“Never Again” they keep saying.
“Never Again” will we stand still while there is injustice in the world. “Never Again” will we keep silent while innocent people are being murdered. “Never Again” will we turn a blind eye while homes are being demolished. “Never Again” will we close our ears while civilians are being displaced. “Never Again” will we be silent in the face of tyranny and injustice. “Never Again” will we be silent.
“Never Again” they keep saying.
Then Gaza was attacked by the Zionist entity.
They turned a blind eye when the Zionist entity besieged Gaza and turned it into the world’s biggest prison. They closed their ears when one and a half million Palestinians were locked up in the concentration camp that Gaza has become. They turned a blind eye when Palestinians were not allowed to leave or enter Gaza.
while one and a half million Palestinians are deprived of essential food items because of the Israeli siege.
while one and a half million Palestinians suffer from a severe shortage in essential medicines and essential medical disposables and medical equipment because of the Israeli siege.
while one and a half million Palestinians have to manage with a minimum supply of water, electricity and fuel because of the Israeli siege.
while one and a half million Palestinians are not allowed medical treatment outside Gaza, including those in need of urgent medical treatment thus causing the death of 377 patients so far.
while one and a half million Palestinians are being collectively punished for refusing to accept the occupation and the oppression, for defending themselves, for seeking freedom.
“Never Again” they keep saying.
Then Gaza was attacked by the Zionist entity.
They kept silent while Israel, with its “fifth strongest army in the world”, attacked the besieged Gaza Strip. They kept silent while Israel, with its “most moral army in the world”, attacked the unnamed Palestinian civilians of Gaza, with one massacre following the other. They turned a blind eye as Palestinians were shot dead while seeking refuge or medical help, as whole families were bombarded to death, as fathers and mothers were massacred while protecting their children, as children were burnt alive while hiding in schools and mosques. They turned a blind eye to the pictures of endless streams of injured flocking into overcrowded hospitals; men, women and children, being carried to hospitals, bleeding, crying out of pain, dying. They closed their ears to the sounds of children crying on TV screens. They closed their ears to the sounds of mothers praying that their children’s lives be spared. They closed their ears to the sounds of fathers calling out to the world to stop this injustice. They closed their ears to the people of Gaza, asking: why, why is the world silent? They turned their back on Gaza.
while 1419 Palestinians were massacred by the Zionist entity.
while 352 children were massacred by the Zionist entity.
while 111 women were massacred by the Zionist entity.
while 367 students were massacred by the Zionist entity.
while at least 15 teachers, 16 medical personnel, 21 farmers, 2 fishermen and 92 labourers were massacred by the Zionist entity.
while 258 Palestinians died because Israeli occupation soldiers obstructed their medical treatment.
while over 5300 Palestinians were injured by the Zionist entity.
while 600 suffered permanent disability as a result of the injuries caused by the Zionist entity.
while over 220 required amputations as a result of the injured caused by the Zionist entity.
“Never Again” they keep saying.
Then Gaza was attacked by the Zionist entity.
while one and a half million Palestinian unarmed civilians were attacked by Israeli artillery.
while one and a half million Palestinian unarmed civilians were attacked by Israeli fighter jets.
while one and a half million Palestinian unarmed civilians were attacked by Israeli drones.
while one and a half million Palestinian unarmed civilians were attacked by Israeli military helicopters.
while one and a half million Palestinian unarmed civilians were attacked by Israeli warships.
“Never Again” they keep saying.
Then Gaza was attacked by the Zionist entity.
They closed their ears while Israel used illegal, forbidden weapons against the unarmed civilians in besieged and over-crowded Gaza. They kept silent while Israel used white phosphorus, DIME, sub-lethal targeted weapons and experimented new non-conventional weapons on the besieged civilian population of Gaza. They turned a blind eye at the images of burned human flesh, at the images of bones visible, at the images of charred bodies of children, at the images of wounds that would not stop bleeding, at the images of amputated limbs, t the images of scattered body parts, at the images of children being dug up from the rubble of their bombarded homes.
They kept silent
while one and a half million Palestinian civilians were bombed with white phosphorous and other toxic and chemical weapons.
while one and a half million Palestinians were exposed to toxic and chemical weapons that cause tumours, deformities, fertility problems and other and serious health problems.
while Palestinian homes, hospitals, schools, fields were burned by white phosphorous and other forbidden non-conventional weapons.
while the water, the air and soil of Gaza were polluted with toxic metals.
“Never Again” they keep saying.
Then Gaza was attacked by the Zionist entity.
Gaza was destroyed, totally destroyed. They turned a blind eye to the total destruction of Gaza infrastructure; when whole residential areas, hospitals, schools, clinics, mosques were bombed. They turned a blind eye while homes were destroyed over their inhabitants, schools were destroyed over those who took refuge in them, hospitals were destroyed over the patients and medical personnel. They closed their ears to the news of the over 50,000 Palestinians who were displaced by the Israeli bombing.
They kept silent
while over 2800 housing units were completely destroyed by Israeli shelling, affecting over 20,000 Palestinians.
while over 5400 housing units were partially destroyed, affecting over 32,000 Palestinians.
while 16000 houses were moderately damaged, affecting tens of thousands of Palestinians.
while buildings used as shelter for displaced families were intentionally targeted.
while 50% of Gaza’s health facilities were destroyed or damaged by the Israeli shelling.
while health facilities, hospitals, clinics, ambulances were deliberately targeted, patients were murdered in their beds, medical personnel killed while on duty.
while 15 hospitals, 43 health care facilities, 2 ambulance stations were damaged or destroyed by Israeli shelling.
while 29 ambulances were deliberately targeted while on duty and destroyed by Israeli shelling.
while 280 schools and kindergartens were deliberately targeted and damaged by Israeli shelling.
while 10 schools, 8 kindergartens, 15 hospitals, 43 clinics and 30 mosques were deliberately targeted and completely destroyed by Israeli shelling.
while 102 factories were totally damaged and 109 factories were partially damaged by targeted Israeli shelling.
while 165 stores were totally damaged and 538 stores were partially damaged by targeted Israeli shelling.
while 614 commercial and public premises (banks, companies, ministries) were destroyed by targeted Israeli shelling.
while electricity, water and sewage networks were deliberately hit and severely damaged by Israeli shelling and left on the brink of collapse.
while agricultural land was damaged and razed by Israeli tanks, chemical and toxic weapons, leaving 46% of Gaza’s agricultural land unusable.
while 131 greenhouses, 862 water wells, 1657 orchards, 8721 livestock, 305430 birds, 1010 beehives, 448298 trees were damaged by targeted Israeli shelling affecting the livelihood of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
“Never Again” they keep saying.
Then Gaza was attacked by the Zionist entity.
The images of the death and the destruction Israel had caused were spread. The testimonies of the survivors, of those who lost entire family members, the parents who lost their children, the children who lost their siblings, were published. The evidence of Israeli war crimes collected by international organizations was made public. The confessions of Israeli occupation soldiers who took part in the massacres were circulated. Yet the world kept silent. They kept silent as evidence of war crimes and grave human rights violations committed by Israel came to light. They kept silent as one war crime was exposed after the other.
They kept silent
when it was revealed that whole families were gathered by the Israeli occupation forces in houses which were later bombed and the houses destroyed on the heads of those families taking refuge in them.
when it was proved that Israel used Palestinians as human shields, deliberately targeted medical personnel and journalists.
when it was proven that Israel used illegal weapons, chemical and toxic weapons against an unarmed besieged civilian population and in densely populated areas..
when an increase was registered in miscarriage rates, cancer among children and elderly, an increase in number of babies born with birth defects due to the weapons used by Israel that contained radioactive and toxic material.
“Never Again” they were taught. “Never Again” they teach their children. “Never Again” they will continue to teach their children.
“Never Again” they will keep saying.
Then Gaza was attacked.
But Gaza exposed them, exposed their hypocrisy, their double standards. War criminals responsible for the genocide in Gaza are welcomed in countries that keep preaching “Never Again”. Laws are changed to protect war criminals and human rights violators from prosecution. And instead of acting, instead of never again being silent in the face of tyranny and injustice, they remained silent.
They remained silent except for the group of conscientious people around the world who refused to be silent, who refused to stand still while Gaza was being massacred. This conscientious group of world citizens, humans who have not lost their humanity, formed a human chain from the far east to the far west, from the far north to the far south; one body that refused to remain inactive and chose to join Palestine’s struggle for freedom and justice, one voice that refused to remain silent and said: “Never Again” and meant it. “Never Again”; they shouted out loud for the whole world to hear. “Never Again”; they told those who chose not to hear, not to see, not to talk, not to act. Never Again, Gaza, will we be silent, Never Again.
Gaza was under a most brutal and criminal aggression for 23 days in 2008/2009. But Gaza rose out of the destruction, rose out of the bloodbath, rose out of the rubble, rose out of the tears and the wounds.
Gaza rose to tell them that despite their silence, Gaza will always rise up, Gaza will always remain steadfast and defiant. And today, Gaza is still steadfast and defiant, Gaza is alive and will always be alive.
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River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
With the simple logic and innocent heart of a child, I have read the post, and had the same feeling of despair and anger the writer had.
ReplyDeleteBut again, when I contemplated over the article with the logic and mind of a grown up, I said to my self: But those who said or sang "Never again" are honest but they themselves are also slaves to the corrupt governments of their countries.
So please do not give up hope. The sweet results of tomorrow are there for those who can await.
Superb blog. Keep up the great work. More and more people are learning to think critically about our present reality and the existence of the vast Zionist/Mossad propaganda network. There is a great reckoning coming.
ReplyDelete