Israel / Palestine

Quotation marks (") below are from the BBC live feed. (<>) are from this thread.

It is shocking that there is no mention of the complete silence imposed on Gaza during the impending full-scale invasion.

I hope it's because those seeking to justify inhumane methods-on either side- have developed some introspection.
For others, I suspect a complete sense of disbelief now spreads, and the realisation that we will see unimaginable devastation over the coming hours.
Destruction carried out in complete freedom to be violent.
Buoyed by an unfathomable, continued support from the West for indiscriminate bombing, starvation and crippling health services and preventing aid from reaching civilians.

I suspect a few will still cling to the belief that Israels claims are true.
That a "hospital is the base of Hamas operations", and accept that the destruction of the people within that hospital is accepted in the theatre of war.
That "Human Shields" are being used by Hamas.
That Hamas has already killed the hostages prior to the ground attack- despite documented reports from the hostages suggesting that some semblance of care was provided.
(too little, too late- of course- the acts should not have happened).

-Let me be clear again- the actions of Hamas were abhorrent, unfathomable to me as a Palestinian. Just the basest, worst form of inhuman barbarism and there are no words I can espouse for my sadness and disgust-

Some will cling to a belief that all Palestinians want the destruction of Israel. A fact that my own posts should make perfectly clear is not true.
Most of us just want the chance to have a prosperous economy, a homeland to exist.
This embodiment of a people in diaspora should be understandable, as it is a mirror of Israeli hopes at the creation of Israel. How we keep losing sight of our commonality perplexes me.

However, we know and fear what the re-connection of services will bring.
Unimaginable devastation, and no documentation, no counter-narrative, no means of fact-checking claims.
The sort of thing that was previously confined to history- where the victor writes, and the oppressed voices die.

For me- the convenience of being a displaced people is that my direct family have been safe as we lost our home a long time ago. This allows for a separation that many of my family friends do not have. That colleagues (medical workers) in Gaza do not have. And as such last night I said my (internal- for reaching them is impossible) goodbyes. Those working for MAP, for UNWRA, those I've met- even in a distant past where we had hope- and those I have not. The students at https://manara.tech, who just wanted a chance to betterment. And most of all the children, cousins of my own, whom we will never get to meet.
Know that you can never be forgotten, and that we carry your name forward.

No matter who you are, these past three weeks should have shocked you. It should. It has shown humanity's ability to fall prey to baser instincts and to desire the death of those different, or percieved as lesser than ourselves.
This is not defence, this is a massacre, a single-focused destruction of a people and any chance of prosperity or return to lives now completely destroyed.
The fact the UK and Western governments are accepting it is abhorrent beyond belief.

To any Israelis reading this. I can only offer you love. My heart is also broken.

It seems impossible to overcome the acts of inhumanity that have occurred these past few weeks. But it is not.
These acts, initiated by zealots speaking in the name of Palestinians, but not speaking for Palestinians.
Likewise, I know for many that Netenyahu does not speak for all of you, that settler actions don't speak for you.
But as always, as the war grows more violent, the walls will go up, and the dominant voices on both sides will grow darker. And we must try and remember our shared humanity.

Please- I beg you- pressure your government for a ceasefire.

If nothing else- we know that history tells us that increased devastation akin to that wrought on Gaza, the easier the narrative comes to dehumanise you as a people becomes for the next batch of extremists. Likewise- the more the narrative of a Palestinian whole as Extremists pervades- the same dehumanisation occurs in your view of us.
Instead, let us talk, as people with a commonality that poor historians would prefer us to forget. Like Jeremy Bowen claiming we "do not share much", instead remember even down to our Languages- we share a literal root- trileteral consonant structures.
We share more in culture, food, family structures- the essence of what makes a 'people' than we do with anyone else, and yet it is forgotten and arbitrary differences are weaponised. Weaponised and heightened by people who , including both sides 'allies'.

I can only hold my hand out in the hope you will take it, and that that starts a different approach to a conflict which should not exist, and one that has only proven that violent means achieve nothing but devastation and demonisation.

To non-Israelis, please, pressure your government to ask for a ceasefire to allow aid to reach my people. To allow a chance of reconciliation, however minute it is. For now it seems impossible.
Be part of a concerted voice to silence the anti-Semitic voices amongst the appeals for peace.
Be part of a concerted voice to silence the anti-Palestinian voices amongst the calls for justice and defence.

For once- make the loudest voice be the voice of reason.