people can get the same rights and freedoms as Israelis. That means to:
- travel within our own cities and villages without crossing military checkpoints
- travel freely outside the country
- have control over our daily life
- be seen equally in the eyes of the law
- have our lives valued, and our names known, in the eyes of the world
True and lasting peace cannot exist in the absence of justice. This justice is achieved through:
- bringing an end to the illegal occupation and system of oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,
- lifting the siege of Gaza,
- granting basic human rights to everyone in Palestine.
Peace and justice are connected. Only when we do all of this can we have lasting peace together, where everyone is treated equally.
Q: What would you like to see world leaders doing to promote peace more effectively?
A: World leaders must call for a ceasefire now.
They must stop willfully ignoring the oppression of Palestinians by Israeli occupation. They must stop providing arms and weapons to support war crimes and genocide. They must speak truth and justice, not sacrificing human rights for political interest.
As a Palestinian, this is what I want to see and what I will work tirelessly to achieve, and I would appeal to Israeli people to do the same.
Q: What can the One Young World Community do to build peace/help your efforts?
A: In these difficult times, every voice matters.
No two voices are the same. Each voice has something different to say.
Your voice is a powerful symbol that represents freedom, justice, and human dignity.
Your voice is a source of hope in these challenging times for those who are currently suffering.
It also encourages other voices to unite and support innocent people, women and children who are suffering from the continuous Israeli attacks.
Use your voice and your platform to call for a ceasefire now, and support ending genocide and war crimes against innocent people and children in Gaza.
Challenge your governments, organisations, media and public opinion to take immediate action.
History is watching, and the next generations will not forgive us for inaction.
Abeer is a One Young World Ambassador, peacebuilder, and social entrepreneur.