CEASE THE VIOLENCE: ENSURING DIGNITY FOR OUR CHILDREN!
By Jessica Ashe and Vincent Lyn
“It is not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer the most who will conquer.”- Terence MacSwiney.
The United States was founded on perhaps the first explicit statement of human rights; “All men are created equal… endowed with unalienable rights… life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
In 1776, this idea constituted a revolution. The United Nations (U.N.) eventually established a list of 30 human rights that includes clean water, nutritious food, safe personal space, along with the right to work. These basic human needs are recognized as unalienable because if they are systematically taken away from a population, then those people have nothing left to live for, and by default they turn against their government.
One need only bring to mind the French Revolution in 1789 to recall what happened to a government that did not acknowledge the primal motivational force of eating to its people.
Let’s imagine that, instead of people being divided into different religions or races, they are just one person with different limbs and organs. In the case of the French Revolution, if King Louis XVI were the brain, he was not permitting his own hands to put food into his own stomach, causing an internal catastrophe.
Fast forward to 2023, in France, Germany, Israel, the United States and other nations, on any given Monday morning, someone’s eyelids flutter open to silence or maybe their weekday alarm clock. Despite taking off the cozy covers and putting their feet on the sturdy floor, they are still warm in the winter because of a central climate control system.
They make their way and go to the bathroom, and it is sanitary. They turn on a faucet and clean, clear water flows for them to wash their hands and remove the crust from their eyes. Maybe they even sip this water without a thought. They wipe their face with a fresh-smelling towel. In the kitchen, they make coffee, pour in fresh cream and add a teaspoon of sugar or Stevia. Then, they have a choice of yogurt or eggs or maybe a croissant for breakfast.
This theoretical person looks in the closet through a variety of recent designs and colors in clothes and probably feels content with what they put on. They start thinking about what they will create today while they fill their water bottle and make their way to the car. They drive on paved roads and stop at red lights. At work, they chat with colleagues as they make a cup of tea, then make a contribution to the progress of the nation, in some small way, and they feel good about themselves.
Even if they do not love their job, they feel productive and provide for their loved ones in this way. Millions of people continue through their day and take all of these things for granted, which is ultimately the goal of civilization itself. Many enjoy their lives; the sadness of the loss of a loved one or frustration of a divorce — these are bumps in the road, but they move on because of a latent sense of hope that tomorrow can be better and confidence that it will.
In Gaza, however, the racking cough of his neighbor through the ramshackle tin sheet separating their spaces rouses a young man from his sleep at an ungodly hour. He then notices the neighbor to the left is snoring loudly. If it is July, he has not stopped sweating because, even though the temperature went down to 80 degrees during the night, the air is stifling and stagnant among the crowded dwellings. The bathroom smells so badly that he would never stay there long enough to clean his hands; he’s lucky if there is a faucet to turn on, from which fetid, brown water pours to “wash” his face.
Moving only ten feet, he is in the kitchen and finds an old cracker to eat. There is no power, so he cannot heat water for tea. He changes from his bed clothes into one of two pairs of pants he owns (they aren’t too dirty yet) and a t-shirt that a local NGO gave him. He has nowhere to go, no car to go there in, there are no paved roads or traffic lights. He has no way to contribute to the development of this place. He would not call it society; it is a refugee camp. He will not dream of going to college or a next vacation; there never has been a vacation. The concept of a vacation does not exist in his mind. He has no dreams of what tomorrow could bring but more of the same pathetic excuse for an existence. Day after day is the same.
While recognizing the importance of addressing fundamental needs, it’s disheartening to observe the persistent lack of human decency in Gaza since 1948. Some scholars, United Nations investigators, and human rights groups have characterized Israel, its landlord, as an "apartheid" state, a term also embraced by certain former Israeli politicians. Critics of Israeli policies point to what they describe as a comprehensive system of control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. This system includes the implementation of an identification system, the establishment of Israeli settlements, the creation of separate roads for Israeli and Palestinian citizens around many of these settlements, the existence of Israeli military checkpoints, marriage laws, the construction of the West Bank Barrier, the utilization of Palestinians as a source of cheaper labor, the presence of Palestinian West Bank enclaves, and disparities in infrastructure, legal rights, and access to land and resources between Palestinians and Israeli residents in the occupied territories. Some argue that these elements bear resemblance to certain aspects of the South African apartheid regime, asserting that Israel's occupation incorporates forms of colonialism and apartheid, actions deemed contrary to international law.
The Gaza Strip accommodates a populace of around 2.1 million individuals, encompassing approximately 1.7 million Palestine refugees.
Over the course of more than a decade, the economic and social conditions in Gaza have consistently worsened. The blockade imposed by Israel on land, air, and sea, initiated in 2007 after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, marked its 17th year in June 2023. This blockade has had a profound and devastating impact, severely restricting access to markets and impeding the movement of people to and from the Gaza Strip. According to the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, this blockade and associated restrictions violate international humanitarian law, targeting and imposing hardship on the civilian population. Essentially, it penalizes them for acts they have not committed.
Decades of conflict and a persistent blockade have resulted in 80% of the population relying on international assistance. Ongoing internal divisions among Palestinians further worsen the humanitarian and service delivery crisis on the ground. The economy has been severely affected, with a significant impact on job creation, leading to the impoverishment and underdevelopment of a highly skilled and educated society. As of 2022, the average unemployment rate soared to over 45%, ranking among the highest globally according to the World Bank. The number of Palestine refugees depending on food aid has surged from fewer than 80,000 in 2000 to nearly the entire population. In 2022, the World Food Programme reported that 1.8 million Palestinians faced food insecurity, yet they could only provide assistance to 51% of the non-refugee food-insecure population.
The crisis-level situation in Gaza is prominently manifested in the severe limitations on access to clean water and electricity, affecting nearly every aspect of daily life. Clean water is inaccessible to 95% of the population, and the availability of electricity is limited to a mere 4–5 hours per day. Persistent power shortages have particularly taken a toll on essential services, notably in health, water, and sanitation, thereby exacerbating the challenges faced by Gaza’s delicate economy, especially in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. The ongoing socio-economic deterioration stemming from the blockade has fueled a pervasive sense of hopelessness among the population in Gaza. It’s crucial to note that this crisis predates October 7th, reflecting a longstanding and persistent issue.
The staggering magnitude and appalling nature of the incapacitating injuries inflicted by Israeli forces on Palestinians in Gaza imply a deliberate strategy aimed at causing harm to civilians. A significant number of individuals shot by Israeli forces now grapple with life-altering injuries, carrying profound physical and psychological scars that will persist for years. These tragic consequences, coupled with the continued targeting of innocent Palestinians, underscore the pressing necessity for a global arms embargo to be enforced against Israel. The plight of the Palestinian diaspora stands out as one of the most egregious crimes in our contemporary history, persisting for over 75 years.
The Palestinian Information Center disclosed on July 23 that Israeli occupation forces apprehended a minimum of 570 Palestinian children in the initial six months of 2023, as stated by the director of the Palestinian Center for Prisoners Studies (PCPS), Riyad al-Ashqar.
Al-Ashqar asserted that this figure represented a 15% increase compared to the same period the previous year. In the entirety of 2022, Israeli forces detained no fewer than 865 Palestinian children. Shockingly, at least 29 of the children arrested by Israeli forces in the first half of this year were below the age of 12, and two of them were a mere 10 years old. Al-Ashqar further claimed that, during this period, Israeli courts placed 23 Palestinian children in illegal administrative detention — a practice frequently utilized by Israel to imprison Palestinians for extended periods without trial or charges.
The majority of the detained Palestinian children (435 out of 570) are from occupied East Jerusalem. Following their release from prison, numerous children have been subjected to months of house arrest.
According to Addameer, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, out of the approximately 5,000 Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons, around 160 are children. Numerous human rights groups allege consistent violations of Palestinian children’s rights during arrests, including accusations of torture within prisons. Tragically, thousands of Palestinian children have lost their lives during Israeli occupation forces’ aggressive actions within the occupied territories since 1967.
In a recent report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese stated that approximately 10,000 Palestinian children have endured institutionalized mistreatment during arrests, prosecutions, and sentencing, causing enduring traumas to both themselves and their families. Children as young as 10 are routinely taken from their homes at gunpoint in night-time raids by soldiers. Blindfolded, bound and shackled. Interrogated without a lawyer or relative being present and with no audio-visual recording. Put into solitary confinement. Forced to sign confessions (often in Hebrew — a language they do not understand intimidation and terrorizing of children is immoral and unconscionable. This year alone, Israeli forces have claimed the lives of at least 202 Palestinians — 165 in the occupied West Bank and 37 in Gaza. Alarmingly, at least 31 of the fatalities were below the age of 18. A reminder these figures are all before the events of October 7, 2023.
In that light, the events of October 7, 2023, are not so surprising; when the belly is empty and the hands are idle, the entirety of a person revolts in a horrific display of massacre. Do not misunderstand us, the atrocities committed on that day are not forgivable. Jimmy Carter called what has been going on there a “terrible human rights persecution.” He also said, “There are powerful political forces in America that prevent any objective analysis of the problem in the Holy Land.” Returning to the previous analogy, one of our arms hacked off the other with a machete, leaving this person that is us dreadfully wounded.
For the briefest of moments, bring to mind a teen who marches into a school with a machine gun, killing other children. That person’s actions are beyond the pale; they have moved outside the limits of humanity. One need not excuse them to wonder what turned this perfectly good specimen of a human into a monster.
We are not trying to forgive those who went to such horrific lengths as to slaughter innocent civilians. Within that context, at a deep level, what did we — humanity — expect would happen by denying generations of millions of people the most basic human rights? Our collective brain created a cancer that is metastasizing in various organs, killing us. This pendulum should not be swung too far. For example, in a sardonic denial of events, Oakland, California, city council members have stated, without evidence, that Israel attacked itself on October 7, 2023, in an attempt to “justify” the genocidal acts of Hamas. We need genuine leaders to guide us through the myriad political agendas to honor human rights and not defend horrific actions.
In a speech given on November 6, 2023, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres asserted that Gaza is turning into a tragic graveyard for children. While his remarks attracted immediate media attention, they fell short of fully capturing the harsh reality faced by Palestinian children.
In Gaza, Israeli forces (at the behest of Benjamin Netanyahu) are causing an unprecedented and devastating loss of life among Palestinian children. In the last 160 days, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that, since the commencement of its offensive on the Gaza Strip on October 7, Israel has caused the deaths of over 14,031 infants and children.
The total casualties in the intense Israeli air and artillery attacks on Gaza now stands at nearly 37,000 Palestinians, with 73,024 injured. With hundreds of children still trapped under the debris of demolished buildings and facing slim chances of survival, the overall count of child fatalities is expected to double.
Euro-Med Monitor’s data reveals that approximately 700,000 children have been adversely impacted by what they term as Israel’s Gaza genocide, encompassing those who lost their lives, suffered injuries, and became internally displaced. The human rights organization asserted that entities within the United Nations, including UNICEF, have opted not to divulge the precise count of casualties. This reluctance is attributed to their hesitance to confront their own inadequacies in fulfilling their mandated responsibilities, which ostensibly involve rescuing trapped or injured victims and effectively averting the deaths of numerous children in Gaza.
The continuous Israeli assaults have resulted in more than 18,000 Palestinian children sustaining injuries, with many in critical condition. A number of them have undergone amputations, while several hundred have endured severe burns across various parts of their bodies. Euro-Med Monitor additionally approximated that between 24,000 and 25,000 children in the Gaza Strip have been orphaned, losing one or both parents. Furthermore, approximately 640,000 children have had their homes destroyed or damaged, rendering them without a place of residence.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor renewed its urgent call on the international community to take immediate action to stop Israel’s attempts to turn the Gaza Strip into a real-life cemetery for children, to instead protect them, and to end its blatant double-standard policy that allows for Israeli impunity. The organization, headquartered in Geneva, emphasizes the imperative of holding Israel accountable for its blatant breaches of international humanitarian law.
These violations are starkly evident in Israel’s deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinian children, as well as its failure to address their specific needs for essentials such as vaccines, food, clothing, and shelter — requirements clearly recognized in the Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Protocols.
Catherine Russell, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, warned that Gaza is once again “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child”, following the resumption of the war. This is suicide to humanity. This premeditated, heartless slaughter was executed in a ruthless and brutal fashion, devoid of any compassion for the innocent child victims. The perpetrators not only harbored the intention to commit such an act but were also fully cognizant of the potential for the victims to suffer a painful demise.
Despite this awareness and their deliberate intent, the culprits proceeded with the act, displaying a complete disregard for the nature of their actions and the inevitable consequences that would ensue. Defense for Children International–Palestine’s (DCIP) investigations reveal a
are causing an unprecedented and devastating loss of life among Palestinian children. In the last 160 days alone, more than 14.000 children have been mercilessly murdered by Israeli forces, and an additional 2,800 are unaccounted for, likely buried beneath the ruins of demolished structures.
This premeditated, heartless slaughter was executed in a ruthless and brutal fashion, devoid of any compassion for the innocent child victims. The perpetrators not only harbored the intention to commit such an act but were also fully cognizant of the potential for the victims to suffer a painful demise. Despite this awareness and their deliberate intent, the culprits proceeded with the act, displaying a complete disregard for the nature of their actions and the inevitable consequences that would ensue.
Defense for Children International–Palestine’s (DCIP) investigations reveal a disturbing pattern of Israeli attacks characterized by widespread indiscriminate disproportionality, consistent with previous Israeli military campaigns in Gaza. The Israeli army’s use of wide-area-effect explosive weapons in densely populated civilian areas has resulted in the targeting of civilians and vital infrastructure. In essence, each bomb dropped by the Israeli army on Gaza carries the potential to be deemed a war crime.
Let there be no misunderstanding — Guterres raised the alarm because he recognizes that Palestinian children are enduring an unprecedented crisis. Shockingly, in the first month of the conflict, Israeli forces claimed the lives of more children than both state and non-state actors in all other armed conflicts over the past two years combined, as indicated in the U.N. chief’s annual reports.
Nearly half of the 2.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are children, comprising an exceptionally youthful population subjected to 16 years of Israeli siege, which amounts to collective punishment in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These children have borne the brunt of recurrent Israeli military offensives marked by direct, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, coupled with systemic impunity.
At this moment, it seems that people are more sensitive to words and slogans than acknowledging the tragic reality of genocide. To be more precise, an extermination. Allow that to resonate.
Experts agree that Israel’s military operation in Gaza is considered one of the most devastating and destructive in recent history. In slightly over two months, the military offensive has inflicted more damage than the destruction of Syria’s Aleppo from 2012 to 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol, or proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. The toll on civilians exceeds that of the U.S.-led coalition’s three-year campaign against the Islamic State group.
The Israeli military has been tight-lipped about the specifics of the bombs and artillery used in Gaza. However, experts assert that the majority of bombs dropped are of U.S. origin, including 2,000-pound “bunker-busters” responsible for hundreds of casualties in densely populated areas.
With the Palestinian death toll having surpassed 37,000, there’s a global call for a cease-fire. Israel remains committed to its offensive, aiming to destroy Hamas’. However it’s apparent that Israel is more intent on murdering innocent infants and children which is now half of all civilian deaths. Despite this the Biden administration continues to supply arms to Israel.
The absence of time and resilience in the face of an armed insurgency are resources that no colonizer can afford to possess. This is rooted in the inherent belief that the people being ruled are of an inferior caste and character, a racist perspective that is immediately threatened and subverted when a subjugated population rises to assert and affirm its humanity through sacrifice.
This brings us to October 7, a date that will be remembered either for its infamy or as a turning point, depending on one’s particular worldview. For those who view the current massacre as commencing on that date, it is the former perspective that prevails. Conversely, for those who recognize that Palestinians have faced numerous October 7s since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, it is the latter interpretation.
Nevertheless, following the somber events of October 7, 2023, Israel’s consistently harsh military response underscores the validity of a statement articulated by none other than Henry Kissinger, a key figure associated with the concept of ‘realpolitik.’ Kissinger asserted, “The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.”
More than three months later, Kissinger’s words remain profoundly relevant. Despite proclaiming from the outset the goal of destroying Hamas and eliminating its top leadership, Israel has yet to achieve either objective. Consider this: the region’s most potent military force, and one of the strongest globally on paper, has not declared victory over a Palestinian resistance comprising motivated young men wielding light weapons and employing classic guerrilla tactics of hit-and-run in small teams.
This, coupled with the remarkable ingenuity demonstrated by the extensive network of tunnels beneath Gaza in defiance of a 16-year-long siege, reflects the resilience of a people whose will has been forged, not broken, by their oppressor.
As of now, the Israeli military has acknowledged the loss of 485 soldiers have been killed since the start of the conflict on October 7. This figure is unprecedented and nearly triples the number of casualties they suffered during the previous ground incursion into the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014, known as Operation Protective Edge.
The increased depth of Israeli military penetration into the Strip compared to 2014 contributes to the current casualty rate. However, it’s crucial to recognize that the Palestinian resistance has shown improvement in terms of organization, training, and tactics over time.
In the broader geopolitical context, a recent poll conducted by the Center for American Political Studies (CAPS) at Harvard University and Harris Insights and Analytics revealed that support for Hamas among U.S. voters aged between 18 and 24 is more than half that of Israel in the current conflict.
This signifies a remarkable shift in U.S. public opinion toward Israel, a trend mirrored across the entire Western world. This shift is most evident in the unprecedented scale of pro-Palestine demonstrations occurring throughout the United States and Europe during the current conflict.
The widespread and intense pro-Palestine sentiment has resulted in substantial political pressure on governments and political elites whose longstanding, unwavering support for Israel was previously considered a non-negotiable aspect of Western foreign policy. In this context, Netanyahu and the coalition of far-right Zionist figures surrounding him have inadvertently become more allies than adversaries to the Palestinian cause.
However, the toll in terms of human lives has been devastating for the Palestinians. It is a cost that serves as a damning indictment of a collective West that has, for the past three months, been content to act as spectators to the genocidal slaughter of an oppressed people, akin to Romans in the Coliseum.
From a purely human perspective, the fact that individuals like Biden, Sunak, Scholz, von der Leyen, and others can comfortably embrace and kiss their grandchildren and children goodnight, tucking them into their lavish beds each evening, while being aware that over 14,000 children in Gaza have been murdered and thousands more have suffered injuries, trauma, and emotional devastation, is a deeply disturbing condemnation.
As an unsuccessful venture in settler colonialism, white supremacy, and ethno-nationalism, Israel’s violent aggression reflects the behavior of a rogue state. It may prevail in the immediate conflict, but it has already lost the moral and ethical argument.
Many individuals, political groups and factions within Arab, Islamic, Palestinian or left-wing circles have either explicitly or implicitly conveyed sentiments, made statements, or employed rhetoric that supports the elimination or annihilation of the State of Israel as a political entity.
These expressions often include the use of strong language, genocidal threats or declarations that aim for the complete eradication of Israel from the region. Such viewpoints may find expression in official statements, speeches, charters, or public discourse, reflecting a stance that rejects the legitimacy of Israel’s existence and advocates for its removal through diverse means, such as military action or other forms of political and ideological resistance.
But, we think that would deny another population its right to exist; it is a desire that comes from the anger of the way Palestinians have been treated for generations. To annihilate Israel would simply perpetuate acrimony and horror. Our mandate is to give the Palestinians their own territory over which they control the provision of electricity, water, health care and education to their people. They have the right to create a real economy, so their people can take active participation in development of their nation. The refugees who live in disgusting camps like Shatila in Lebanon need to be repatriated to this new Palestinian state.
Many of these refugees it should be noted came from families that were evicted from the U.N. partitioned territory that became Israel in the Nakba, or Palestinian catastrophe when Israel was founded, so their right of return would have to be part of any just resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict that satisfies both sides.
The Israeli-occupied lands in the Golan Heights need to be rightfully returned to Palestine, which is in alignment with U.N. mandates. Any occupiers living there must leave, and they have no right to complain about it.
In the 1970s, PFLP Ghassan Kanafani poignantly stated, “To liberate our country, to have dignity, to have respect, to have our mere human rights is something as essential as life itself.”
Jessica Ashe
holds a doctoral degree in literacy, an MBA and an MA. Her global human rights work has afforded her eight honorary doctorates, the Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi Peace Awards. Governor Beshear commissioned her as a Kentucky Colonel in 2022. She left a career as a specialist in international higher education to write full time.
Vincent Lyn
CEO & Founder of We Can Save Children
Deputy Ambassador of International Human Rights Commission (IHRC)
Director of Creative Development at African Views Organization
Economic & Social Council at United Nations (ECOSOC)
Rescue & Recovery Specialist at International Confederation of Police & Security Experts