The Genocide In Gaza: Why Are World Leaders Silent?

Not all of us are familiar with the history of the conflict in Palestine. According to an article by The Guardian, the conflict’s origins can be traced back to different points in time, including the Roman era, 19th-century Jewish migration, and the Balfour Declaration in 1917. The 1947 UN partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states led to a war, over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced, leading to the Nakba in 1948.

Hamas was established in 1987 during the first intifada, shifting from non-violent Islamic activism to armed resistance. The second intifada, a major uprising against the Israeli occupation by the Palestinians, saw significant violence in the land of Palestine between 2000 and 2005. In 2005, Israel disengaged from Gaza, but the status of the land remains disputed. When Hamas activists resisted the oppression by attacking Israel on 7^th October, 2023, it was said that the “war” had begun. But the genocide had been going on for years. 

The current state of Gaza: how serious the issue really is

Dr. Tedros, Director-General of the World Health Organization had tweeted on 20^th December, 2023, that he is concerned about the toxic mix of disease, hunger, and lack of hygiene and sanitation that people in Gaza have been facing. On the same day, Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF, had tweeted that access to sufficient clean water is a matter of life and death, and children in Gaza have barely a drop to drink.

According to a report by the UN, only 12 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals have been partially functioning, with the rest of the hospitals destroyed. This has understandably caused a lot of fear among both the civilians and the health workers trying to help them. Dr. Al-Qudra says that ambulances cannot move and people cannot reach the nearest hospitals because they are not allowed to walk. A doctor says that victims of bombings come with multiple injuries, losing limbs or even an eye, with broken ribs, brain injuries, and every injury one can imagine, which means that each such patient would require support from many different specialists, and there are not enough doctors. He also says that anaesthetics, pain killers, antibiotics, ICU equipment, and even oxygen supply are missing. 

It has come to public attention that kids are suffering from acute food shortage, some of them are compelled to eat bread made of bird feed and animal fodder, eating one small loaf for every two days. Some parents are widowed, pregnant mothers are worried and parents hiding in tents do not have answers for complicated questions their children ask, with there being bombing day and night. They can’t put their children to sleep, or sleep peacefully themselves because they fear that they could be the next set of victims of bomb blasts anytime. Their desperate need for food became obvious when a video showing people in Gaza running fast towards food delivery trucks to grab flour packets became viral. A quarter of the population in Gaza is just one step away from famine, it is believed. 

This report by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows that over 75% of all journalists killed in 2023 died in the Gaza war.

According to this report by NPR, as of 29^th February 2024, the number of Palestinians killed in the war has surpassed 30,000. People are now trying to find safe spaces in Rafah, following the instructions given by the Israeli government officials, and that has made Rafah’s population dense, with several families sharing one tent and people barely getting their basic necessities met.

The common man does not understand 

Several people have stopped watching the news because ‘news is depressing these days’. After all the grand promises their countries’ political leaders had made to win elections or while in power, why won’t they intervene? Do they really have any power on the international stage? Why would someone have the power to speak up and protest and still watch a genocide happen?

There are several speculations, debates, and questions. To oppose war, any war, anywhere, to not want innocent people to be attacked and killed, one does not have to be pro-Islam or an “anti-nationalist” of any country; one only has to be human. If opposing war can make one an anti-national, does that mean that that government is pro-war, pro-genocide, pro-death-and-destruction, and anti-human?

Politicians in democratic countries around the world make grand promises to get the public to vote for them and trust them, presenting themselves as highly powerful and peace-loving, but most of the world leaders have not opposed this war and have remained silemt. 

When most Muslim majoritarian countries themselves don’t offer any real support for the people of Palestine, it must be evident that this genocide is not merely a matter of differences in faith or religion. It is much more than that, and the common man feels totally helpless and scared. 

Questions that have been brewing

Which countries have the most powerful say in this subject during this time? What have the superpowers China and Russia got to say? Yes, these countries have been supportive of Palestinians, opposing Israel, but is criticism alone enough? Is this all that superpowers can do in this stage when it comes to a genocide?

Why so many world leaders have been silent or have not openly opposed the Israeli government and taken any real action to help the victims even after months of destruction? Is it because leaders from most middle-eastern, African, European, and Asian countries, including India, fear Israel? Is it because some of them do not want to sabotage the trade relations they have with Israel? Here is a list of different countries and their stances over the genocide.

How many countries have offered more than just moral support for the people of Palestine? According to Aljazeera, in October last year, some middle-eastern and African countries including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Tunisia and Rwanda have offered aid, India has offered medical and disaster relief, some the EU had tripled its assistance, and some other EU countries such as Germany, Denmark and Sweden had suspended their aid to Gaza. 

What game exactly is the US playing here? On the one side, the US government led by Joe Biden supports Ukraine, claiming that it is the right thing to do. On the other hand, the same US government supports the Zionist Israeli government led by Netanyahu in this genocide that has caused tens of thousands of deaths of innocent civilians. What is Biden’s government aiming to do? Does this “democrat” government have any values at all, or are allyships with other governments the only thing the only thing this government cares about? Is Team Biden insisting on ceasefire and finally offering food by airdrop only out of fear of losing Democrat support?

Jewish Voice for Peace says, ‘First, Israel destroyed the north of Gaza, concentrating people in Rafah. Then, it engineered a humanitarian crisis, destroying medical infrastructure, food supplies, refusing to allow aid to enter, and pushing the U.S. to cut funding to UNRWA. Now, the Israeli military plans to invade and decimate the refugee camp of its own creation. This is nothing short of a policy of extermination.’

Why is the Egyptian government stubborn on not letting Palestinian refugees get into their country? Why do they hesitate? Why are many Arab countries not offering the support Palestinians need?

Protesters calling for ceasefire are being arrested and attacked in supposedly democratic countries like India, the UK, France, and the US. What message are they trying to send out to the world?

Recently, the World Food Programme had paused food deliveries to northern Gaza because of there being ‘complete chaos and violence’. How is that acceptable? Wouldn’t depriving a people of basic necessities only cause more chaos? Why does the UN hesitate to continue to help?

These are questions we need to keep on asking, lest the conversation on the Israeli genocide of Palestinians fizzle out.